Chapter X: To Run Astray Is The Only Right


It was at the moment when the Rider of White's flying fortress fired toward and destroyed his Diana Nemorensis. The moment when Rider of Black -Caligula sank into the cold seawater and indulged in crazy thoughts.

It was at this moment that he saw it in the distance, illuminated in the intense light emitted by the giant floating Noble Phantasm; and it had been enough to pique his curiosity.

It was at this moment Rider of Black saw the hole.

It was a quite large hole, dug into the sidewall of the nameless island. It had attracted his curiosity because it didn't look like just any hole; first of all, it was the only one of its kind where Rider was looking and it was strangely circular. It didn't look like it had been chiseled by human hands, but it was still strange enough for Rider to decide to swim all the way over there and take a look at it.

Once up close, he noticed it was not as finely carved as he had expected, but in fact quite rough on the borders, as if someone had excavated it barehanded without cleaning up afterward. The flying fortress had probably moved somewhere else because the great lighting it provided had disappeared. As a result, Rider hadn't been able to tell what was inside -not that it would have been of any help though, as it wasn't just a hole but an actual tunnel.

This fact achieved to tease his curiosity (he was crazy, not stupid) and he had decided to follow it up until wherever it led to. Being a Servant came in quite handy in these situation as he could hold his breath much longer than normal humans. As a side note, Rider never knew how to swim during his life, he was only able to doit now thanks to his Imperial Privilege skill.

But these hadn't been the thoughts filling Rider's head at this moment. Back then, he had just been swiming with an irresistable urge to know what was at the other end of this tunnel -his greed had been motivating him to get his hands on whatever was there.

Of course, there was no guarantee that he would find anything. Rider couldn't know about it, but this tunnel he was exploring was the result of a perfectly natural phenomenon: lava tubes. During an eruption, there was a chance for flowing lava to dig in the ground, creating a thick and hard crust in the process. And once the eruption had ended and the lava flow had stopped, all that was left was a bunch of large tunnels, forming to gether a channel of caves like a huge natural maze.

It was one of those that Rider had entered. Thus, it was as no surprise that he had eventually reached a fork, and then another one and so on. But it didn't mater in the end how many different galleries and intersections there were: they all eventually led to the same place. Rider had immediatly understood he had reached his destinatin when the size of the cave he was swimming through suddenly widened to become an open space like a lake. There were many stalagmites at the bottom of the dark water as well, waiting to impale unfortunate swimmers on their shapr end.

But another sign had been the reeal indicator of his success: it was the light. Up until now the stone hallways had been completely dark. But when he reached this wide underground lake, he caught a glimpse of a light at the surface. It wasn't like the light of the sun -moreover it was the middle of the night back then. It wasn't like the fake and pale light emitted by these things called 'lamps' which he had discovered after his summon.

No, it was something -a golden light compelling him to swim to the surface.

When he had finally surfaced, he saw it right in front of him. The cave he had arrived to was surprisingly wide, especially in heigth. It's shape was more or less circular and the feeling of width was further emphasized by the fact it was mostly empy. At the ceiling, stalagtites, but that was it.

However, it wasn't exactly empty: in the middle of the lake was a black rock formation similar to a small isle -the walls and ceiling were also black by the way. Said isle wasn't very big because most of the space was taken by a huge pillar of black stone going from the bottom of the lake to the top of the cave.

There it was, carved into this deformed pillar.

A golden object the size of his fist, alike to a big chunk of gold, was embbeded into the rock. The honey-colored light diffused by this mysterious jewels was enough to light the whole cave, casting strange shadows on the wall which created a feeling of infinity -as though there were no walls, only the kingdom of shadows engulfing this small surreal world.

But something made this out of the world sight even stranger, creepier and would send a chill up anyone's spine...

It was pulsating.

Like a heart beating fiercely, every second the chunk of gold pulsated inside its stone prison, sending a slight tremor through the golden veins running all over the pillar around the golden object.

The source of the conflict, the fragment from the Cup of Heaven -the Grail Shard.

The one standing in front of it, Rider of Black, had a large shadow cast behind him as he stood there, the latter emitting an ominous feeling as though he was the king of this world of shadows.

Even if it was by luck, he was the winner of this round and had found what they had been looking for; the Grail Shard. Yet, all of this was what happened before. Now, Rider wasn't looking at the Grail Shard anymore -he wasn't even paying attention to it anymore.

All of sudden, a loud roar of pure rage echoed in the lava tubes.

"Grraa...Grraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

The howl of anger resounded in the underground lake for a while, before disappearing. The scream had come from Rider of Black who was now baring his teeth and clawing at his own face like a madman, all while bending his body as though he was in deep pain. Blood started to flow down from the mutilated cheeks

In a way, it almost looked like he was crying tears of blood. However, what filled him was undisputably wrath in its purest form, and not sadness in any kind.

"You filthy wooooorm! How dare you! How dare you die before I kill you?! You! Damn! Useless! Worm!"

Each of his exclamations was punctuated by a punch in the ground, which made the wide cavern shake slightly each time. Eventually though, Rider stopped his crazy tantrum and stood back up. He started to look around him frantically with the eyes of a raging beast, as if he was looking for someone to beat up to vent up his frustration. But that wasn't Rider's intention:

"Incitatus! Come to me, Incitatus!"

As soon as he called him, the distant thunder of a horse's hooves could be heard in the distance. But soon enough, the noise got closer and a white horse adorned with rich decorations of gold and jewels emerged from the cave's wall, almost as if he had been waiting there crouching in the shadow.

Of course, between the boudaries of the cavern and the isle Rider was standing on, there was a wide stretch of water in which the horse should have sunk; yet upon touching the surface of the crystal clear water with his hooves, the gracious mount kept on galoping toward his master, ignoring the laws of gravity. Soon, the horse Incitatus had reched Rider and snuggled his head against Rider's chest. The latter caressed Incitatus' neckline contentedly, visibly happy that the horse answered immediatly to hic call.

"Ah, you're the only one I can count on, Incitatus. That useless piece of meat has gone ahead and died without my permission!"

Incitatus neighed to say he had felt it as well.

The person Rider was speaking about in such derogatory words was Linandir Eïchtobell, his Master. Just a minute ago, Rider felt the natural connection between a Master and its Servant disappearing, indicating the former's death. It was hard imagining Rider of Black -Emperor Caligula mourn anyone, especially someone whom he had barely known and had almost killed the very moment he summoned him. In fact, that might be the only thing the mad emperor was regretting inside him -that he should have killed him back then if he was going to die in such a useless manner anyway.

"Oh, whatever!" Rider howled. "There is more important, Incitatus! I need to take back my moon from that filthy thief!"

Incitatuc neighed to ask him how he was planning to do that.

"That is exactly the problem, Incitatus: I don't have enough prana! I had a feast earlier during the day, but it won't suffice."

The reason why Rider hadn't already started to fade away with his Master gone is because of the magical energy he had gotten from the massacre of the inhabitants of Candelaria, but it would barely be enough for maintaining a physical shape and Incitatus. Whatever scheme the mad emperor had come up with, he was unable to apply it without enough prana.

Actually, the Grail Shard right behind him would have been an excellent source of mana, for it was pumping a great quantity of it directly from the ley lines, but one would need to be of the Caster class to know how to drain it.

In other words, there was nothing Rider could do at the moment.

But that was when Incitatus started to 'speak'. When Rider heard him, he listened intensely at what he was saying. He was , after all, his consul. He listened patiently to Incitatus' arguments, which was a feat for someone like him. When the horse was done talking, Rider rubbed his chin and thought for a while.

Midway through his thinking, he turned toward the Grail Shard embedded in the stone and frowned.

"...Yes." After a long moment of silence, Caligula finally opened his mouth. "You're right, Incitatus! I shall do as you say!"

Then, he started to spin around with his arms spread and his burning gaze turned toward the ceiling, all the while laughing madly. It was like he could see the sky, the stars and the sun and the moon beyond the thick layer of hard stone, and laughing because it was all his. Yes, the whole world was his! His palace! His garden! His playground!

All the jewelleries in the world were his! All the women in the world was his! And the life and death of all those who populated his world were his to decide!

"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahaah! I will show you, worms! I will take my revanche on all of you! On this knight and his cheeky Master! On the worm who dared steal my moon! I am Caligula! I am Jupiter!...No."

Rider stopped rotating on himself and clenched his fists, before spreading his arms again like someone would throw rice on newlyweds.

"I am the sun! Rejoice! Rejoice!"


*Shep* *Shep*

A small sound could be heard between the trees of the forest on the nameless island. It was the only thing that could be heard as all life forms -if there had ever been any form of life on this island- had fled as far as they could from the deadly battlefield.

It wasn't anything particular, neither unusual nor overwhelming -in fact, it was a very small sound that would be lost in a crowded area.

*Shep* *Shep*

A discret swish like that of a servant polishing the silverware in a rich manor. It belonged to none other than Lancer of Red's Master -Hatsuyo Toriyama.

The young girl was actually sitting on a fallen tree trunk from the battle between her own Servant and Archer of Black. All around her were other trees knocked over, cut in half or plainly smashed as a result of the mighty battle between the two Servants. In fact, although the situation had changed somewhat without Hatsuyo's knowing, the raging clatter of battle could still be heard in the distance, although faintly.

But it didn't change the fact that she was on a battlefield; the one-sided slaughter Hatsuyo had just taken part in was a violent evidence of it. Yet, the girl's expression was terribly calm despite her pitiful condition: even if it wasn't completely obvious, she had taken a lot of damage from her fight against Linandir; more than someone her age would be used to. For instance, her skin was covered on scratches, scrapes and superficial burnt. Taking an explosion head on had its consequences, although the armor Caster of Red had made for her had done marvels in this regard.

There was also a large bruise on her cheek; it was due to a punch Linandir had managed to land in his hopeless struggle. The black and purple mark looked like it would sting a lot, but Hatsuyo just ignored it. However, it was surely easier to bear than the bullet lodged in her shoulder. The latter was bandaged but Hatsuyo didn't have the practical knowledge nor the patience to pull it out. A simple gunshot would hurt atrocely, and the sweet running across her body showed that she couldn't ignore the pain.

In spite of all of this, her expression remained as calm as a millpond, her sharp gaze focused on her task.

*Shep* *Shep*

The swishing sound came from her washing the blood away from her katana's blade.

Her whole armor as well as a part of her face had blood splashed all over it, yet she was only focusing on her weapon with a care and a meticulousness one wouldn't expect from a the hot-headed girl. It was normal for a samurai to care a lot about their sword -it was a part of their pride as samurai. However, the sight of this girl quietly sitting and and cleaning her weapon despite being covered in blood -and this with a completely straight face was even more frightening than an executioner grinding his axe before the execution.

But there was no one around to point it out, and even if there was she pay it any heed. After all, she was the kind of person who didn't give a damn about what people thought of her, with a few exceptions.

Eventually, after not even the smallest black stain remained, she stood up and made a few swinging motion with one hand. Even with only one arm available, the katana's swift and accurate motions made it clear she was still just as proficient and dangerous than with both hands.

Then, after she stopped swinging the blade around, Hatsuyo displayed a satisfied expression and put it back in her scabbard, and started to walk away.

Lancer, are you done on your side?

She asked her Servant through their mental connection. Last time she saw him he was fighting against another Servant and she had no idea of what happened in the meantime.

Well, how should I put it...I'm still fighting but this time I've teamed up with the guy I was fighting and our Saber to beat up a fourth guy. But things don't look good.

Saber...You mean this idiot's Servant?

Oh, right. Saber said something like his Master was worried about you and was looking for you.

"That idiot is...?" Hatsuyo mused, and a hindered expression showed up on her face as she angrily bit her lower lips.

Now that she thought about it, it was true the person she had just killed seemed to suggest he had fought against that idiot. Also, when she had hunted Linandir down to the cliff where she killed him, she didn't see the huge ass boat that had been standing there before.

In that case, did that mean they had defeated the Servant on board of the ship? Thinking about this also made Hatsuyo reflect on her situation.

(I killed one of them. If the Servant also disappears once the Master is killed, then it's one less.)

But Lancer said there were two other Servants aside from him and Saber...Then there were still two more enemy Master on the island. They already didn't know how many opponents they would have to face befor ecoming here, but the situation was becoming more and more unclear. In fact, little did Hatsuyo know that things were confusing for all parties.

But she didn't care how many they were. In the end, she just had to cut them all down.

Oi, Master~. Why are you silent? Don't tell me you plan on coming to his rescue on a white horse and take him away in your arms. How romantic~!

Hatsuyo could imagine Lancer grinning where he was now, which made her grimace even more.

Are you kidding? If this idiot wants to throw away his life, I don't give a shit. He's so anoying I'll just cut him down myself anyway.

She replied in a dry tone.

...

"..."

Surprisingly, Lancer didn't answer with another snarky comment. Hatsuyo really didn't like not knowing what was going on on his side, but she couldn't do anything more than communicate through their mental bond. She trusted Lancer; if it was him he could beat anyone. But she hated the feeling lingering in her chest.

A feeling of ineluctability, as if something was going to happen and there was nothing she could do about it, no matter how much she wished she could.

But in truth, it wasn't anything vague like this. She knew very well what was about to happen, since she had agreed to take part in it.

"...Who's there?"

Suddenly, she froze. In a flash, the katana hanging at her waist was in her hand, the metal glittering at the morning light ready to drink blood again.

She had since long left the area where Lancer and Archer of Black clashed; thus there was a possibility for something or someone to hide behind each tree and each bush.

However, Hatsuyo had an 'instinct' with which she could feel people's presence. It wasn't anything as accurate as tracing a trail of prana, so she could only feel that 'there was someone around'.

"If you don't show up I'll just look for you and cut you down." She threatened, her blade raised and reflecting the sunlight as if baring its fangs.

"How ironic. I said something similar just a moment ago." An unknown voice rose from somewhere on her left, and Hatsuyo immediatly changed her posture to attack the source of the voice.

On the other hand, the person who had just answered her threat were neutral, neither afraid nor carefree. It was a woman in her late thirties with short red hair (though that hard to tell -something unnerving about magi is that they never looked their age). She was only wearing a tank top, yet the latter was drenched by her sweat. Taking a closer look, the woman was leaving a small trail of blood behind her and there were beads of sweat running down her forehead, making one question her state.

But honestly, Hastuyo didn't fare any better.

She glarred at the woman she had never met before -Elena Bujart.

"Who are you bastard?"

"...He, I thought you'd know better. I am Archer of Black's Master, that's all you need to know."

"Ho? Then you are allied with the moron I killed earlier. Did you come to take revanche for your fallen comrade?"

"Ha! Fallen comrade? Don't make me laugh, do you really believe there's such a thing as comeradship in this war?"

Elena seemed to find the idea amusing and chuckled. But she was right: Leonidas and Michael Argas may be an exception because they were close relatives, but everyone else in this Holy Grail War weren't working together because they wanted to and they would be at each other's throat eventually anyway.

"Like I care." Hatsuyo put an end to their small chat. "It doesn't change the fact you're in my way. I'll cut you down...!"


Just as Lancer has said, things didn't look good in their fight against Rider of White.

Lancer was moving across the incenerated battelfield with the speed and the grace of a feline while Saber of Red was locked in an exchange of blows with Rider of White. Skill-wise, Saber had the upper hand and he actually took little damage, but because of Rider's astonishing regerative abilities it didn't matter. In fact, Rider was at least as skilled a warrior as Saber, if not more. Normally, someone of his level shouldn't have any problem avoiding Saber's sword. The reason why the knight of the sword was able to inflict him so many wounds was because Rider didn't bother to guard against his blows; no matter where he struck -chest, heart, head- any attack Saber landed on the knight of the mount healed up immediatly.

The other reason they were able to keep up against the Rider of White was because of Lancer of Red. The spearman surpassed even Rider in term of speed and agility, which allowed him to approach Rider up close and lacerate him with his spear without taking damage in return. Yet, that was the best he could do; the result was the same than with Saber.

On their side was also Archer of Black, who was staying back from the fight and sniping Rider with a frightening accuracy. Even with Lancer and Saber in the way, the bowman was still able to effortlessly shoot Rider's vitals.

They were Servants of the three Knight Classes reputed to be the strongest, yet even with the three of them they were still at a crushing disadvantage.

"Hahahahahaha!" Rider laughed at their fruitless efforts while pulling out Archer's arrows from his body and throwing them aside. "Is that all you have to oppose after daring to stand in my way?! Not enough!"

Rider switched his battle axe for a strangely shaped spear and bolted toward Lancer. The two spears clashed with great violence and Lancer blown a little further away by the strength of the blow. But as soon as his feet touched the ground, the spearman closed the distance between them instantly and swung his spear in a perfect circular arc at Rider's throat. The latter blocked with his own spear and aimed for Lancer's head with the sword in his left hand. Lancer leaned his upper body frontward and avoided the sharp blade by a hair's breadth; but instead of falling back to gain more range, he did the opposite: at the same moment he dodged the attack, Lancer took a single step forward and penetrated Rider's range in such a way the latter couldn't use his spear. Yet, with the same ease than if he had been far from Rider, Lancer rotated his spear and cut off one of Rider's arm.

"Useless."

Rider of White didn't looked the least bothered in the world from losing one arm, and just let his lost limb regenerate. However, Lancer had that in mind when he sliced Rider's arm; what he had noticed after repeatedly slashing and hacking the knight of the mount so many times was that there was a short lapse of time between the moment he inflicted the wound and the moment the injury started to heal.

Using this very short amount of time before the arm grew back, Lancer stepped heavily on Rider's foot to prevent him from running away, and he thrusted his spear through his other arm. But Rider wasn't planning on falling back for so much; his left arm had already healed and was holding a sword again, ready to cut Lancer in half with it. However...

"Do not forget about me, Rider!"

Rider had been too ficused on Lancer and hadn't sensed Saber of Red approaching from behind. Before he could attack Lancer or even turn his head, Saber swung his golden sword horizontaly in a flash; the blade sank into Rider's flank and ate in his flesh. Saber put all his strength in his two hands to stab it further into Rider's body.

"Haa...!"

With the disgusting sound of metal slicing through flesh, Rider's torso was cut in half by the holy sword. At the same time, Lancer pulled his spear from Rider's arm and threw a powerful kick into his solar plexus.

"That's for making me run left and right, bastard."

Rider's upper body, now separated from its lower part, flew on several dozens of meters before landing heavily on the ground.

"Seriously," Lancer complained. "what do we have to do for you to stay dead? I'm not used to dealing with people who just won't die when they're killed."

"No, he must have a weak point." Saber objected. "If we can find it then we should be able to kill him for good."

"You little..." Rider growled

Unlike what Lancer and Saber had expected, Rider of White didn't regenerate his body from the upper part that Lancer had sent flying, but from his lower part. In other words, before they knew it Rider of White was standing right next to them while the old upper body started to vanish.

""!""

Lancer and Saber immediatly put a couple ten of meters between them and the Servant of White. The latter, his face distirted by anger, went after them without losing a second. He darted toward Lancer first and launched a barrage of attacks. The spearman parried each attack without difficulty and managed to keep a certain distance between them. As their weapons kept crossig paths, Saber joined in the melee just like before.

This time however, something strange happened: Rider's skin started to blacken more than before, and two big bulges appeared on his shoulder blades, like big bubbles of flesh ready to pop. The next moment, the two bulges exploded and a second pair of arms sprouted from Rider's back, holding a trident and a golden axe respectively. His body as well seemed to grow larger, and his eyes tainted with something inhuman like a red ominous glitter.

"Don't get cocky, humans." A rough voice came out of Rider's mouth. "As if puny humans could be stronger than me!"

This time, Rider's blows were stronger, as well as faster. Saber and Lancer could stand their ground even with this sudden rise in power, but not for long if all they did was just stand around. Rider kept swinging his four arms like guillotines, creating gusts of wind with each movements. Needless to say, each attack only missed the two Servants of Red by a small margin, and the best way for Saber and Lancer to keep up the fight was to move in circle around Rider's massive body and slash their opponent all while evading and blacking the onslaught of attacks coming from several directions. They couldn't evade all of Rider's strikes either, and from time to time some would land home and push them back, but it wasn't enough to make them lose their footing.

It was hard to tell what was the most impressive in this battle: was it Rider's relentless assault that made him look like a tornado, or was it Lancer's and Saber's incredible teamwork that allow them to face this storm of metal and death without getting in each other's way. In hindsight, it was more probably the bewitching dance-like battle which resulted from the two.

(Truly a fight worthy of legends.) Archer of Black thought honestly. (Such a shame there is no one to admire it).

But Archer wasn't going to just sit on the sidelines to enjoy the show.

He readied two arrows in his large black bow and aimed carefully at the trio of Servants fighting below. Then, after checking the opponent's position, the two arrows flew swiftly toward the Servant of White.

Rider, who had his hands full with Saber and Lancer, couldn't feel the attack coming and was surprised to see two black shadows pound on him and accurately pierce his two eyes. The unexpected attack caused Rider to hesitate for less than half a second -but it was largely enough for Lancer and Saber to make their move. The two warriors held their respective weapon with both hands and plunged them into Rider's black body. Saber stabbed into hin right lung and swung his sword uward, effectively severing two of Rider's arms; Lancer thrusted his spear into Rider's thight and cut off the leg.

The efficient teamwork of the three Servants had brought Rider of White to his knees, but it wasn't enough. Very soon, Rider's surprise turned into anger and with a rageful roar he regenerated his lost limbs, and stomped on the ground so hard the earth shook. Then, to make up for his obstructed vision, he exchanged his trident for a huge golden mace larger than he was; holding the giant weapon firmly, Rider swung it and spinned on himelf.

Lancer evaded the earth-shattering attack by leaping backward, but Saber didn't have the time to do the same and tried to block it with his shield. It was a mistake -the strike was so powerful Saber was mercilessly blown away, although he managed to keep a standing position.

Now that there was no one anymore around him, Rider seemed to calm down a little and pulled out the two arrows from his eyeballs.

"Dammit, we're not going anywhere." Lancer complained. "Oi, Saber! At this rate we'll still be at it tomorrow! Don't you have a Nobe Phantasm that could just disintegrate him completely~?"

"Even if that was the case, I wouldn't use it without my Master's approval."

"Hey, are you for real?" Lancer sighed at Saber's categorical reply. "But more seriously, I'm out of ideas. If even cutting him in two and beheading him won't work, how are we supposed to kill him?" They already had stabbed him enough times to kill an army, but Rider of White showed no sign of weakening, quite the opposite actually. "Maybe we could try to drown him. Can you even drown a Servant?"

"I don't think that will be necessary." Saber interrupted Lancer's musing. "If this regeneration of his is a Noble Phantasm, then he cannot be using it without a price."

Lancer had to admit Saber had a point there.

Aside from their superhuman specs, Servant had two kind of special abilities: their skills and their Noble Phantasms. However Lancer doubted any skill could grant such healing powers to the point where it would possible to grow back a head.

In other words, it had to be at least a Noble Phantasm. But just like Saber said, using a Noble Phantasm came with a price, namely a high prana consumption. Noble Phantasms weren't called a Servant's trump card for nothing, so such mighty powers necessitated a certain amount of prana to be materialized. Moreover, Servants were basically ghosts so giving them a physical shape cost prana as well; meaning, each time Rider of White grew back one of his limbs or healed an injury, he would use prana to replace the missing body part.

"In other words," Lancer resumed taking a fighting stance. "all we need to do is to cut the bastard in little pieces until he is out of prana, right?"

"Yes. However I doubt it will be easy."

Rider was clearly not to be underestimated if he could face three Servants and stand his ground. Moreover it looked like the more they annoyed him, the stronger he'd get; and that was without counting on the flying ship he had used against them previously. In fact, if he hadn't stepped down from it the battle would be much more one-sided.

Lancer glanced at the spear he held.

(...No, I'd just be wasting magical energy for nothing. I can kill him more than enough times the way I am.)

But suddenly, Lancer felt something.

"That guy..." He turned around to look at the tree from where Archer of Black had been sniping Rider up until now.

Just as he had felt, Archer wasn't there anymore and his presence was moving away.

Lancer didn't understand what was going on but he didn't make a fuss about it. From the beggining Archer's arrows had had little effect on Rider so it wasn't surprising for him to give up on the hopeless fight. Yet, Lancer couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this.

Lancer, then, out of the blue, he felt his Master calling him mentally.

What is it, Master?

I need you to get over here right now.

What was going on? Lancer had no idea was happening on his Master's side, but if she requested his presence it coud be bad. In fact, it wasn't a request but an order so no matter how much Lancer hated to leave in the middle of a fight he had no choice but to obey.

That's why, he turned toward Saber and waved his hand with an apolegetic look.

"Haha, I'm sorry Saber. Oji-san had forgotten he had a date today~."

"Huh? Lancer?" Saber looked at Lancer with a confused look.

"So I'll be going now~. See ya!"

And with that, Lancer turned into spiritual form and disapeared.

Saber could just look at the Servant of the Spear vanishing into thin air with a dumbfounded look. Of course, now that both Archer and Lancer were gone, Saber was all alone up against the powerhouse that was Rider of White. Simply put, he was in deep trouble.

Yet, he didn't feel any resentment toward Lancer, who had left him for unknown reasons, nor was he afraid of facing Rider alone. But...

(Lancer...what is a 'date'?) Saber couldn't help but wonder hopelessly.

Fortunately for him, the two Servants unexplicably leaving the battlefield seemed to have calmed Rider who looked at Saber with a look of pity and laughed at him.

"Hahahaha! Would you look at that, Red Saber! Looks to me as though you can't count on your allies. As expected of humans, running with their tails between their legs when they see they are in a hopeless situation"

"I do not mind." Saber replied in a neutral tone and pointed the tip of his sword in Rider's direction. "Whether I'm alone or not, I shall defeat you! In order to reach the Grail, I'll defeat all of my Master's enemies."

"I see, so you're nothing more than your Master's dog? I don't know what your Master is like, but he must have the presence of a king for someone like you to be so obedient."

"It doesn't matter." Saber told Rider off. "Whether my Master is a king or a child, it my duty as a knight to serve him."

"'Knight', you say. I cannot understand I must say; it is a concept that appeared after my time I'm afraid."

"Whatever. But if you put such priority in your Master's appearance, I must assume yours fit your description."

"..."

For some reason, Rider couldn't reply Saber's words.

"...No. Rather, I accept them as my Master because I find them entertaining."

"?...'Them'? What do you mean. It is impossible for a Servant to have two Masters."

There was (normally) only seven Command Spell distributed among seven magi to summon seven Servant. When a magus summoned a Servant, a contract would be established between the two. There was a possibility for a Servant to pass a contract with a second Master in the case the first died, but having a contract with two Master was unthinkable, not to mention counter-productive for the Masters.

"Did I say I have two Masters?" A mocking smirk appeared across Rider's face. "Anyway, what shall I do with you now?"

"I said I shall defeat you. Just because I am alone does not mean my sword has rusted, on the contrary: because I face you alone, my blade is sharper than ever!"

Saber readied his weapons and took a step forward without hesitation with the clear intention of fighting Rider until one of the two bit the dust. When he saw that, Rider couldn't help but smiple broadly with a spark of interest in his eyes.

"You are brave, I will give you that, 'knight'. After all, you're the one who had me bother to fight the lot of you on foot. You remind me of someone I fought a long time ago..." With a nostalgic expression, Rider dematerialized all of his weapons. "But if you insist on fighting me alone..."

Rider's body started to shriek, and his now black skin turned back to its slightly tanned color. Eventually, his body recovered its former appearance, and the two arms that had sprouted from Rider's back turned into a pair of raven black wings. With his arms crossed on his chest and displayed a wide smile of challenge. Then, Rider of White's figure rose in the light blue and pink morning sky.

Once he reached a certain height, Rider snapped his figure. Following his command, the golden aircraft adorned with a somptuous garden became visible again and Rider slowly descended toward the throne standing in the middle, and crossed his legs.

"Then prepare to be crushed by my might, human!"

Two wing-like parts deployed on each side of the golden ark and the Noble Phantasm, which up until now had been a throne in the Heavens, flew fiercely toward Saber's small figure on the ground like a divine arrow. In front of the deadly hawk, Saber didn't take a single step back and raised his holy shield in front of him to intercept the aircraft's charge.

The shock when the two met was mighty and made the ground shook more than any of Rider's missile ever had before. Unsurprisingly, Rider's Noble Phantasm had much more momentum and power, and Saber was ruthlessly pushed back like someone trying to drive back a moving wall. But in spite of the bull-like charge pushing further and further away with no resistance, the knight never stop pushing back and didn't show any sigh of giving in.

Through the raising dust and the flying sparks produced by the friction between the tip of the golden ark and Saber's shield, the two Servant stared in each other's eyes; Saber gritting his teeth and pouring all his superhuman strength into stopping the divine chariot, and Rider laughing in wild amusement.

"Hahahahahahahaha! Yes, that's more like it! Entertain me more, Saber!"

The aircraft accelerated and its charge became even more violent. Saber was being pushed back without being able to do anything, crashing into trees, bushes and rocks on the way and smashing through them because of the aircraft's power. But even so, he didn't falter even for a second and kept his legs pressed against the ground like a torero stopping a bull's enraged charge, as if he truly believed he would be able to stop the golden engine this way.

"Good! Haha! This is the first time someone is foolish enough to try and take my Vimana head on! Hahahahaha!"

"Ghuuuuuooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"


The island was plunged in chaos as everyone was either fighting or plotting on their side; everyone except Leo, who had been dashing like a madman through the forest for an eternity despite being already out of breath.

Technically, it hadn't been that long since Saber's Master had fought against Linandir Eïchtobell and gotten away, but the neverchanging forest scenery made him feel like he was one of those guinea pigs running desperately on a wheel, having only the illusion to move forward. That, and the fact that he knew not a damn thing about the situation at hand.

The other reason for his eternal race was that the location of the fighting had been slowly moving away up until now, not allowing him to get close. Which is why Leo was quite surprised when said fighting location came back right in his direction at the speed of a roller coaster and in the form of a shining spacecraft-thingy.

Fortunately, Leo had the good reaction to roll aside with as much energy than he had put into running to avoid being smashed in pieces by the golden aircraft, all while a shower of pebble and small stones poured on him.

"What the -Ouch! Ow! Ack! That shit hurts!"

All while protecting his head with his arms, Leo felt the giant Noble Phantasm pass barely five meters away from him.

Then, even though it was only for a second, Leo caught a glimpse of a persone in armor.

"Saber?!"

"Gh..Master..!"

Saber realized Leo was too close to them for his own good. Unfortunately he was actually unable to move because of the pressure put on his body. However, when Saber called him, the golden ark completely stopped in its track all of sudden as if it had been immobile from the beggining.

Saber, on the other hand, didn't expect this abrupt braking and lost his balance as he flew over a good fifteen meters.

"So this is your Master." Still sat in his throne with his arms crossed on his chest, Rider of White considered Leo -who was still crouching on the ground witha taste of dirt in his mouth- with a haughty look. "As expected, how underwhelming."

Although Leo didn't appreciate the comment, he couldn't really prove him wrong, sadly. Thus, all Leo could do was stare back into those eyes glimmering with a demonic light, and ask:

"Who are you supposed to be?"

Rider frowned at Leo's unexpected answer.

"You aren't a Servant of Red, are you? Yet you attacked Rider of Black." He elaborated. "Then, I take it you're from neither faction."

"Ho? Then our existance really wasn't known? Then I guess I'll have to make the presentation again."

Rider stood up from the luxurious throne. Although he was facing Leo, the height between them as well as Rider's look of disdain made it clear they weren't on an equal footing.

"I am the Rider of 'White' -so from the White Faction."

"The White Faction...?" Even though he asked for it, Leo didn't really know what to do with this information. Not only that, this man's mere presence was pressuring for normal people like Leo, so he had to focus not to look away from the unknown Servant. "Then, are there other-"

"Also."

Rider interrupted Leo before the latter could ask another question.

"?!"

When Rider opened his hands, a bow and an arrow materialized, and Rider aimed at Leo before Saber's Master could understand what was happening.

"You are not allowed to speak to me on such a tone, human!"

The bow fired and the single arrow flew toward Leo like a dart of light, too fast for him to see it coming. The only thing he could do was to close his eyes by innate reflex, and wait for the deadly projectile to strike.

CLANG

"..."

But the arrow didn't reach him. With the sound of metal clashing against metal, the projectile was intercepted by a round shield raised in front of Leo.

"I shall not allow this, Rider." Saber's voice rose. "Your opponent is me; I won't let you even touch my Master...! Or are you such a coward that you cannot defeat me without resorting to underhanded methods?"

When Leo opened his eyes, Saber was indeed standing between him and the Rider of White. Leo was relieved. Or rather, he felt helpless. He was still panting because of his personal marathon and had difficulties standing up; and he would have been killed if it wasn't for Saber. But neither of them were in great shape: Leo wasn't sure what Saber had tried to do when facing this flying mass of solid gold with nothing but his shield, but there were clear signs that he had fought hard.

"Ah, wait Saber, I'll heal your injuries right now!"

Leo muttered a few words and the cut all over Saber's skin disappeared. There was no difference in Saber's expression between before and after Leo healed him, but the Servant tahnked him earnestly nonetheless.

"Thank you, Master."

"Oh, right! Saber, what about Hatsuyo?!"

It was, after all, the reason why he had sent Saber in the first place.

"I didn't see her." Saber tilted his head as if he was forgetting something. "Ah, Lancer was there but I forgot to ask him."

It didn't matter. Hatsuyo had been far from the battles and that was all Leo had needed to know.

"Ugh, and to think I sprinted all the way until here for nothing..."

But no one was listening to his complaint.

Saber had his gaze turned toward Rider who had returned to his seat and had watched the two of them without saying a word, but Saber was still warry. When he had pounded on him with his Noble Phantasm, Rider had called it a 'Vimana'.

It was the first time he heard this word, but the knowledge granted to him by the Grail contained informations about it. Although it didn't really help Saber find out Rider's identity, he knew that these were often the personal chariots of the gods. If Rider of White was on the same level than Divine Spirits, then Saber would truly be unable to beat him alone.

"Hm." Perched on his flying ship, Rider puffed. "I'm a coward, you say? But tell me Saber: do you call someone a coward when they crush an ant under their foot? No, because there's no meaning in the ant's life or the action of stomping on it to begin with. If you try to kill an ant, no one will mind because it as an ant. The same goes with me: humans are like ants to me, and I don't give it any complicated thought. But I guess youre right; there's no reason to bother crushing this one ant..."

The Vimana started to ascend slowly in the sky until it had a clear view on the whole island.

"After all, that's not the reason why I came here. My reason for coming all the way until here is because I made a bet with another king. That, and to crush a great many ants."

The Vimana then emitted an intense light, forcing Leo to protect his nude eyes with his arm. The glow grew stronger at the same time the shape of the Vimana grew bigger. Eventually, the golden aircraft had returned to its previous form of golden seven stories fortress.

"You, your Master..."

A loud ringing noise resounded throughout the foundation of the floating fortress, and tens of canons and other pieces of artillery slowly came out from within the Vimana. Each one of them was, of course, made of gold just like the rest of the citadel, and they were all pointed in different direction toward the nameless island.

"...and all the other ants!"

Inside his golden throne room, Rider of White snapped his finger and, with the same timing, all the canons filled with a great quantity of magical energy, so much that even Leo could feel it. And, the moment after, all canons fired at will.


Death and fire was now raining down on the small patch of earth in such a way that there was no real safe place to hide. For this reason, all those who were still alive on the island were running left and right to avoid being scorched by the rays of light pouring from the golden construct know as Vimana.

Among the flames and the falling trees, a black figure was dashing at a superhuman speed, followed by another sillhouette.

"Lancer! Take care of the rubbles in my way!"

"Understood!"

While Hatsuyo put all her focus and energy into escaping the shots from the flying fortress, Lancer, who had better agility and instinct, cleared away any obstacle in her way so that she wouldn't trip over or run into a blazing tree by mistake. Her method to avoid the lasers was simple, but would be clearly impossible if she didn't have her special armor boosting her speed: all she had to do was to observe the pieces of artillery poking out of the Vimana. If she saw one pointing in direction of her location, she had less than a second before it lauched its beam of light and destroyed the area.

That way, Lancer of Red's Master zigzagged her way through the burning forest.


"Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrun!"

On his side, Leo didn't have any special equipment that would let him make his way through the sea of obstacles. Not only that but his feet already ached from all the running he had done to reach the location he was now fleeing from. He had no idea where he was going; it was just that his survival instict was tell him to run, and to run as fast as possible to survive at least one more minute.

In the end, his tactic was pretty much the same as Hatsuyo: have Saber clear the way of any obstacle that could impede his desperate rush. On the other hand, he had no way of predicting the path of the lasers, nor had he the time to look up and check. That's why this task was Saber's. When the latter felt an attack coming their way, he would simply grab Leo and move him out of the beam's trajectory.

That way, the Master of Red had been able to survive up until this point.

Yet eventually, he came upon someone unexpected.

"Hey, Hatsuyo!" Leo waved his hand.

The samurai girl gave his a look of disbelief, as though she didn't expect him to be alive in this giant furnace, quickly followed by a black look which attested of her disapointment about his being alive in this giant furnace. At any rate, no one had the time to ask questions so the two kept bolting side by side, although Hatsuyo had clearly less trouble doing so than Leo.

"Ah, that won't do." Lancer commented.

"What's the matter, Lancer?!" Hatsuyo asked the sighing Servant.

"It would have been easier if we had stayed split up, but if we're grouped like this it will be simpler for this asshole to target us."

True, though it looked like Rider of White was firing blindly with the hope of killing them, it was probably because he had trouble locating them among this huge mess. But if they were spotted as a group, all they would gain from it was having all the canons pointed at them specifically.

In other words...

"Then we only have one choice."

Saber concluded, although what conclusion he reached was unknown. Would they have to split up in order to survive?

"Alright, I'll follow you, Saber!" Lancer added.

"Wait! What are you two on about?!" Leo cried between two breath.

Saber answered him while hacking down several burning tree trunk on their way.

"So that he won't target you, we Servant will have to keep him focused on us!"

"What?! All of this focused on you two...?!"

"Lancer, I'm counting on you!"

"Understood, Master."

Unlike Leo, Hatsuyo didn't seem to have any qualm sending her Servant as a decoil. There was no way to know if it was because of the trust she put in him or because she valued her own life more though. In any case, the two Servants nodded to each other and disappeared amidst the flames. Leo and Hatsuyo were now alone running side by side on the deadly obstacle course.

Tripping and ending up burning alive or being burnt to a crisp by the lasers wasn't the only danger here; he they stayed any longer in the middle of all those flames, they would quickly start to suffocate. Yet, for some reason, Leo still found the way to waste some oxygene.

"Hey, Hatsuyo! Are you alright! What happened in- Woh!, don't swing your katana here, I'm seriously going to die!"

"What was that about being worried about me and looking for me, huh? Idiot! I don't need the worry of someone who is weaker than me! You better die here!"

"No, seriously, stop swinging that thing! I'm sorry, you hear! I'm sorry but if you continue I'm seriouly going to run into a tree by trying to avoid your sword!"

"Shut up! Just die!"

That they found a way to quarrel in the middle of such a situation was truly a miracle; though honestly, Leo had expected better for their reunion. He knew Hatsuyo hated it when he acted like he cared about her. It wasn't like one of those characters he could read about in manga and such, where they actually apreciated the thought; it genuinely pissed her off, and for some reason a part of Leo like to tease her about it. But for once he was truly worried about her, he had hoped God would reward him better than that.

Anyway, now that their Servants weren't there to look after them, they had to look out for obstacle son their way.

CRAAAC

With the sound of something cracking, a large tree that had managed to remain rigidly upright started to fall in front of them. Fortunately, they weren't underneath it when it fell heavily on the ground. Unfortunately, it was now blocking the way, and they didn't have the time to get around it.

Their only choice was to jump over it.

Hatsuyo lept over it without difficulty, but Leo didn't have the athletic skills to do the same. Instead, he observed the surrounding of the fallen trunk.

(There!)

He noticed a rock near the trunk that was big enough to be used as a stepping stone. Leo headed toward the stone while trying not to run to fast to miss his chance. Then, he gradually accelerated his sprint and, when he reached the stone, he stepped on it and tried to put as much strength as he could into this one jump.

"Fuh...haaa!"

He sprung from the rock toward the fallen tree. Yet, even with the help of adrenaline he couldn't make it to the other side in one single jump, he needed to support himself on the tree with his hands like when jumping over a fence. However, that meant touching the scorched tree with his bare hands.

"...!"

Leo gritted his teeth and ignored the pain; in fact he didn't feel pain yet, rather a great and uncomfortable warmth. But with this he was able to cross over the huge obstacle without problem. Or so he thought, be when he landed on the other side and tried to start running again, Leo felt a resistance.

Whe he looked back, he saw that the bottom of his sweater had stuck itself on one of the branch of the tree. As much as it pained him to let go of a loyal piece of clothing, he didn't have the time to remove it. Thus, he had to quickly unzip the sweater before it caught fire and to keep running with only his shirt on.

But when he thought he was finally off the hook, Leo saw too late another tree falling, this time right on him. He had noticed it to late to evade it.

"What are you doing?!"

Yet, when he thought that the tree was going to crush him for good, there was a flash in front of him, and the tree was cut in two. The two parts of the tree fell on each side of Leo, but the latter was uninjured.

What had saved Leo from the falling rubble was a samurai standing in front of him with an expression of anger.

"You're too damn slow! If you can't even take care of yourself, at least don't slow me down!"

But despite what she said, Hatsuyo had just come back to help him, and she then grabbed him to lead him out of this rat trap. Or rather, she grabbed his collar and started rushing while dragging his like a coat over her shoulder.

"Arg..Wait! Hatsuyo- Arg... Your strangling me!"

"I'll leave you here if you don't shut up! And it's Toriyama-san for you!"


With the intensive bombardement taking place, it was a wonder how the black hill in the middle of the island was still standing. In fact, it wasn't exsactly unscathed: all that was left was some kind of completely crooked pillar, like what would be exposed in a modern art gallery. It was still tough enough to stay still though.

This black hill was Saber's and Lancer's destination.

They weren't stupid enough to believe they could attract Rider of White's attention easily. Even if they did, their odd of surviving intensive fire from the Vimana was close to zero. They had to come up with a better and more straightforward method.

"Sorry to count on you again, Saber." Lancer apologized from the bottom of the remnant of the black hill.

Right now, Saber was standing at the top of the twisted column. He had dematerialized his golden sword already and was holding his snow white shield with both hand. His gaze was directed toward the giant glowng form in the sky.

"Don't worry Lancer. That was my idea to begin with."

"Well, even if you say that I still have no role to play." The Servant of the Spear felt a bit useless.

Saber apologized to his Master in his mind and raised his shield above his head like a miniature roof. He had already used this Noble Phantasm without asking permission from his Master once because he had deemed it necessary. This case was the same. Leo was obviously feeling responsible toward Saber, so he would not allow him to put himself in danger. Although Saber was thanksful for his Master's thoughtfullness, he had a role as a Servant and could not let his Master be killed.

Thats' why, he held his shield high above him like he was shielding the whole island.

"Lord Camelot!"

An intense pure white light emanatted from the shield. The light gathered around the shield, creating a wall of light growing larger and larger until it be came a large dome covering the whole island from the intensive fire.

Saber's thought at this moment wasn't for his own life nor the threat he was facing, but for the large quantity of prana he was consuming right now.

The golden light of the Vimana and the immaculate white light from Lord Camelot clashed and merged. The massive shield of light intercepted the lasers fired by the golden fortress, and the latter came crashing against Saber's Noble Phantasm. Hundreds of explosions shook the shield as well as the arm holding it, and even the island which was now out of reach was trembling under the fierce assault of Rider's artillery.

The black hill supporting Saber felt the impact as well, and like the last foundation supporting a castle as it crumbles down, it started to creak and to fissure under the great pressure.


The trurmoil shaking the island reached the depths as well.

In the underground lake, everything was literally falling apart: the stalagtites hanging to the ceiling fell heavily in the water like a rain of arrows, the ceiling of the cave was starting to partially crumble down as well, making this world of shadow quake like never. Amidst all this chaos and falling rubble, the pillar of black stone that was standing in the middle of the cavern was fissuring and falling apart too.

However, the treasure it contained, the Grail Shard, was nowhere to be seen anymore. The same went for the Servant who had been beholding it.


"Rider, why did you stop firing!"

In the golden throne room at the top of the Vimana fortress, the Rider of White was sitting on his rightful seat leg crossed and his head resting on his fist. His expression indictaed his irritation and the previous excitation he had felt during his fight against Saber was completely gone.

Now he was just looking at the scene underneath the flying fortress through some kind of mirror hanging to one of the golden walls of the room.

Standing next to him was his Master, Saten Naraku, as well as the latter's second personality, NARAKU.

"Right, dumbass! Why did you stop bombarding them?! We clearly had the advantage here!"

"..."

Although his complaint was justified, Rider didn't answer, and instead gave the adolescent a black and imperative look which ordered him to shut up. The power and anger hiding behind this gaze had Naraku close his mouth without realizing.

The Master of White gulped.

"Stupid Master." Then, finally, Rider spoke up with a soft yet authoritarian voice. "I let myself go wild and wasted too much magical energy, that is all. You cannot provide me with prana so my reserve is limited." He sighed. "To think I gave in, that's the result of having a single head...!"

There was nothing Naraku could say. It was true that, as he wasn't a magus, he wasn't able to provide Rider with prana. Instead he had let his Servant eat the soul of innocent passerbys, which didn't please Rider who found it unfitting and degradant.

Now that his Master had stopped talking, Rider redirected his attention toward the mirror. There was something strange going on down there: the ground was shaking. Yet, Rider had already retrieved his canons inside his Vimana.

It didn't seem to be the doing of the Saber or the Lancer of Red either. Then who was...?


Lancer and Saber were also well positioned to feeling the tremous; though that wasn't as much because they were on the ground than because they were near the remains of the black hill. It wasn't a continuous shaking like a earthquake, it was rather at regular, timely intervals -as if someone was punching their way through the floor.

Eventually, more and more cracks started to run across the black stone; then it was the area surrounding it. Slowly but surely, the soil was shattering.

Then, all of sudden, an entire section of the area around the black hill and a part of the latter collapsed and disappeared in the darkness of the abyss like a ship sinking into the deep sea. The rest followed quickly and soon enough there was a large hole right in the middle of the island.

Then, from inside the rift...

"...A horse?" Lancer wondered under his breath.

The thunder of a horse's hoovering came out from the depth of the chasm, as well as a loud and victorious neigh. The noise got closer and, indeed, a large horse came out from the large hole by climbing on the rubbles. An emperor clad in black and gold was proudly riding on his back with his blood red cape floating in the wind. Although covered in dust from his ascension through the caverne's ceiling, Rider of Black was standing there with a majestuous presence surrounding him.

"Rider..!"

"This guy is still alive? I thought his Master was dead."

The Servant of Black who didn't die when his ship had been destroyed by his White counterpart and who hadn't disappeared even though his Master was no more looked down on the two Servants of Red standing away from the chasm created by Rider.

His eyes fell on Saber and he frowned.

"You worm..! I'll have my revanche on you."

Saber took a step back and materialized his sword in his right hand. His arm had suffered a lot of damage from his previous use of his Noble Phantasm, but even if he only had one arm left he wouldn't back away. Lancer did the same and the two of them were ready to face the Rider of Black.

But the latter, rather than attacking them, bit his lips ragefully and turned away.

"I'll have my revanche, but for now I shall retire! But don't worry..." An expression mixing wrath and a mad excitation. "I'll be sure to profit to my heart's content of your scream of pain later!"

Saber then noticed something he hadn't at first in Rider of Black's hand: something golden and emitting an otherwordly light of the same color. It wasn't anything ordinary, nor was it a Noble Phantasm of Rider's...

"It can't be..."

Saber reconized the artifact in Rider's hand as soon as he layed his eyes on it. It was normal after all; although it wasn't the same and it was only a fragment, he had already seen it when he was still alive, the goal that led him on his quest.

The Holy Grail.

Lancer of Red soon understood as well, and both Red Servants dashed toward the horseman, but it was too late. Rider cracked the reins and his horse Incitatus galopped at an unmatchable speed, even for Lancer of Red. The white horse closed the distance between the center of the island and the border in a blink and would soon reach the ocean.

However...


"You damn little ant." Inside the Vimana, a fulminating Rider of White raised his hand. "Do you really think I'll let you get away?!"

At his command, one of the canons which had disappeared inside the Vimana reappeared.


The ray of light shot from the golden canon came down like a bolt of lightning toward Rider of Black before the latter could reach the end of the island. It was the same attack that had destroyed his own Noble Phantasm, Diana Nemorensis. Thus, there was no doubt that this attack would be fatal if it was direct.

Yet, the horseman didn't seem to realize the concentrate of magical energy heading in his direction in the form of a laser. The crazy emperor Rider of Black was muttering something unintelligible to himself under his breath.

It all happened in an instant -the canon fired the laser which caught up with the Black Rider and produced a large explosion that turned the soil into scorched land...

Or so Rider of White had expected.

"What happened?"

The ray of light did hit and caused an explosion...but not where Rider of Black was located. It had been inetrcepted by something while in midair before it could harm the mad emperor. As for what intercepted it, or rather who-

"Go on, Rider! You're the only one who can cross the sea fast enough to lose them!"

The last person who would have been expected to stand there -Archer of Black.

"Impossible! This damn bowman...!" Rider of White sweared.

What was incredible wasn't that it was Archer of Black who stopped the attack, it was that he hadn't done it with any kind of projectile: he had taken it head on with no armor, no counter strike and without having the time to activate a Noble Phantasm.

And yet there he stood, still alive after being struck by a laser strong enough to harm a Noble Phantasm. It wasn't that he was completely unscathed -his body was covered in serious burns that would have killed a normal human and his clothes had been totally burnt to ashes. But he still had two legs, two arms and a head.

Rider of Black didn't even thank Archer for taking the attack in his place; that is, if he ever noticed what had happened. Before another laser could be launched, Incitatus jumped over the cliff separating land and sea and fell graciously down toward the salty water. Rather than sinking like a stone, the hooves hammered the surface of the water as though it was solid. Like this, the sillhouette of Rider of Black riding his horse slowly disappeared in the horizon.


"I won't let him get away with this." Rider sat back on the golden throne and gave order to his Vimana.

Once again, the flying fortress turned back into its smaller, aircraft-like form and turned into stealth mode, becoming completely invisible along with its passengers.

"What do you plan on doing, Rider?"

"Tailing him, obviou-...what is this smell?"

A foul smell had invaded the golden ark. When asked about it, highschool student Saten Naraku fidgeted.

"Well, you see...you did drive your chariot brutally and in all direction so..."

"..."

Rider didn't ask any further question and contented to rub his forehead, then he gave a silent order to the Viimana to follow after Rider of Black.


After the golden aircraft and Rider of Black couldn't be seen anymore, Arcehr of Black fell to his knees with a groan of pain. Although he was still still in a single piece, he did sustain heavy damages. When he looked at his hand, he saw these didn't look quite human yet and were more alike to dead branches in winter.

But no matter his injuries, since he was a Servant, he could live on as long as his spiritual cores were intact.

Archer, are you okay?!

His Master, Elena Bujart inquired about his state through their mental link.

I'm still alive. But it was worth it: our Rider somehow managed to get hold of the Grail Shard and ran away with it. It's our win for this round.

Yes. We should be leaving as well; we did what we came here for. Are you in condition for fighting?

Not until I'll have been healed at least enough to hold my bow correctly. But I should be fine; since their objective have already vanished, Lancer and Saber of Red must have returned to their Master out of concern for them.

I see. Still, turn into spiritual form, we never know.

Thus, the figure of an injured Archer of Black disappeared like mist in the rain.


It couldn't be called dawn anymore. The sun was now very high and very bright in the light blue sky.

The sound of the waves breaking against the sandy beach coupled with the calm wistling of the wind felt so relieving as if marking the end of that crazy night. Too bad the destroyed island was an excellent remiding of it.

Anyway, Leo was able to breath in and out heavily and relaxe for the first time in what felt like an eternity. He was actually lying on his side on the sandy beach of the island, looking at the horizon with vacant eyes. They were really lucky to stumble upon the beach when they exited the forest. If they had found a cliff instead, things could have turned out for the worst. And by 'the worst' Leo meant Hatsuyo jumping down the cliff and taking him with her in death.

He had no idea what happened in the forest for the bombardment to stop, but since Leo felt a great quantity of prana being pumped from his rings, it probably meant that Saber had used a Noble Phantasm. Come to think of it, Leo wasn't able to see Saber's Noble Phantasm even once during the night. Whatever, the only this that mattered was that everything was back to how it was before...is what he wished he could say.

There was one thing that definitely changed and would probably never return to what it was. It was Leo's view of Hatsuyo.

The reason Leo was lying on his side with his eyes vacant was because he was trying his best not to look at Hatsuyo at the moment. It had nothing to do with their fight in the forest, nor the fact that Hatsuyo almost suffocated him to death.

When they finally came out of the burning forest and were able to catch a break at last, Leo had noticed something he hadn't beore because of the immediate danger. It was that Hatsuyo's body and face were covered in blood. When he saw this, Leo's mind instantly connected this macabre appearance with Rider of Black and the massacre of Candelaria. Thinking about this gave him a bitter taste in his mouth and made his stomach feel messy, so now he was doing his best not to look at her bloody body.

But there wasn't only that.

When he asked her, Hatsuyo had told him with all the natural in the world that she had killed one of the Master of Black -whom Leo deduced to be Linandir. She looked at him and said it like it was obvious. Linandir had told it to him too, hadn't he? It's a war. That meant people were going to kill each other for one reason or another.

But how was he supposed to accpet that fact when he looked at Hatsuyo?

If someone you knew at school, whom you met everyday and talked to often suddenly came to you drenched in blood, claiming to have killed someone, would you just accept it? Would you accept that this person who you'd never have imagined to be able to kill someone, had done it and didn't have any remorse about it?

That's how it was: Hatsuyo had killed someone. Maybe she killed people before as well, seeing how little it seemed to matter to her.

Hatsuyo had killed someone.

To Leo, Hatsuyo was just an annoying girl with a very bad temper and how drew her sword way too easily to get out of an argument. She was annoying, but at least she felt 'true'. In this Mage's Association where backstabs and politic were at the center of everything, Hatsuyo was a person with a brutal honesty, and thus she had nothing to hide. Everytime she said she was going to kill him, she was joking.

That's what he thought.

That's what he still hoped.

After all, didn't she come back to help him when he almost died in that damned forest?

But now, she had gone and done it.

She actually killed someone.

Leo didn't especially like Linandir Eïchtobell, Rider of Black's Master. The short glimpse he had of him instead led him to hate him. Even if he wasn't directly responsible, he hadn't tried to stop Rider from killing tens of people. Leo knew that and yet...

Just by thinking of the amount of blood on Hatsuyo's armor and clothes, he could imagine just how gruesome his death must have been. He remembered the face of the man called Linandir. Then, he remembered the bloodied face of Hatsuyo, and he imagined her killing Linandir with the same expression she always had. The mere thought of it sent a chill down his spine, and he kept looking anywhere but at Hatsuyo.

He didn't know what she was doing. Last time he checked, she was standing further away on the beach and looking at the forest, waiting for her Servant to come back.

All these thoughts Leo was ruminating were interrupted when he heard a pair of footsteps on the sandy beach coming from the forest. He stood up to look and saw Lancer and Saber walking side by side. Lancer was stretching as if he was having a good day, but both had a serious look on their face.

"Lancer, what is the situation?" Hatsuyo's voice rose.

"Everyone is gone, one way or another~. And also, we weren't able to get he Shard Grail."

"I am sorry, Master." Saber walked up to Leo and looked at his feet. "Even though I was there, I couldn't stop Rider of Black from taking the Grail Shard with him."

"It's alright, you don't need to stress out about it. I mean, sure, we're gonna get scolded, but it's not like we lost the war, right?"

Leo had said that to cheer his Servant up. Leo never had never been interested in the Grail to start with, so Saber didn't have to feel bad about it. But that was wrong. Leo's mistake was to have thought Saber was feeling down because he couldn't bring the Grail to his Master.

But that was wrong.

"Yes, but Master. If you order me to go after them now, then I will...!" Saber offered in all seriousness.

"What are you saying?! They're already gone since long, right? Then you don't have to try the impossible!"

"!"

Crap. Leo had said this with much more harshness than he had intended. Saber was taken aback by Leo's answer.

"Yes...but...if you order it..." Saber babbled while looking down.

"What do you mean, 'if I order it'? I can't order you the impossible!" Leo didn't understand. Why did Saber seem to refute that obvious fact? "You've already done much more than necessary tonight! Is the Grail so important to you?! And I told you to stop calling me Master, didn't I?"

But that was wrong.

"Yes." Saber replied, not by babbling, but with a calm, adamant voice. "The Grail is the most important thing for me. That's why I answered your summoning, Master."

Saber especially insisted on this last word. It wasn't a taunt; it sounded more like reproach.

"My role is to find the Grail. And you are my Master. Do not be mistaken about this."

Leo had been wrong to assume Saber felt bad for him. Saber was the one who wanted the Grail more than anything; he was looking down because he couldn't get his hands on it.

Leo found it stupid. He didn't know why, he was supposed to be happy that both he and Hatsuyo survived that round. Yet, he could only think of how stupid that was. Saber had already found the Grail during his quest, right? Then why did he need to look for it again?

Leo knew, because he was the one who healed Saber: his Servant had suffered many injuries. Even now, when looking at his left arm you could see that it was partially broken. Why did Saber have to be hurt so much for something he had alredy done? That wish of his only sounded logical to him, the knight who was chosen to find the Grail. Leo thought it was stupid.

But he couldn't voice any objection. In front of Saber's unwavering eyes of steel, it was Leo's turn to be taken aback.

"W-well they're too far for you to go after then now anyway!"

Then, to escape his Servant's gaze, Leo turned toward Hatsuyo, who was speaking to Lancer on her side. He tried his best not to look at the blood covering her, but Leo felt nauseous already.

When she saw him approaching, Hatsuyo stopped talking to Lancer and walked toward Leo.

"Are you done? Then let's get out of here."

"Wait, what about Abraham?"

"What about him? He's probably dead somewhere, for all I care!"

"Hey, don't just bury people like this!"

Leo agreed that the odd of the magus having survived the attack of the Vimana without the help of a Servant were low, but it just didn't feel right to leave without making sure he wasn't still alive.

"You can go look for him if you want." But Hatsuyo refused his point of view. "I'm out."

"And how?"

"What?"

"How will you leave the island?"

"Well, by taking the boat we stole."

Hatsuyo looked at him as if it was obvious. But...

"You mean the boat you crashed into the island?!" Leo shouted while pointing at the carcass of the small fishing boat lying on the beach, already dead and gone.

When he remebered her of that fact, Hatsuyo looked the other way.

"I don't see what you're talking about."

"Why, you...! How are we supposed to go home now?!"

"We'll just swim."

"What are you saying?! As if a human being without any training could swim all the way back from this island!"

Leo ran after Hatsuyo who was already heading toward the salty water and grabbed her shoulder. Somehow, this felt like the fight they always had and Leo appreciated it. It didn't last long however.

"Gh...!"

"!"

When Leo grabbed her shoulder, Hatsuyo's body jerked a little and she let out a small groan. At first, Leo didn't understand why, but soon he saw that the shoulder he was holding was covered in bandages.

"Wait, you are hurt? Why didn't you say it earlier!?"

Leo tried to turn Hastuyo around because he wanted to check her wound, but the samurai girl pushed him away.

"I don't need your concern, idiot! I'll kill you if you don't leave me alone!"

It was the same as usual. Just like usual, Hatsuyo threatened him when she didn't have any argument. But this time, Leo felt a chill running through his spine and hastily pulled back his hand from her shoulder.

"A-alright." Without noticing it, he had answered unlike usual.

Hatsuyo noticed this unusual outcome. Yes, normally he would have fought back and tried to heal her no matter what she said. But this time he had acted like a scaredy cat, and Hatsuyo raised an eyebrow. Leo didn't know what expression he was making, but Hatsuyo looked at him weirdly.

Then, she turned away without saying anything.

"Anyway." Leo said weakly. "You can't possibly think of actually swiming, right?"

"Do you have anything better to offer?" Hatsuyo replied without turning back.

"I don't know! But I sure as hell can't swim such a distance!"

"I can just turn into spirit form so don't mind me~." Lancer commented.

That's right! The Servants!

"Saber!" Leo turned to his own Servant, haing almost forgotten their previous serious discussion. "When Rider's boat was destroyed, you walked on water, right?"

"That was an exception, Master. It was the blessing of God that allowed me to bring you to safety. Now that there is no danger nearby, I cannot do that again." Saber apologized.

"Arrg, but then how do we go back?! I really don't want to swim!"

"It's alright Master. I can swim while carrying you."

"That sounds really unpractical! Oh, I know! I can call Oncle Michael! Ah, I must also tell him about the White Faction!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Ah, crap, there is no signal on this island. Is there really no other way?!"

And then, while rubbing his head for ideas to come out, Leo realized. Hatsuyo too realized, although she didn't show it. Lancer as well, even though he wasn't concerned, understood.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The three of them were looking at Saber. Or rather, they were looking at the big round shield in his arms.

"...Master?"


Thank you for reading!

Hey guys, it's already the tenth chapter! And it's barely the tenth chapter!

So, a pretty short and uneventful chapter...is what I thought it would be but for some reason this chapter ended up having my biggest word count yet.

Anyway, with this chapter the Azores Arc is drawn to a close! That means starting from the next chapter I'll be able to focuse on other Servants, other Masters and another place! I guess you've pretty much forgottent about the rest of the cast, but whatever.

Once again, thank you for reading this chapter! Dont hesitate to review, comment or ask a question!

~Legends Storyteller