A.N. Sorry for taking so long. This is the climax of the story and the scene did not come quietly. Rather kicking and screaming to tell the truth. And then it took a lot of effort to get it to sit still and let me analyze people's characters to get them to act in character.
And then North America's FGO GUDAGUDA events started and the farming time cut down on writing time.
Not to mention, I started working on a new story that I hope to finish in a few months.
Also, while I was at it, I rewrote some previous chapters (I think they were focused on chapters 1 and 8?). Altered some scenes to make a plot point in the next chapter have some foreshadowing. I honestly like it better than what I originally had planned.
The main reason you have this chapter right now was because I decided it would be better to split the climax over two chapters than try to cram it all into one.
Checklist Item 13: Primary Directive: Fulfill the First Order!
Antarctica, Chaldea, 2017
The command room was silent.
Everyone was staring in horror at the monitor which was centered on Berserker as he rampaged in the small tunnel.
Shirou was tightening his fists in frustration.
He knew there was nothing he could have done to save them. Even if he had been there, the surprise and direction of Berserker's attack would have caught him off-guard just as it had everyone else. He would have never anticipated Berserker bursting through the wall and if he had expected Berserker, he would have been facing down the tunnel instead.
He would have been out of position when Berserker would have struck.
Sometimes, Shirou hated knowing how he and his opponents would act in a combat situation.
Usually, he could manage to manipulate the flow of battle so that they focused on him, but that wouldn't have worked on Berserker.
Berserker's Madness Enhancement increased his speed, endurance and strength. Without Avalon's healing properties, Shirou would not survive the first blow, even if he parried or blocked it perfectly. The only way to survive would have been to dodge.
But enraged Berserker's speed was just so fast…
Only if Saber had been there, Shirou lamented. Only Saber could have held Berserker off long enough for them to win or until she managed to win.
But Saber wasn't there. She couldn't be there.
Because if she had been, she would be the Saber responsible for this.
Saber would have been the one responsible for causing the Singularity and vanishing all the people in Fuyuki.
But Saber would never do that.
The only other thing that could have worked would have been Gilgamesh. But that king, fortunately, wasn't in this Singularity. He would have shown himself by now if he had been.
Maybe if Illya had been there, they could have stopped Berserker. Illya could and had called Berserker off before. With some promises and talking, Shirou could have persuaded her to let the group of four go.
Of course, it would probably have cost him his freedom and life. But better his life than those four's.
But it was a moot point. Illya wasn't alive in the Singularity. No one was except for the Servants who had survived whatever calamity wiped out most of the living people.
"Yes!" someone cheered, breaking Shirou from his morose thoughts.
Shirou looked up at the wide-spread happy and relieved hub-bub of the people in the Command Center. On the display screen, Shirou could see that the Servants, Master and Director had all managed to escape Berserker, the projected image showing Olga running away in the front, Mash's shield clutched in both arms, Fujimura carrying Kyrielight in a walk-assist behind her, and Caster making a box of runes around Berserker.
Oh, that was an option too. Man, he was getting too used to all-out battles if he forgot that you didn't need to win a fight to survive one.
Shirou breathed out a sigh of relief.
They didn't need to beat Berserker. They just needed to escape him. And if Mash was in good enough condition to walk with assistance, then she would probably live.
Definitely would need healing though. You didn't just walk off a hit from Berserker, Shirou remembered the feeling of missing his stomach all too well.
Unless Mash's Heroic Spirit also had a regenerative Noble Phantasm like Saber or Berserker had, in which case she should be fine by the time for breakfast.
Good. Everyone survived.
"Romani!" Olga panted as she continued her run, clutching the large shield awkwardly with both arms. "Get me that local! The technician guy, Shirou!"
"Yes Ma'am!" Roman said happily, relieved smile on his face as he typed something in. "He's right here!"
"What is it director?" Shirou asked, wondering what she could want to talk about with Berserker behind her.
"What do you know about Saber?" she asked bluntly, panting out the words as she ran. "You were Saber's Master, weren't you? What are her skills, abilities, Noble Phantasms?"
"I can't be of help there," Shirou frowned. "My Saber would never do-"
"I don't care if you think that someone is impersonating her,if it is a different Saber or if Saber is under a Command Seal or if you just don't understand your former Servant at all!" she breathed out in in her labored exhales. "What I want to know is what could we expect from a Saber that could defeat THAT Berserker!"
"Oh," Shirou frowned. That made some sense. If someone managed to steal Saber Command Seals like Rule Breaker could have, then Saber might have been forced into something like this. Shirou still didn't think that it was his Saber though.
But high-quality Servants able to defeat Berserker were rare and they would share some commonalities.
"In that case, the Saber will have at least one A rank ability, probably more if the A rank isn't much higher than normal A rank abilities. Either their Strength or Noble Phantasm," Shirou recalled. "Berserker's Godhand would render him immune to everything B rank and below. If the current Saber doesn't have an option well suited to defeating Berserker such as an anti-Divinity weapon, then Saber's weapon of choice would have to be A+ rank at least."
"How would that compare to Lord Chaldeas?" Olga asked.
"Umm," Shirou blinked. "Don't know?"
He didn't know the properties of Lord Chaldeas. It was good enough to stop bad copies of Kanshou and Bakuya but they were C ranked Noble Phantasms, not A rank.
But how would the Shielder's Noble Phantasm compare to this Saber's Noble Phantasm?
"Fantastic," Olga grumbled as she suddenly stopped in a cavern that was bigger than the tunnel. She was nearly falling over until she leaned against the wall, almost dropping the shield to the ground before turning around to the pair still following her and yelled, "Stop and rest here!"
The boy may have nodded as he slowed his staggering run. Entering the cavern, he looked around before helping to carry the still disoriented Kyrielight to a rock and setting her back against it before collapsing beside her.
"Continue," Olga snapped to Shirou out as she tried to catch her breath.
"Um, let's see." Shirou muttered. "Berserker's Godhand rendered him immune to a weapon if he already died once by it. But Rin and Illya ended up arguing about it and concluded that it worked by upping the relative rank of Godhand to the weapon. If this Saber managed to kill him by a single Noble Phantasm, it would have to be something like an A++ weapon. It would get easier if Saber has multiple A rank or higher Noble Phantasms as that Saber could switch between them as Berserker became immune to each."
"Alright," Olga said as she got her breathing a bit more under control. "What about skills? What would Saber's class skills be?"
"Magic Resistance and Riding," Shirou answered promptly. "Those two skills would be the most likely. I think the Magic Resistance would be significant considering-"
"-Caster hasn't been able to kill her yet," Olga finished. "Meaning that Saber probably has at least C rank magic resistance. And we are underground so Riding isn't available."
The Director stopped to think and to catch her breath while Shirou was quiet, trying to think of what else could be inferred from Saber's defeat of the five Servants.
"Saber might have some skill useful against Presence Concealment," Shirou offered up. "Something like Eye of the Mind or Instinct. Saber was able to detect and defeat Assassin and that was after exhausting themselves defeating Berserker if what Caster said is right."
"So a survival skill," Olga sighed. "Wonderful. No chance of ambush or a surprise attack working on her, not if an Assassin had already failed. Not that my runes would change things with that high of a Magic Resistance. Unless… if it doesn't target her…"
Olga start musing as she looked through the pouch on her belt that contained what runes she already had made.
"Sorry," Shirou said reflexively.
"Now tell me about your Saber," Olga commanded. "What Noble Phantasms does she possess?"
"My Saber had three Noble Phantasms," Shirou frowned as he obeyed. He didn't like betraying Saber like this. But they weren't fighting his Saber so it didn't matter if he told them about her. And the information about a first rank Saber, which this Saber also had to be, could help them prepare to fight the Saber that was actually here. "The first was Excalibur, A++ rank, and a full blast was a beam of light that scoured everything in its path. The second was Invisible Air, which is a C-rank Noble Phantasm that is hurricane strength winds wrapped around Excalibur, making it invisible. Saber had to release it in order to use Excalibur but she could use Invisible Air in bursts to accelerate herself. The third is Avalon, which grants healing and a barrier that can't be defeated even by an Anti-World EX rank Noble Phantasm."
"So Saber might be able to survive anything we throw at her," Olga frowned. "Ultimate offense in the form of the Holy Sword and ultimate defense in the form of Avalon as well an ability to increase mobility."
"In other words, excellent abilities all around," Olga groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "How are we going to beat that?"
Shirou opened his mouth to declare that Saber would never be their enemy-
"Yes, yes," Olga dismissively waved her hand at him. "It can't be your Saber so we won't be fighting her, stop saying that already. I'm preparing for fighting King Arthur as Caster has actually seen this Saber and the distortion is already altering history."
Shirou clicked his mouth shut but didn't stop frowning.
"What skills did Saber have?"
"Well, there is Instinct which allows her to predict attacks," Shirou unhappily surrendered up. "She was able to use it to dodge and survive an unblockable attack. She had Charisma-"
"Naturally," Olga sniffed. "King Arthur is a king after all. Probably used that to get all the Shadow Servants except for Berserker to serve her."
"And Mana Burst allows her to enhance her abilities for a brief moment." Shirou frowned at the Director. She seemed far too convinced that Saber was Arturia.
"And her stats?" Olga asked, eyes calculating.
"Sorry," Shirou shook his head. "It's been too long."
Olga sighed. "Well, it has been a decade since the Fifth Grail War." She reluctantly allowed. "Any weaknesses you can remember?"
"Um," Shirou hesitated. Saber didn't really have any weaknesses. She disliked foul play and dishonorable conduct or people who disregarded what she stood for. But that wasn't really a weakness.
Saber did have a weakness in that she was insecure. She gave her all for her kingdom and its failure and collapse nearly destroyed her. She also was too dependent on her identity as a king. In addition, she also was socially out of her depth in modern times and was sensitive to others but was completely willing to crush her emotions for the sake of others' happiness.
Combined together, you could psychologically hurt her if you aimed for them.
But Shirou didn't want to tell Olga that. It was personal for Saber. Not something to spread around even if she was here as their enemy and he didn't fall in love with Saber so that he could rip her apart.
He refused to do anything that could hurt her like that.
"She doesn't have any, does she?" Olga closed her eyes in resignation.
"She isn't the best swordsman in the world," Shirou offered up, remembering her fight with Assassin Sasaki Kojirou. "But she's very good. You would need to spend a lifetime practicing the sword in order to beat her."
"All of which means that since Caster isn't a Lancer and Mash is an unknown Demi-Servant, we shouldn't fight in melee, something we already knew," Olga dismissed with a wave of her hand before refocusing on Shirou. "I want you to try to recall anything else you can about her."
"Well, Saber is a knight and she values her honor and chivalry. She prefers her fights to be fair and direct," Shirou determinedly pressed on. "She would never participate in something that would tarnish her honor or threaten her kingdom like threatening to exterminate all of humanity. That's why this Saber can't be my Saber."
Olga rubbed her temple as she looked at Shirou's bullheaded expression.
"Fine," she bit off. "Let's deal with Saber's identity later when Caster is here. But I do expect you to speak up if she is indeed the Saber of the Fifth War."
Shirou nodded, confident that Caster and Archer were wrong, that Saber wasn't Arturia.
"Um, Master?" Mash hesitantly asked as the group of four trudged on towards the final battle.
They had discussed plans, options, and tactics while resting and healing. They had also distributed some runes from Caster and Olga that should hopefully enable the group to fight better.
However, the situation was still grave. They were stuck between Heracles and King Arthur, a man who plowed through rock like tissue paper and a woman who had killed him.
But if they retreated backwards, they might awaken Berserker. If they advanced forwards, they would have to fight Saber unless Saber's former Master could talk her down. The obvious course of action was to press forward and hope for the best. Caster hoped for a fight. Mash was really hoping for Shirou Emiya to talk Saber down.
If they ended up fighting, then Mash was going to use her Noble Phantasm to defend while Caster invoked his Noble Phantasm with the full aria of the Wicker Man. Meanwhile, Olga and Ritsuka would wait for opportunities to throw single use runes that might be strong enough to change the course of the battle but were to avoid targeting Saber herself. Mash would have to keep her Magic Resistance off so that the runes could affect her if they were used.
Even with Caster's A rank Runecraft bolstering their abilities, it looked to be a tough fight. Especially since Saber hadn't fought since she defeated the remaining Servants while they had to fight every Shadow Servant while she had rested and recovered.
And to tell the truth, Mash doubted that her shield could withstand the might of the strongest Holy Sword. But Caster was convinced that Mash's Virtual Noble Phantasm would be able to stand up to the strongest Holy Sword when Berserker hadn't succeeded.
And in her darker moments of doubt, Mash admitted that she would rather be obliterated by Excalibur than pummeled to pulp by Heracles.
"You don't have to call me 'Master', Mash," Ritsuka said with a strained smile as his head turned to her. "You can call me Fujimaru or Senpai. Or Ritsuka if you would like."
"Sorry," Mash flushed. "I just wanted to say sorry."
She didn't get why he was being so kind to her. She had nearly bitten off his thumb! Why was he letting her use his first name? That was an indication of intimacy or closeness among the Japanese culture, right?
"What for?" Ritsuka asked, slightly frowning in confusion.
Mash wondered if he was for real. She had nearly bitten off his thumb! How could he be acting so casual?
"F-For," Mash stuttered out, her tongue tying itself in knots from nervousness. "For biting you, Senpai."
The last was nearly said in a whisper as the girl dropped her head to stare at the ground.
The rock ground certainly was interesting. Uniformly flat without bump or hole. Probably made that way so that the constructors of the Greater Grail could use wheeled vehicles or carts to transport everything they needed down to the chamber containing the Greater Grail.
"Don't worry about it," Ritsuka said kindly before continuing with a shrug. "It's all better now so no harm, no foul."
Mash's head snapped up as she gaped at him in shock.
Don't worry about it!? No harm!? How could she not worry about it? The black-haired man was her Master and she had attacked him, nearly crippled him! That was like… like…
Failing Heroic Spirits 101! A Servant should respect their Master and work with them in a partnership.
And she, a mere Demi-Servant, had attacked him for no reason!
"I can't not worry about it, Master!" Mash protested loudly before squeaking as the other two turned to look at her. "Sorry."
Mash lowered her voice before continuing on. "I attacked you, Senpai. That, that, that just isn't done. It's wrong. I'm supposed to be your Servant and protect you yet I'm the one who hurt you."
"Mash," Ritsuka turned to face her, his blue eyes staring into her own. "You didn't do it because you wanted to. You did it because you were afraid."
"But I shouldn't be afraid," Mash protested, her guilt weighing down her heart. "I'm a Servant, I'm stronger than normal humans. I'm stronger than everyone else but a Servant. I shouldn't have been so afraid that I lost control like that."
"But you were afraid." Ritsuka pointed out.
"Yeah," Mash's glumness entered into her voice. "I'm a failure of a Servant. You saved me but I should be the one protecting you."
"No, that isn't what I'm saying," Ritsuka said patiently. "You're still human Mash. You might be able to move faster than I can watch and you are stronger than even Olympic athletes-"
He poked her bicep, a friendly, not hostile poke. Very different from the needles she was familiar with.
It felt… odd. Not bad, but just, weird. Mash hadn't experienced anything like this touch before.
"-but you're still a normal girl at the end of the day." Ritsuka concluded. "It's okay for you to be afraid. It's okay to be terrified. I was scared out of my wits when we faced Berserker. Honestly, if it hadn't been for the director's quick actions, I would have died."
The two shivered in unison at the mention of the giant that had nearly slaughtered them in less than two seconds.
"So you don't have to apologize for being scared Mash," Ritsuka said softly. "Just be yourself. 'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.'"
Mash recognized the quote. It was from Winston Churchill, the famous British Prime Minister who had led his people during the second World War. And she understood what Ritsuka was saying even if she wasn't courageous. She just- she just had a problem with the other part.
But who am I, Senpai? Mash wondered to herself as she walked forward to the final battle of the Singularity. I don't have parents or family. I didn't grow up at a home or even went to school. I don't even know who the Heroic Spirit I contracted with is.
If I don't know who I am or where I came from, how can I be myself?
The group paused, gaping at the massive cavern containing the Greater Grail.
Even Shirou was impressed by what he saw from the hologram.
He had never entered that cavern. By the time he had fully recovered from his sudden illness all those years ago, Rin and the Magus Association had already completely disassembled the Greater Grail.
Shirou had been in caves before, digging out threats and dangers to people, but the scale of this cave and the glow and terrible majesty of a functioning Greater Grail was something else altogether.
"Is that her?" Romani asked, not being distracted by the Grail as he zoomed in on a single black figure.
Shirou stiffened as he saw Saber's face, her soft white skin now frighteningly pale. Her green eyes had became a sickening golden yellow. Her beautiful blond hair speckled with golden strands was now a whitened blond. Her gorgeous blue and white armored dress was now a black armor over a dark black dress. Red lines, something wrong, something evil, were scribbled all over her, contaminating her.
And Saber's sword had been twisted, altered from the accumulation of the hope, desire for victory, and joys of humanity into a sword powered by the darkest hopes and evil desires of humanity. Even evil people had their own hopes and desires. Those hopes also had a place in Excalibur.
But not the Excalibur that Shirou knew. No, those dark wishes for victory did not have an expression in Excalibur, the beacon of hope. Their place was in Excalibur Morgan, the beacon of evil hope.
But it was still the exact same sword. Wielded by the same person.
Arturia Pendragon.
No, it couldn't be.
Shirou's throat went dry and his eyeballs convulsed, fingers twitching as his spirit and mind screamed.
His sight started to twist, like space was being twisted between here and Fuyuki.
Shirou couldn't face, couldn't accept that Arturia was the Saber here. That she was the Saber that helped destroy Fuyuki and risk humanity's future.
But he had to. She was right in front of his eyes. He could see her sword's history!
No, she wasn't. She wasn't Arturia. She was a different manifestation of Saber, one that had willingly tarnished her nobility and her honor. She wasn't his Saber. She would never have sacrificed her honor again after Caliburn had broke.
She was Arturia. But she wasn't Arturia.
Shirou's mind labored and twisted, straining under the contradiction.
Someone was shouting at him but Shirou couldn't listen.
She was Arturia. But she was wrong. She was the girl who had grown up in a divided kingdom, taking the reins only for her kingdom to be torn apart by lords who would not obey their king's will and a sister who sought the throne. But she was someone else too!
She was the King of Knights, she was the girl that drew the Sword Caliburn from the Stone. She was the Tyrant of Camelot, the king who ruled with an iron fist.
The king who had taken Excalibur for her own after Caliburn had broken, broken on a field where her honor and chivalry had shattered.
But this Excalibur Morgan claimed that she didn't receive it from Vivian, the Lady of the Lake. Excaliburn Morgan was received from Vivian's polar opposite, the other faerie of the Lake. Morgan Le Fay, Arturia's older sister.
But the sword's history was saying that it had been received from Vivian. Shirou could see it, as clear as day! So why was it saying that it also had been received from Morgan Le Fay? How could it have two contradictory histories?
Both swords were Excalibur. Neither denied that. But why did it have two histories?
And what did that mean about Arturia?
Was she his Arturia?
He could see the sword's history. She had to be Arturia! Saber had fought both Berserker and Cu Chulainn as the King of Knights, Shirou Emiya's Servant less than a few hours after her summoning! Excalibur remembered the fight against the two, cushioned within Invisible Air. Saber had to be Arturia!
But she wasn't her! She had the same history, but she wasn't the Arturia he knew! The Arturia Shirou knew and loved would never have done what this Saber had!
She wasn't Arturia! Arturia couldn't be like that!
But swords couldn't lie to the magus of swords. Yet he had two contradicting pasts.
What was the truth? Which was the lie?
"Shirou!" a hand landed on his shoulder shaking him free from the dilemma by causing his eyes to stop beholding the wrongness of Saber and her sword. "Are you alright?"
Shirou blinked and looked away, gaze falling on everyone in the control room who was staring back at him.
"I'm fine," Shirou said reflexively.
"You were having a mental breakdown," Roman said as his other hand pulled a doctor's flashlight out from his pocket. "Is there something wrong?"
Shirou unwittingly twitched as he remembered Saber and how wrong she was.
"She's Saber," the words spilled from his mouth, his mind too absorbed in trying to grapple with that perversity of Saber to control his tongue. "But she's not Saber! She is Arturia but she's not real!"
"Not real?" Roman asked, brow furrowed in confusion as he paused his examination of Shirou. "What do you mean?"
"She can't exist!" Shirou vehemently declared, fire in his eyes. "That Arturia never existed in the first place!"
"That Arturia never existed in the first place!"
The cry came through Olga's comm, causing Olga to switch from watching the hologram of Roman's empty chair in Chaldea to looking at the armored woman in the cave.
The woman seemed to twitch for a bare instant, grimace appearing on her face for a split second. But only a split second before it vanished entirely, gone like a splash of ugly emotion at a high society Clock Tower party.
If Olga was anyone else, she might not have noticed. If she was anyone else, she might have thought it was her imagination.
But she was the heir and head of the noble and great Animusphere family. She was the Director of Chaldea. She was the one who walked into the polite gatherings and private rooms of politics and walked away with the funding Chaldea needed.
Even if no one ever bothers to appreciate it, Olga bitterly admitted to herself. Why couldn't people just compliment her for what she did do? Indubitably, almost anyone could do it but she was the one doing it. Why would no one see that?!
But right now, her justified grievances could go and hang somewhere until she had time for them. She had a job to do. She was of the Animusphere and she would excel in any circumstances. She would not mess up here because of herself! She wasn't that pathetic!
She wasn't, right?
She could see the Saber that shouldn't exist in front of her. The effortless poise, dignity, and charisma that she naturally exuded. The royal upbringing of the most famous king of Britain.
And Olga, she didn't compare to any of it. Even Olga's beautiful locks couldn't compare to this king's pale hair.
"Never existed," Olga repeated, eyes feasting upon the thing that shouldn't exist. "So this is the cause of the Singularity."
Although she wondered what caused the former Master of Saber to instantly recognize her as the source of the Singularity, but that was a matter for a later date; after her victory here.
Now that she knew what had caused this Singularity, there could be no compromise. Saber, the Servant of the Sword, would be destroyed. No pleas, no negotiations. Just battle and victory.
Although, this Saber, Spirit Origin obviously altered from its original state judging by the documents Olga had reviewed about the Fifth Grail War, did not look like she would come without a fight.
"Remember, she uses overwhelming magical energy for massive strikes. If you don't pay attention, your top half will go flying," Caster warned Mash as the blue haired Servant cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders in preparation for the upcoming battle. Good, she didn't have to deal with idiots trying to stick to an unfeasible plan.
"Basically, just think of her like a human rocket," Mash said, eyes and face set in the seriousness that had helped her earn her the status of the best of A-Team. That and the fact that Mash was the only one who would listen to her on the team!
The girl inhaled in nervousness before breathing it out. Calmly and steadily, just like she had been trained to, the lilac haired Demi-Servant spoke. "Understood, I'll fight back with everything I've got."
"Interesting Servant there," a cold voice came from the black King of Knights, causing eyes to snap forward. "But I notice a new Master was chosen. Perhaps you decided on a Master capable of survival. But if I did not mishear you, my former Master, I should not exist?"
Olga could hear the spite in the Servant's words. But why would this altered Saber use those words with that degree of feeling? Why did the words 'former Master' contain that much disdain, and beneath that, hidden pain?
"I see that you have grown wiser and more skilled," Saber said in a tightly controlled voice. "If you are indeed able to tell my unnatural state of being at a mere glance."
"What! You can talk?" Caster reacted with shock and some indignity. "You were just maintaining your silence all this time?"
"Silence, dog!" Saber angrily glared at the blue haired Irish Servant. "A fool is in need of chastisement and I have no time for your antics!"
Olga watched as Saber turned back to the hologram which now contained the technician who was wincing.
"Did you give up the war? Did your foolish ideals result in pointlessly sacrificing me to save your degenerate life?" Saber spat towards the technician who looked pained. "Here we both are, yet you refuse to take the right to say the truth to my face, coward?"
"Hey!" Emiya objected, pain turning to anger on his face. "I would be there if I could! But they won't let me Rayshift. If I could, then I would be there saving you!"
Olga's eyes widened as she started to realize what was going on.
"I don't need to be saved, Shirou!" Saber flared up at Shirou. "Battle is my role! You should have just focused on your role, not mine! My role is to fight, your role is to not die! Do not go and pointlessly risk your life for mine!"
They were arguing! Ignoring her and focusing on the emotional wounds they were dealing each other. Wounds that caused them to feel hurt and then try to hurt the other in turn.
How dare they! How dare they ignore her, Olga Marie Animusphere, Lord of the Animusphere family and Director of Chaldea!
"I can't do that!" Shirou protested. "Arturia is the most important person! Even if you aren't her, I can't reject saving you."
The Servant's grip on her sword tightened, the sound of her metal gauntlet creaking through the air.
Olga involuntarily jerked her eyes over to the hologram.
What kind of idiot says that!? What kind of Master would view their Servant as a VIP? It would lead to stupid tactics, poor decisions and pointlessly risk the Grail War!
"And as a Servant, it is my duty to protect my Master!" Saber flared up, a burst of black and red magical energy rising from her. "Even if you are not my Master any longer, it would be a stain upon my honor to let you come to harm as long as you do not stand in my way. You are a civilian now."
Shirou hissed as he winced at her words.
Okay, this was ridiculous!
"Hey, can we get on past the lover's quarrel and onto fighting now!" Caster called out, looking rather annoyed. "Love on the battlefield just makes for a mess."
"She is not my-" Shirou began, offended at comparing Saber Alter to Arturia.
"I do not have a-" Saber glared at Caster for his presumption.
"I! Don't! Care!" Olga burst out, fed up at being ignored. "Just get this over and done already! If Saber chooses to argue instead, then just kill her while her guard is down!"
Silence.
Mash looked shocked at the proposed course of action. Ritsuka just was looking between everyone, looking completely lost and confused.
"Man," Caster whistled, a rougish smile on his face, hoisting his staff in preparation for combat. "I really wish you had the affinity to be a Master. You would have been a fun one."
"Very well," Saber Alter said, her face blank as she drew herself up and turned to Mash. "You, girl! You may commence with displaying the truth of that shield to me. My sword will be your test."
"What?" Shirou said from the hologram, looking confused. "Wait a second-"
Unfortunately, no one was willing to wait any further.
Mash's only the warning of the pressure of heavy but dark magic intensifying before she realized that Noble Phantasms would be the opening move in this fight.
"Vortigern, Hammer of the Vile King. Reverse the rising sun. Swallow the light-" Saber Alter roared as she gripped her sword, her magical energy condensing into a blazing sheathe around it, a fiery field of black and red.
But the Servant of the Shield wasn't going to stand still while Saber Alter did all that. The girl reacted to the display of power, darting to the front, standing between the king and the people she had to protect.
"Unleash the Noble Phantasm," Mash incanted as she hoisted her shield over her head. As she slammed it down, she cried. "Lord Chaldeas!"
The defensive Noble Phantasm burst forward as a shield of light, stalwart and ready to take any blow.
"-Excaliburn Morgan!" Saber Alter screamed as she drew the sword forward, unleashing all the power of the greatest black sword in a burst like a great dam giving way to the powerful river imprisoned behind an iron wall of restraint.
"Arrrgghhh!" Mash grunted out as her magical energy poured out into the shield, seeking to stand against Excalibur, a still pool of blue and white light standing straight and proud in its defiance. The shield of humanity's future.
It was small and thin compared to the howl of black light and power raging down like a large torrential river.
What am I doing? Mash wondered, her darker emotions resonating with the blackened light pushing at her. How could a shield, any shield, stand against the might of the legendary Excalibur? She defeated Heracles with this and four other Servants as well. How can a shield stand against that?
At the thought, her Noble Phantasm cracked, the sound standing out against the roar of Excalibur's blast. Simultaneously, the light of the shield developed a crack, a diagonal jagged line of light crossing down the barrier from the top right down to the center.
Mash's heart sank as more cracks spread across the shield, splitting off from the initial breech like an infesting plague. The barrier was getting weaker! She couldn't hold against Excalibur! She knew she couldn't!
"-a giant of verdant thorn. Retribution, the forest that will purify human misery." Caster chanted, his chant coming out faster and faster as the cracks in the Noble Phantasm spread further and further. His circle, a flat reddish-orange with hints of yellow spinning in front of Mash but still inside the area covered by her shield.
Mash, her eyes wide with fear, glanced back.
There was Caster a bit behind her and behind him, Ritsuka and Olga held themselves, terrified. Olga was clutching herself, one hand tight on the other arm's elbow.
And Ritsuka was staring at her Noble Phantasm, eyes wide, body shaking.
Then he glanced at her.
Their eyes met for one fleeting moment.
I believe in Mash.
The subconscious mental communication bolstered Mash's flagging will. She turned back to face her shield. She couldn't let Senpai come to harm. She had hurt him, now she would protect him!
Her barrier stopped cracking.
The cracks were still there, 13 cracks still spreading across the face of the shield. But none of them save the one at the top, touched the rim.
A cracked shield. But not yet a shattered one.
Just hold a bit longer! Mash prayed as she felt the pressure of Excalibur surge against her shield.
"Befall the Wicker Man! And behold, as both good and evil bite the dust!" Caster shouted, his voice rising to match the sound of Excalibur's roar.
The giant emerged in front of Mash, the creak of wood as it flexed and compressed being lost amidst the roar of Excalibur outside the protection. The wooden giant rose, its arms and shoulders appearing, protected against the power of Excalibur by the small barrier.
Mash sighed, her mind and will relaxing as Caster managed to get off his part of the plan. This meant they had won. Her shield had held against Excalibur.
At that very moment, the shield broke.
It shattered into 13 pieces, each spinning away from the others, scattering amidst the end of the power of the strongest sword.
Mash stared, terrified as the blaze of power broke through the spinning fragments.
And lit alight upon the giant who blazed up as the light consumed it, licking at the wood and metal cage, setting them alight, consuming them in a frenzy of power.
Before dying away, all of its power spent.
The group and Saber Alter stared at the battlefield. At where the three Noble Phantasms had met.
Where they had consumed each until nothing was left.
"Not good enough," Saber Alter judged Mash's shield coldly, drawing back her sword and lighting it once more. "EXXXCAAAALIBUUUR-"
"LORD CHALDEAS!" Mash hurried to say, skipping what little of the chant she had given to the power of Lord Chaldeas.
Even if it was weak, even if it wasn't good enough, just as the corrupted Saber had said, it could buy another second, another moment of life.
And Mash couldn't let Ritsuka die behind her. He had saved her! She had to save him! He had to live! She had to give him enough time to run away!
"-MORGAN!" Saber yelled, her Noble Phantasm coming forth in a flurry towards Mash whose shield-like Barrier Noble Phantasm reformed in its path like it had never broken.
Mash gritted her teeth as the pressure of Excalibur bore down on her once again, pressing hard against the extension of her Noble Phantasm.
"Eh, screw that. I'm not shortcutting here," Caster said, shaking his head. "My spell is the coffin of flames-"
The circle of magical power formed in front of Mash once again.
"Run, Senpai!" Mash yelled, keeping her eyes forward, praying that she could last long enough for her Master to escape. "You too, Director!"
"-a giant of verdant thorn. Retribution-"
"Run? Run!?" Olga shrieked, clutching her hair at her temples. "Run where? That is an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm! Nothing can block it! The only thing that can is a superior barrier type Noble Phantasm!"
"-the forest that will purify human misery."
Mash's heart wavered and a crack appeared on the shield.
That was a good point. They couldn't win. The altered Saber's Noble Phantasm was too strong. It had taken two Noble Phantasms to block it.
But Saber's Noble Phantasm couldn't be stopped. It had torn through the rock, vaporizing it in a flash. If Olga and Ritsuka fled, they would be open to Saber blasting them in the back.
And the tunnels would not be able to save them from Saber. All she had to do was blast the tunnels and everyone inside would die.
"Just hold on Mash!" Ritsuka shouted, his encouragement barely making it into Mash's ears.
"But I can't do it, Senpai!" Mash shouted back. "It broke last time. It'll only happen again!"
Suddenly, a hand landed on her shoulder, causing her to start. In her distraction, another crack appeared, running down towards the bottom of the shield.
"But it held!" Ritsuka said in her ear, hope in his voice. "It saved us already!"
"But it cracked, Senpai. It broke," Mash shook her head, watching as another surge of black power crashed down on her only Noble Phantasm. "It can't hold."
"But it held it off! That's all we need, right?" Ritsuka asked, a fervor in his voice. "We just need your shield to last through the blast, right?"
Mash nodded, her mind feeling the pressure of standing against Excalibur's light again.
"Then take my magic too!" the boy yelled, his voice carrying into Mash's ears and soul. "If your own isn't strong enough, then use mine as well. Your Noble Phantasm almost did it before, Mash. If you use my magic as well, then you can win! We don't need your shield to last forever, just long enough that Saber Alter has to enter cool down."
Irrationally, Mash's heart took courage at that. She was already using her Master's energy to bolster her own. But if Senpai wanted her to use all of his energy, nothing held back-
Then maybe that would be enough.
With a revitalized will, Mash seized upon the Master-Servant bond and pulled the energy through. Ritsuka's Od, the feeling of another human, warmth and skin just like his hand back when he had introduced with a handshake, willingly surged through the bond and flooded into her circuits before pouring out into Lord Chaldeas.
The shield held, the cracks in the Noble Phantasm shrinking slightly as the two, Master and Servant stood as one against the overwhelming might of Excalibur.
"Befall the Wicker Man! And behold, as both good and evil bite the dust!" Caster finished, his face cracking wide into a grin. He knew she could do it!
The shield held firm, cracked, but still together, the mighty Excalibur pushing and scratching at it like a ravenous dragon only to be rebuffed. And behind the tumultuous clash, the Wicker Man climbed out of its circle.
Saber Alter would have cursed if it didn't waste breath.
The shield was holding. The symbol of unity and strength, carried by someone not of either her court or knights, held against her most powerful weapon.
Perhaps, she could blast through the shield again. Perhaps, the power that she used without restraint could overcome the shield.
But she was weak, her mana drained. She had taken herself nearly down to nothing killing Berserker all 12 times. Assassin's sneak attack after her victory had only brought her to the verge of death.
If it hadn't been for Archer dragging her here after she killed the cowardly Assassin, she might have perished despite the high mana density of the atmosphere. Here, where the Grail was, she had rested and recovered.
But a day of recovery was simply not enough to restore her to even half strength. Only enough for her to use her cursed 'gift' to raise the two newest additions to her forces into a state of undeath.
It was disgusting. But for the sake of her kingdom and the sake of the Grail War, Saber Alter could not fail!
And right now, defeat was looking much more likely than before.
Behind the clash of Excalibur's light and the shield's barrier, Saber could see the giant Wicker Man rising into the air.
Should she switch her attack to the giant? Or the shield?
If she broke the shield, Caster would perish. If she destroyed the giant, she would have to try again.
And right now, it looked like the shield wasn't going to break.
"Tch," she clicked her tongue and shifted her blade up, causing the beam of light to ascend until it was no longer landing against the shield but now lighting upon the giant behind it.
The head was blown off in an instant but the body was still huddled behind the barrier.
And now the giant was crouching, big body huddled up behind 'Lord Chaldeas'. It was insulting to call the defensive Noble Phantasm by that name.
However, the tactic was sound. Saber Alter didn't have enough power to last long on this fight.
She didn't have a Master while her opponents did. They had an extra source of mana while she had only herself and the Grail to count on.
She abruptly cut the energy flow to Excalibur, causing the beam to cease. Taking that now free energy, she pulled it to her legs before shooting it off behind her, rocketing her entire body forward with a jump.
But not directly to the shield. That would be foolish. No, she rocketed to the side of the projected shield.
And once there, she pivoted, depending on her sudden movement, her D-rank agility and the sudden loss of her corrupted light to keep the enemy off guard.
Now, she could see them without the barrier in the way. She could see Mash Kyrielight, the Shielder Servant, standing before her, the Demi-Servant's head slowly twisting towards Saber, visible eye wide, as Saber prepared herself to charge and take down the only one whose Noble Phantasm could block hers.
"Ah!" Caster yelled, lunging forward, his staff held in a lunging position like it was a spear. "Sh-"
Saber struck, her arms expelling another prana burst, cutting the staff into two, Caster only just managing to withdraw his hand in time.
She was using Excalibur. A staff had nothing on her strongest sword.
But that would be thinking too much. She needed to win. For the sake of her kingdom, she needed to win.
Caster and Saber both jumped back as a giant wooden fist landed where they had stood.
But Saber wasn't going to let up.
She had lost too much to give up now.
She rocketed forward, speeding past the fist still embedded in the ground towards Shielder.
Saber was the strongest Servant. She had bested Heracles and she was not about to lose here.
But the sacrifice of Caster's staff was well spent.
Shielder blocked the blow, Excalibur bouncing off of the shield.
Tsk. Figures that the shield itself would be strong enough to repel Excalibur.
Saber ignored the two humans stumbling away from the sudden fight inside the barrier, taking the opportunity to get her sword into a low guard before heaving upwards into the shield.
The shield went up, flying high but still in the Servant's grip while Shielder's surprised face appeared from behind where the shield used to be.
Saber took the chance, kicking off the ground, sword at the ready to run the girl through.
But Instinct flared up, warning her of danger.
She blasted prana forward, canceling her charge and accelerating back herself away from the spot.
As she descended from her jump, she saw the Wicker Man's second fist land in front of the girl, where it would have crushed her if Saber had pressed her attack.
This fight was taking too long, Saber Alter concluded. If she was her noble self, she might have accepted it as a worthy challenge, a battle of honor.
Saber Alter on the other hand, had no room for honor or chivalry.
The second before landing, Saber Alter prepared to crouch, to move the second her feet hit the ground.
When she felt the jolt of her armored feet collide with the ground, she kicked off, blasting forward with her full speed.
She did not hold back. She did not deign to fight the opponent on their level. She would fight with all of her might and defeat them.
She ducked the smaller of the two pieces of wood that used to be Caster's staff, its sheared end about to collide with her head.
But the enemies expected that as the slightly taller girl swung her shield towards Saber's landing spot and Caster's bigger half of his staff was also moving to hit the same spot from the other direction. Due to her earlier dodge, Saber couldn't move so smoothly to get out of the trap.
Saber landed there, not even a moment to spare as she switched Excalibur to her off-hand, her dominant hand stretching towards Caster.
CLANG!
The sword met the center of the shield.
The gauntlet caught hold of the staff.
The dust settled in the brief lull, Saber in between her opponents, arms outstretched like a man holding two pillars apart.
Then Caster expertly twirled his staff around, its perpendicular head arcing towards the back of her knee.
Saber grip on the staff tightened as she let his movement twirl her into the air, a sideways black spinning top spinning around her arm.
Her armored boot lashed out, aiming to kick the blue haired man's head in.
Caster grinned, the sight of which annoyed her.
"Not quite," he said, his other hand letting go of the staff to show that it had a hidden rock inside the palm.
Saber drew her foot back, wary of Caster's undoubtedly enchanted hidden rune, using the mid-air motion to help bring her sword around towards the faster Servant, determined to end his life and win this war.
Once Caster was out of the way, she will have won the Grail War with the rightful spoil to use the Grail as she pleased.
A right that she would use to save her kingdom from the ongoing destruction.
Caster let go of his staff, a foolish move if it hadn't included the ground beneath the robed Servant glowing blue with a sudden rune. He must have used his feet to make it.
Saber's eyes darted towards it. It wasn't dangerous to her, her instinct let her know that. But it did look like one of the runes that Merlin used for his teleportation trick.
Caster vanished, leaving Saber mid-air and out of position, one hand with his staff and the other holding her sword.
Vulnerable.
Saber violently ejected her prana, tumbling through the air just as the girl's shield landed on her arm.
Saber involuntarily hissed as pain flared up her arm. If she hadn't started moving with the strike before it landed, undoubtedly, she would have broken a limb. As it were, it was just pain.
Saber landed and skidded to a halt, sword and staff digging into and through the ground, letting her take an upright, if crouched, position while rock and dust sprayed out around her, clamoring with sound like one of her kingdom's stone quarries.
She spun around towards her two opponents, discarding the staff as she did so. She didn't need it. She had Excalibur Morgan and it was better wielded by two hands.
Her first sight was of Caster using both of his hands to sketch glowing runes into the air while the Wicker Man was in the middle of taking a step towards her. Shielder had her head cocked to some instructions shouted at her from the white-haired magus. Saber hadn't been able to hear the beginning over the thunderous racket of her landing.
"-field for Caster!"
Saber rocketed forward. She couldn't let Caster finish what he was doing neither could she let the Wickerman herd her. She was not some sheep to be herded as her enemies willed. She was the lion, the ruler of the savannah and king of the flock! And what of it if the Grail was telling her that lions didn't defend sheep?
"Lord Chaldeas!" Shielder yelled as she slammed the center of her shield into the ground.
The Noble Phantasm formed, its spherical surface curving upwards, looking like a shallow bowl.
And Saber's prana burst landed her on the inside curved surface of the dish, about to slide towards the center, where the girl was crouched, shield down.
Saber immediately rocketed upwards, escaping the bowl which undoubtedly would be a trap where the enemy controlled the battlefield while her ally fired in on her. Even if she killed the girl, Caster was speeding through runes at a prodigious speed. She would kill the girl only to die alongside her. Unacceptable. She did not lose.
But that wasn't to say the air was safe either.
Saber's yellow eyes widened as one large wooden fist flew towards her -how could something so large move so quickly?- before expending another prana burst to fly through the air.
It was too expensive. To fly in the air without strengthening her muscles with prana burst reduced the effectiveness of the movement. In order to do so, she would spend over 5 times the energy for a similar speed. And each burst of movement would have to overpower the previous burst's momentum as well, causing the cost to escalate quickly.
In her state, she couldn't afford an aerial battle because her prana would run out and it would not be spent on killing her enemies. Besides, any strikes made in mid-air would lose the advantage of having the ground to stabilize her enough to use her most powerful strikes.
She had to be strong, had to be powerful.
A girl shouldn't be swinging swords around, all the more so if you're hurt.
She shoved away the sudden memory of Shirou before the Singularity had started.
She was a king, not a woman. She was in a fight for her life. She had no time for naïve ideals from people who thought that they should protect her and then got insulted when herself was called a monster. Saber Alter was a monster. The monstrous Tyrant of Knights, the real identity of what a king should be. Calling her a monster was just the truth.
And there she was again, her thoughts turning back to her most recent failure. She really shouldn't have let herself become distracted by her former Master. Even conversing with him had been a mistake. Albeit, she had managed to get out the frustration of watching him take the hit from Berserker in her place, which had been a benefit. But letting her emotions loose for that long meant that Shirou had been able to respond. Able to talk with her. Able to distract her.
Even if watching him vanish from reality in front of her had gone down as one of her failures. She was a Servant, her Master's sword. To watch her Master vanish and be helpless, unable to do anything…
She hated it. She hated being weak, being powerless, being useless!
Even with the 'gift', she couldn't abandon her Master so easily. Even having the artificial change come over her, taking away her honor, trust, chivalry and nobility, it was not easy for her to fail, even if it was for the best interests of her kingdom.
And she knew all too well that it hadn't been.
Saber Alter shook her head, breaking free from her thoughts and contemplations. The Emiya family was a weakness, a distraction. The boy was unlike his father but similar in the way that he held her back. Held her back from fighting as she had pleased.
But right now, her duty was to win this fight. Even if her former Master were here, she would still fight him, no mercy, no sympathy, no pity.
That being said, Saber was well aware that her recent thoughts of Shirou were truly a distraction. A distraction that she couldn't afford on the battlefield.
Her Instinct was blaring, warning her that death would come if she stayed in the air.
She rocketed out of the way of one fist, only to find her feet on top of the other wooden hand as it also flew underneath her, but above the first wooden arm.
She reacted instantly, prana blasting out of her legs as she made her way up the giant. If she could shoot downwards with Excalibur, she could destroy the Wicker Man and resume killing the two Servants.
Then a rock zoomed into the space in front of her eyes, thrown by the non-Master of the two normal humans.
Saber's eyes saw a rune, carved into and glowing with light on one side of the rock.
Runecraft!
She immediately kicked off from the giant, getting away from the rune.
Her magic resistance should be strong enough to resist the rune, but her instinct was telling her that she was still in danger. She didn't know how, but she knew she was in danger, more danger of death than if she had stayed and waited for the Wicker-Man to get out from behind the shield.
Her mind quickly figured out how the rune could be dangerous. If the rune targeted something other than her, like if it dropped an obstacle on her while she was on the giant, she would be stopped, even if only for a fraction of a second. And her Magic Resistance wasn't A rank, able to dispel high ranking spells that didn't target her.
But a fraction of a second would be too long in a fight. Immobility here in this battle would quickly transform into death.
The runestone suddenly blazed, its magic exerted.
Saber felt the pull as the stone pulled on everything around it. It wasn't strong enough to lift the giant, nor was it far reaching enough to pull anyone off from the ground.
But it was strong enough to momentarily halt her drop through the air as the momentarily pulse exerted itself on anything close to the upper half of the giant.
Saber let loose a burst of prana from the crown of her head, trying to propel herself down to the ground.
Then the giant pitched forward, the metal cage in the torso falling on a collision course towards her.
Saber's eyes narrowed and she burst again, trying to accelerate herself to the ground and away from the wooden Noble Phantasm.
Beneath her, Shielder had flipped her shield and Noble Phantasm, creating a shell around her, rendering her practically untouchable. Like a castle on a mountain cliff with no safe way in save from underground.
Then, Saber's Instinct warned her.
Although even without Instinct, she would have known she was in danger. She could feel the heat of the fire flying towards her back from where Caster had been writing his runes.
A looming giant above, raging fire beneath, Saber Alter hung between the two. No escape.
Which meant that it was time to do something reckless.
"EXCALLIBUR MORGAN!" she yelled, as she flung prana out opposite directions from her arms, rapidly spinning her body around to point the tip of her black sword towards Caster.
The quick blast from her sword wasn't strong. Not when compared to even her earlier strikes. But all she needed to do was to kill Caster first.
Behind the wall of bright red fire, Caster opened his mouth to exclaim as he watched the black light rush towards him, breaking through and destroying the fire where they collided.
Then the rim of a glowing shield interposed itself, its bright blue glowing circles intercepting her Noble Phantasm and dispersing it in all directions except towards the Irish Servant. Shielder had leapt up from her turtled position, extending her defense to cover her ally.
As Saber rocketed backwards from the backlash of firing her Noble Phantasm mid-air, she let herself continue to spin, Noble Phantasm still streaming out from her sword.
The resulting spiral circle of destruction carved its way through air and rock, laying a line across a third of the cave and cutting through one arm of Caster's Noble Phantasm as it closed in on her location.
With the giant's arm being cut and destroyed, Saber could see the main body of the giant out of the corner of her eye.
The metal cage door was open.
Saber Alter couldn't accelerate her spin fast enough. She needed to cut through the giant before it caught-
OOPH!
A great force slammed into her back, instantly driving her tumbling body towards the metal cage. Her arms spun back around, beam landing on Lord Chaldeas again to no effect. It must have been the other hand. Caster had tried to surround her!
This will not be my end! Saber fiercely thought as she tried to bring Excalibur Morgan around to blast through the cage and earn her freedom.
Of course, that was the moment the wooden floor beneath her and the wooden poles making up the walls of the cage caught on fire.
And by caught on fire, she meant, blazed into flames hotter than anything she had ever felt before.
Saber screamed as the pain, heat, and fire flew into her clothes and armor, burning the fabric and instantly heating the surface of her armor red.
She had to get it off!
She dispelled the heavy armor, trying to get about to be melting metal off of her body!
But the fire didn't stop, consuming the clothes that were mystically underneath her armor and burning into her body.
It was a Noble Phantasm! Her magic resistance wouldn't work against it!
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" she screamed, the agony scorching all over her body.
It hurt! It hurt! IT HURT!
As Saber's mind screamed from the anguish of fire, her memories flashed to the only comparison she had.
The dream cycle from her Master. While she had slept, waiting for Shirou to wake up after he had taken her blow from Berserker, her dreams had started playing through Shirou's life. Starting from Shirou's most definitive experience.
Is this what Shirou felt in that fire? A part of Saber wondered underneath the part shrieking in pain as the fires started consuming into her skin.
No, she remembered of the dream cycle. To him, the corruption and evil all lay outside him, amidst the fire.
Here, the evil is inside me.
But if it let her Master stay pure, if it let her kingdom prosper, then she was fine with being evil. She was a king. It was her duty to suffer for her kingdom. BUT THE FIRE STILL HURT!
Through the burning agony of her roasted skin, Saber could barely feel the thud of the Wicker-Man hitting the ground, its wood consumed by its caster's own flame.
Ritsuka watched the fast pace and crazy battle in wide-eyed amazement.
This fight made the earlier ones look lame.
Saber was a burst and a zoom, crossing the battlefield before he had even seen her move, reappearing inside Mash's Noble Phantasm. And her beam attack before had been terrifying, yet awe-inspiring.
Seeing her fire it mid-air after she flew through the air, yet trapped between Caster's Wicker Man and the wall of fire was even more so.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
But now, he could hear her scream as the wooden giant turned into a bonfire with Saber inside, suffering the full heat of the sudden flames.
Ritsuka shivered despite the heat of the fire he could feel from here. The fire felt like it was pressing away on him and drying his throat, its heat a physical burden and its light almost blinding. Even so, Ritsuka's eyes squinted into the blaze, rapidly blinking, and feeling sympathetic to his opponent.
It sounds so painful, he thought as a trickle of sweat ran down his forehead. I can't just let her die like this. Not alone like that.
But before he could think of what he could even do, the fire cut out, vanishing like a dream, leaving only a dusting of ashes and a single lump in the midst.
Ritsuka's jaw dropped.
She was still alive!?
He was sweating from just the heat and he was over 20 meters away! She was in the center of it and was still alive?! How?!
The lump stirred.
"Shirou," a faint voice said before she repeated herself, sounding stronger. "Shirou."
"What is it, Saber?" the Japanese man in Chaldea said, voice heavy yet gentle. Ritsuka could hear the sympathy in his voice. Along with a whole mess of conflicting emotions.
Ritsuka suspected that he hadn't been the only one who watched her burn to death the whole time. And it sounded like it had been harder for the older Japanese man.
"Did-" the woman coughed, flecks of black coming out. "Did we win?"
"Yes, Saber, we won." Shirou's voice softened into what Ritsuka could tell was a sad but fond remembrance. "You defeated the King of Heroes and won the war."
Ritsuka could see the woman try to get to her feet. It was rather difficult as he couldn't even see if she still had feet. Not under the layers of black ash the once blond Servant was now wearing.
"Good." She rasped out, her voice sounding like, well, like she had just gone through a smoke filled fire. "Nothing less would have been acceptable."
She sounded so sure of herself. Like she was declaring a fact of nature.
Maybe there was some truth to Servants being more than human, Ritsuka slowly realized as he watched her use both arms and her sword to stand. Not just superheroes, but something greater than what a human could be. People of legend in bodies rivaling that of superheroes.
"If I fight alone, I will always meet the same end," she continued, her voicing slowly gaining strength as she straightened. "Shirou, take my thanks for fighting alongside me in the proper past to the end."
"I couldn't do anything else," Shirou Emiya, demurred. "It was only natural to fight with you Saber. Even if you are a different form of her. And Saber, I'm sorry for how I said that earlier. I just couldn't accept you as someone that she could be and I said it in a pointlessly cruel way."
"There was none taken," The black Servant coughed. It might have sounded like a laugh but flecks of black and gold splattered out of her mouth before rising into the air. Now that Ritsuka was looking closer, he could see that from beneath the ashes, flakes of gold and black kept on leaping off of her body. "You never were good at accepting reality."
Shirou laughed but it was flat and harsh. It was a laugh that came because of a bad joke, like someone was laughing at a cruel irony.
"Yet it still hurt you," Shirou said, haunting regret audible in every word. "You can't lie to me, Saber. I shouldn't have hurt you, shouldn't have denied your existence. No one should have that happen to them. I'm sorry."
"Enough of this," the defeated and burned king and knight declared, but was that hidden embarrassment in her voice?
Ritsuka's fascination with the possibility that their opponent was an even crueler tsundere than the director came to an abrupt halt as her yellow eyes fell on him.
He trembled beneath her gaze. She was so strong and so ruthless. She was burned, nearly to death, yet now that he was meeting her eyes, he would believe anyone who said that they had lost and she had won.
He only blinked when a pink head of hair stepped between them, her black shield held up like to protect him while her armored body stood shakily between the two.
Mash.
"Hey, not to interrupt this lover's chat," an Irish accented voice carried into the silence. It had only been a moment, but under Saber's eyes, it had stretched on what felt like forever. "But are you actually going to die or do we have to fight again? I wouldn't mind another round!"
"You have won, Ireland's Child of Light. This skirmish, and the Grail, is yours," the Servant said dismissively, her eyes never leaving Ritsuka or Mash.
"Shirou, Mash, Ritsuka." Saber Alter ordered, Ritsuka snapping to attention as he saw Mash enter a parade stance in front of him. The king's voice was powerful, demanding everyone's attention. Ritsuka would later learn was that this was her Charisma skill, causing people to pay her attention and their respect. Saber continued speaking, her body breaking apart into golden and black motes of mana, her sword too, but the Servant was holding onto her vanishing life by nothing but her force of will. "I have been defeated and cannot carry on my duty any longer. As the Tyrant of Knights, I render unto you three the charge of carrying out the Grand Order. Fulfill it well, for Our kingdom depends on it."
Her royal words were still ringing through the air when her body finally broke into a thousand motes of mana, an expanding and illusive shower of black and gold.
Shirou watched Saber die again, dissolving into a mist of mana flakes.
And he grieved, ignoring Caster's final words to the group before he also vanished into golden particles.
No, this wasn't his Saber. This was another Saber.
But she was still Arturia. She was still the girl that had grown up in her foster father's care. She was still the woman who had taken the throne, casting herself aside to do a job that would kill her and steal her happiness.
But she was a different woman. A different version of Arturia. Not his Arturia. But someone she could have become if Arturia had made different choices.
Like a twin, Shirou rationalized, the product of his mind struggling with the very concept of Saber Alter. She was someone who was like Arturia but became someone different. Same birthplace, same family, same origin. Yet someone who grew up to be different. Made different choices, had different morals and lived a different life. Similar, in some ways identical, yet different.
Shirou slumped back into his seat.
Even with the flawed idea of Saber Alter being like a twin, Shirou didn't think he would ever grasp the full concept.
Arturia was a woman worthy of being a Heroic Spirit who could be summoned as a Servant. Yet, not all versions of Arturia would be like her. Some could be summoned in different classes. And some would have different personalities. But they would still be Arturia.
Honestly, this was sounding like one of those painful logic puzzles that Rin loved to use his head for a sounding board while she pounded the puzzle like he would tenderize tough meat until it was as flat as a pancake.
Arturia was the woman he fallen in love with. Saber Alter, as the Command Center was now calling her, was someone she could have become if she had made different choices.
Shirou rubbed his temples, the pain in his head refusing to lessen.
Even now that Saber Alter was dead, the pain in his head wasn't getting better.
Or was it in his head? Was it actually his soul? Was it coming from his Reality Marble stretching and adjusting to its new occupant, the copying only permitted by the tyrant's dying order?
Or was it the grief? The grief of watching a twin of the woman he loved die? Die painfully, in fire like the one he had walked through all those many years ago?
Shirou didn't know.
But he did know that his thoughts couldn't focus on watching the graphs in front of him.
Not with Saber dead. Not with the charge she had given him in her dying wish.
Grand Order.
What was that? Shirou knew of the First Order, that was what they were doing, the prioritization of ensuring the certainty of mankind. Saving the world and humanity before they even needed to be saved.
There had been no one more eager than him at the news of the new directive. It was why he had volunteered to be tested as a Master only to find out that his readings were inconclusive so they wouldn't let him be a Master.
In contrast to that feeling of excitement, all he felt now was pain and grief.
But now with Saber Alter dead, he just couldn't get over this feeling. This grief that he had felt just like when his Arturia had left him forever after they had destroyed the Grail. Forever until the two of them could accomplish a miracle.
But he had to. He had to get over this. Both Saber Alter and Arturia had loved her kingdom of Camelot. And Saber Alter, in her final moments, had charged him with her kingdom.
It could be that Saber Alter was seeking to prevent herself from being chosen as king, Shirou contemplated, trying to think past the painful pulse of his heartbeat in his ears. It was what Arturia had done until she thought better of it.
But no. Shirou didn't think so. Saber had always referred to her wish for the Grail as redoing the selection and getting a better king. But Saber Alter referred to carrying out a Grand Order like it was some sort of quest.
It could be that this was a difference between Arturia and Saber Alter, Shirou hoped. Saber Alter might have been begging, in her own proud Arturia-like way, that they use Rayshift to save Camelot.
But she wouldn't. To Saber, her failure as a king was her responsibility. Shirou couldn't see Arturia ever deciding to let another carry her burden unless they could have done the job better.
But maybe Saber Alter was different.
Shirou closed his eyes.
And all of his thoughts, his worries and concerns didn't matter. The last few minutes of thinking, of struggling to think past this pain in his brain, all of it had been a futile diversion.
He honestly couldn't devote his thoughts and concern to them.
Not right now.
Not with the feeling of loss echoing through him. Like someone had taken his arm or his heart away and he just wanted to feel it again.
But Saber Alter was not his Arturia, Shirou reminded himself, hoping that his heart would listen to the logic.
No such luck. Shirou was too stubborn to let logic and reason or even common sense stand in the way of his dreams. That was how he formed his Reality Marble after all.
Only made sense for his heart to be just as stubborn in its grief as it had been in the rest of his life.
She hadn't been Arturia. Shirou's head knew. Her sword, Excalibur Morgan, had reaffirmed that. It had been used without honor, without compassion and chivalry. All things that Arturia had valued and would not forsake.
As conversation in the Command Center broke out into another frenzy, Shirou ignored it all and gave in to his emotions.
He grieved.
He sorrowed for the loss of Arturia, both his love and this different one.
He mourned for the long separation between him and Arturia.
He silently lamented that he had helped put down an Arturia that could have been. He was glad his Arturia wasn't her, but he still grieved for his part in ending someone so much like her.
And most of all, he grieved for the sake of a woman who had given her all for a kingdom.
He grieved for the love of his life.
I thought that was a good place to end the chapter.
Yes, I know that Mash's Noble Phantasm is strong enough to survive Excalibur. But it was more dramatic this way, no? Also, Mash's mentality is shaken by her encounter with Berserker. And her Noble Phantasm depends on her resolution and determination as well as her heart. A shaken heart isn't the best at resisting an A++ rank Noble Phantasm. (And I could play a bit with the symbolism of Lord Chaldeas a bit this way.)
A second thing is that due to Shirou's affinity for weapons he can read the past of a weapon even if it is in the Singularity and he isn't. But Mash's shield doesn't fully qualify so he can't read it.
And reeseisthatbeast wrote an omake for the chapter. With his permission, I've put it up here.
"Any weaknesses you remember?" Olga asks
Shirou thought about how to answer Olga. He didn't want to tell her about Saber's insecurities. Then, Shirou remembered more of his time with saber and her love of his cooking...… his cooking. Maybe instead of defeating her... huh maybe this could work.
"She doesn't have any does she?" Olga responded to Shirou's silence, Mash shivering in fear at the idea of facing someone that powerful.
"I think I have an idea, just trust me, ok?" Shirou stated to Olga "She has one weakness only I can use, and it may turn her to our side"
"What can you use against KING ARTHUR?!" Olga exclaimed.
Shirou looked at Olga "You guys really didn't read my resume, did you? I'm a 4-5 star chef, and if you don't believe me, just watch."
Upon entering the cave that the grail resides in and gazing upon its splendor. Shirou's eyes drifted towards saber and how utterly wrong she looks, her eyes once green now a sickly yellow, and her hair, once a luxurious blond specked with gold, was now a pale blond. Her battle attire that once was a deep blue dress with a silvery steel armor protecting her torso, arms and hips, was now a dark inky black dress with an equally black armor. Red lines that gave the appearance of blood spatter around Saber's waist, pulsed as if they were veins carrying an essential fluid. Even Excalibur was tainted! The sword's history showing Shirou things that didn't happen to his Artoria, that couldn't have happened to his Artoria! ...Yet they had.
"Artoria," Shirou stated with emotion in his voice. "What happened to you? You've changed."
"Shirou, I see you've made some new friends. To answer your question, I really don't know what you mean. I've always been like this, I am the so called Tyrant of Knights after all," Artoria Alter stated.
"Well if you were once my Artoria, then you know I have one thing I can give you if you will work with us." Shirou responds.
Saber Alter gave him a look "Ae you bribing me with food?"
"I'm bribing you with MY food," Shirou fires back as Saber Alter got a contemplative look.
"Servant with the pink hair! Catch this and do not lose it," Saber Alter told Mash as she tossed Avalon at her. "You owe me a feast, Shirou, summon me when you have the adequate supplies." Saber Alter said to the stunned spectators, and began to fade away.
At the Throne of Heroes, Saber Alter was surprised to see how many "sisters" she has, but suddenly had an idea, an evil idea. "When one of us is going to be summoned by a master we need to grab onto each other, Shirou promised a feast." Saber Alter told the other Artorias, causing the original Artoria to freeze and quickly agree to the plan, before beginning to convince the others to agree.
A few months have passed and Chaldea has made some progress against the Singularities, from which the Chaldeans obtained various foodstuffs and raw materials. Shirou had a sense of foreboding as he entered the summoning chamber with Mash and Ritsuka, Mash holding onto Avalon as Ritsuka began summoning more Servants to help their quest in saving humanity.
In a flash of light, Saber Alter appeared and as the light fades more Arturias became visible, one by one.
Shirou looked around in shock at the amount of Artorias currently in front of him. Then he remembered that he promised one of them a feast. They'll all want-no demand a feast.
This will not end well.