Disclaimer: I do not own Fate Stay Night, Highschool DxD or anything else.

Fate: Devil Night

Chapter8: Grail War III

Human World
Japan: Fuyuki
Einzbern Forest

Illyasviel von Einzbern and Chloe von Einzbern were oddities in the world having been born from a human father and a homunculus mother. Eighteen years ago they were born at the Einzbern Castle in Germany and had originally been cared for by their parents until they went away. Their mother had become the Holy Grail of the Fourth War and he betrayed them all by destroying it. Their grandfather had said that he had abandoned them and had chosen some orphan from the war as their replacement.

They'd never hated anyone more than Emiya Kiritsugu…

That man was no longer their father…

After the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War, Illya had been trained by the Einzberns to be the 'perfect' Lesser Grail for the next one while Chloe was trained as the strongest Master. They'd been cut open and modified so many times that they barely felt the pain anymore. It had all led up to the event two months ago when Chloe summoned Heracles—Hercules—as a Berserker-class Servant using a slab of rock from a Greek temple that their grandfather had procured for her to use as a catalyst. Berserker initially didn't respond to her commands and refused her orders, however after a skirmish with some wolves in the Einzbern waste yard she realised that he fought for her not because she was his Master, but because he wanted to.

He was the strongest Servant…

They was sure of that…

As the Fifth War drew closer the strain of maintaining Berserker lessened making it less painful for Chloe until finally she stopped noticing it altogether. Finally it was time to travel to Fuyuki city to participate in the war and kill their brother for replacing them. They'd taken Berserker with them of course, but they'd also brought two other homunculi with them too, Sella and Leysritt. Sella wasn't suited for battle but she had been Chloe teacher in Magecraft for the last two years. On the other hand Leysritt was originally designed to become a sacrifice to form the Dress of Heaven, a Mystic Code that Chloe would use to better master the Third True Magic Heaven's Feelupon claiming the Holy Grail. Not only that but Leysritt was also given the role of acting as Illya and Chloe's bodyguard and was given inhuman strength to wield her trademark weapon, a halberd made from Rhenium.

With them by her side there was no way she would lose…

Chloe was walking through the castle that they were using as their base of operations for the war when she suddenly felt the tingle she associated with the Bounded Fields she'd put in place over the forest that hid them. The castle-villa that they were using was originally brought from Germany and acted as her mother's and Kiritsugu's base of operations back during the last war. Since coming to Fuyuki Illya and Chloe had since claimed it for themselves and were acting as the castle's current lords.

Now it seemed someone had come looking for them…

"Oujou-sama," Sella spoke up from the end of the hallway. Leysritt was at her side, silent and waiting. "We have an intruder."

"I know," Chloe nodded as she walked passed them. "Come with me," she said as she entered her room.

Her private chambers weren't anything special, or at least nothing special by Einzbern standards. There were decorations and draws everywhere along with a small table in the center of the room and a luxurious bed in keeping with western styles. Chloe paid none of this any mind however, instead she walked over to the table and sat down. On the table in front of her was a small glass orb, a Crystal Ball which was a Mystic Code her family had developed in order to see over long distances.

She placed her hands on the sides of the orb and her Magic Circuits flickered to life. The moment she channelled prana into it, the image of six figures appeared on the glass. It took a moment for the image to become clear but when it did Chloe narrowed her eyes at the people it showed her. She only recognized two of them, though both of them were different than what she remembered them being. The first was a blond haired woman with black and blue armour that she knew to be Kiritsugu's Servant from the last war. The other was an old man covered in wrinkles but still had the presence that the memories she had inherited from her ancestor Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern as Makiri Zolgen though these days he was more commonly known as Matou Zouken.

"Matou…" Illya trailed off as she looked at the image.

"They are being quite brazen to come here," Sella commented.

"Sella, you stay here and increase the protections on the Bounded Fields," Chloe gave the order as she rose to her feet once more. "Leysritt, you come with me."

"I'll go too," Illya said as she made to follow.

"What are you planning to do?" Sella asked them.

"We are the lords of this castle," Illya smiled back at her. "It's only fair that we greet our guests personally."

They trudged through the forest slowly, avoiding the many traps and Bounded Fields put in place as they did so. Shinji and Rider were at the front with Sakura and Saber following close behind. Zouken was at the rear with Assassin, trailing behind due to the former's mobility. They had gotten passed most of the Bounded Fields by now and were approaching the Einzbern castle-villa that Zouken knew resided a little further in.

It wasn't long before they arrived…

"Is this the place?" Shinji asked the question as he looked up at the stone castle before them.

"Yes," Zouken chuckled at the sight of it. "It's been a long time since I last saw it in person."

A flicker of movement caught their attention as the doors swung open and a single figure stepped outside. It was a girl with pink hair and red eyes looking to be no older than ten if they were to guess. It took a moment for them to catch on but they eventually recognized her as a homunculus, no doubt one crafted through the Einzbern family's alchemy like the previous one was from the last war. Now, where was her Servant?

"Why have you come here, Matou?" Chloe demanded.

"You should know why," Zouken answered with an amused smile. "We are fighting a war after all."

"…Berserker," Chloe uttered and then he appeared.

Everyone took an involuntary step back as a large figure appeared at her side, his feet echoing with a resounding thud as they hit the ground. He was tall with bulging muscles and a glowing red eye giving him the appearance of a giant. A large axe-shaped sword was in his right hand looking like it was nothing more than a slab of rock that he'd picked up somewhere. The image coupled with the sheer presence he seemed to generate was enough to make anyone wary, even the three Servants standing before him.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

Tohsaka Rin was a Magus and had been trained by her father since a young age to become the next head of the family. When her father had died during the last Holy Grail War, she had been forced to become the Second Owner of Fuyuki city and took possession of the Tohsaka family's Magic Crest which contained all of their research into Magecraft. Unfortunately given her age she had been forced to have that fake priest Kotomine Kirei act as her 'guardian' and because of his mismanagement of her finances she was now suffering monetary issues.

But that was irrelevant at this point…

When it became clear that another Holy Grail War was starting, this time decades ahead of schedule, Rin had been chosen to participate and had summoned a Servant of her own. She had originally been intending to summon a Saber-class Servant but instead she'd received an Archer-class Servant, one with white hair and tanned skin dressed in red. While they initially had some issues that they had to sort through, eventually the two had come to an understanding and had set out to search the city for other Masters and Servants. They came across the Servant Lancer in the middle of the night while investigating her school and Archer had fought him. It was a brief engagement with no winner since Lancer withdrew soon after leaving Rin frustrated at their lack of progress and the apparent cowardice.

After returning home Rin consulted her father's notes on the last war and found the apparent location of the Einzbern Master. She'd discarded the possibility of the Matou family joining in this time around because of their apparent decline in recent years, not to mention she seriously doubted that Shinji could have Magic Circuits at this point in time considering the state they had been reduced to. Knowing that the Einzberns were likely to send someone to participate in the war, Rin had decided to go looking for them rather than let her enemies come to her.

She called it taking the initiative…

"Master," Archer spoke up as he stopped suddenly.

"What is it, Archer?" Rin asked him.

"Up ahead," the red knight replied. "I sense a Servant."

Looking forward she saw a flicker of movement accompanied by a shift in reality as space distorted for a second. Two figures appeared a moment later, one of them she recognized instantly as a certain red-haired young man from her school, and someone she had seen going out of his way to avoid her. The other was someone wearing a large cloak that covered her face and was giving off a similar kind of pressure to Archer which meant that it was a Servant.

"That's…" Rin trailed off as she narrowed her eyes at the redhead.

"That teleporting spell of yours will take some getting used to," Shirou muttered as he regained his footing. He was dressed in black pants and top with an overcoat covering his form much like his father's along with a red scarf was wrapped around his neck. Hanging by a strap on his arm was a long steel case, one that he needed to shift back up onto his shoulder as he steadied himself. Caster's Trofa spell allowed her to warp space around her allowing her to teleport across short distances when needed, as well as at longer distances too if there was an anchor at her destination. Sadly there was none in the forest so Caster had been making short 'hops' with her new Master in tow for the last hour or so in order to get here.

"Master," Caster said as she turned towards Rin and Archer. "We have enemies."

Archer narrowed his eyes as he looked over the two standing before him and opened his hands slightly. He was confused since from what his memories—fragmented though they may be—Caster should be at the Ryoudou Temple gathering mana from the people in the city while his younger self should be at home with no idea what was going on around him. Clearly this was not his timeline and as such completing his real objective was now useless.

Great…

"Tohsaka-san?" Shirou asked in surprise. "And you…"

It was EMIYA…

"You're a Master too, Emiya-kun?" Rin inquired back. "To think, a Magus was hiding under my nose the whole time."

Archer could feel the tension in the air and knew that a fight could break out at any moment. He was sure that he could take Caster in a fair fight but he knew that she never fought fair. She would target Rin in a heartbeat and given the strange feeling he was getting from his other self, he couldn't count this Emiya Shirou out either. Had he been trained properly? In any event if it came down to it, Archer was prepared to grab his Master and flee.

The last thing he wanted right now was for Caster to get a lucky shot in with her Noble Phantasm…

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

An inhuman roar echoed through the forest from the side causing them all to stop and look in the direction it came from. That sound, it was something that no human could possibly make. It was soon followed by the sound of explosions and the echoing noise of steel striking stone. Though Shirou and Rin didn't know what it was, both Caster and Archer could take a good guess. It was the sounds of battle and death, the desire to end another.

"Illya…Chloe…" Shirou trailed off for a moment before rushing toward the noise.

"Master, wait!" Caster shouted as she followed after him.

"…You're orders, Master?" Archer asked after a moment of silence.

"…We're going," Rin decided with a nod.

There was no point in turning back now, especially since they had originally came into this forest looking for other Masters and Servants anyways. While it was true that finding out Emiya was a Master had come as a bit of a shock, that still left five other Masters that she needed to identify. If there were others here then she would find them and find out who they were—from a safe distance of course. She wasn't foolish enough to jump into a battle between two other sets of Masters and Servants. She would wait for one to defeat the other and then move in to deal with the survivors.

The sounds of steel striking stone rang out through the forest as the ground shattered under the weight of the blow and chunks of debris scattered everywhere. Berserker was fast despite his size and swung his axe-sword down again and again upon the black swordswoman. Saber matched his speed and continued her attack, only to be pushed back further. At the same time Rider attacked from the side with her dagger only for it bounce off of his skin forcing her to back off and try again.

This had been going on for several minutes now and there was no end in sight. Despite being summoned into the Berserker-class and having the class skill Mad Enhancement, Hercules hadn't lost any of his skills with a sword and was proving it by matching the King of Knights in a head-on confrontation. Saber on the other hand was being pushed back despite having support from Rider and was barely keeping up. If it came down to a battle of endurance then it was likely that Berserker would win in the end unless something happened.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!" Berserker roared as he pressed his attack and swung at Saber. She brought her sword up to defend herself but the force of the impact knocked her back and sent her flying through the clearing.

"This isn't working," Rider spoke up as pulled back and landed beside the Servant of the Sword.

"I agree," Saber mused as she readied her sword once again. "One of us may have to resort to our Noble Phantasm in order to defeat him."

"I'll do it," Rider suggested. "Can you hold him off for a few seconds while I prepare?"

"Yes," Saber nodded and rushed forward back into the fray.

Off to the side Zouken stood watching as Saber swung her black—tainted—sword up to meet the downward swing of the axe-shaped stone. The ground cracked under them from the force of the blow, something that was only made worse as the two continued to attack each other at inhuman speeds. The battle wasn't going to well at the moment but he wasn't worried, after all he had three Servants under his command and one of them was a Saber-class Servant said to be the strongest. Shinji stood behind him silently watching and waiting. The plan was simple, he wanted Sakura to collect the souls of the Servants that fell and bring him closer to obtaining the Holy Grail.

Speaking of the young Einzberns…

Sakura was currently dodging bolts of prana shot from small bird-shaped threads that hung suspended in the air around Chloe. The prana-bolts shot from their mouths and impacted the ground leaving craters in their wake. She stopped occasionally to return fire, hurling Void-Spheres back at them only for them to evade the black energy balls that she shot at them. She wasn't able to get a clear shot at her either because of how damn fast she was on her feet. She knew that the pink-haired girl was a homunculus but being able to jump twenty feet into the air with ease?

That was pushing it…

"Hollow-Sphere!" Sakura called out as she gathered prana into another black sphere in the palm of her hand and then hurled it at pink-haired girl. It flew through the air faster than most could see and struck one of the bird-familiars head-on, destroying it. The energy ball exploded and smashed the bird-familiar into pieces, showing the ground with scattered threads. Sakura grunted as she stared at the Einzbern Master. 'It's not enough.'

She'd been using her 'Hollow' Elemental Affinity which doubled as her Sorcery Trait to create compressed Bounded Fields using shadows to rip apart anything it touched. Normally her element wouldn't have any effect on humans and would only affect spiritual entities, however because of the nature of the Bounded Fields she had cast, they were rather destructive when coming into contact with any sort of matter. Like for example, a person's skin and clothes.

"Are you done already?" Chloe asked seemingly disappointed. "You managed to destroy one of my Zelle but I have more where that came from."

She smiled slightly as she plucked another two hairs from her head and through them into the air. Using her Magecraft, her alchemy, she quickly shaped them into another two birds and had them fly up next to the other one she had made earlier. Sakura thought that it was ridiculous how she could make them so easily and how powerful they were. It had taken everything she'd had up to this point just to face two of the damn things and now she was using three.

"Hollow-Beam," Sakura incanted as she formed another black sphere.

"Chloe-sama!" Sella's voice echoed through Chloe's mind.

Sella had been watching what was going on and realised what was happening. She quickly cast a small Bounded Field over Chloe and flooded it with prana. At the same time the energy ball compressed in on itself as Sakura clenched her hand into a fist around it before she reeled in back and took a deep breath. She then threw it right at Chloe, hurling it like one would a punch before she opened her hand and released the sphere. It exploded forwards in a beam of black light, crossing the distance between them within seconds. Chloe's eyes widened at the sight and quickly had her bird-familiars fly in the way and changed shape. The beam washed over her in an instant and tore through the forest behind her leaving nothing but a smoking trench in its wake. Finally the blast died down and Sakura dropped to her knees.

'Did I get her?' Sakura asked the question.

The answer she received was a sword-shaped set of threads being hurled at her from the smoke, one that she was barely able to dodge in time. It grazed her cheek and sent her spinning to the ground as the smoke slowly cleared. She rolled for a bit before coming to a stop and looked up as the last of the smoke vanished. Chloe stood strong with Illya at her side behind a large wall of dense stone, clearly Reinforced to the maximum and protected even more by a set of strange Bounded Fields.

"Are you okay?" Illya asked her sister.

"I'm fine," Chloe nodded in thanks. "You almost had me with that one," she commented to Sakura as the stone wall fell and one of her bird-familiar shifted into a large sword. "But it looks like that was your limit, not that it matters. You managed to dodge one of my Degen before, but I doubt you can do it again."

The sword-familiar shot forward at inhuman speeds faster than anything he had seen and he was barely able to raise his hand in time to defend against it. The hastily created Void-Ball took the brunt of the impact but it knocked her clear off her feet and sent her crashing into tree, smashing it to pieces. At that exact moment Zouken watched on with a frown and looked displeased at his tool's inability to defeat the Einzbern Master.

"Assassin," Zouken spoke up. "Deal with her."

Assassin didn't move for a second before he vanished, using the shadows to conceal himself as he moved towards Chloe and Illya. He was just within range when he threw out several of his Dirks at the girls intent on killing them there and then. At the last possible moment a blur of movement came from behind her and deflected the Dirks away. Assassin paused at the sudden action and narrowed his eyes as a single figure landed beside the Einzbern Master.

"You will not harm Chloe-sama," Leysritt declared as she brandished her halberd.

Off to the side Sakura groaned as she stood back up and cradled his head with his right hand. This girl was stronger than she'd been expecting and had only been able to keep up with her thanks to her unusual element and Sorcery Trait. She knew that the Einzberns Magecraft was mostly based in alchemy but she hadn't expected the pink-haired girl to be capable of manipulating her hair and the world around her to such a degree. Not only that but she was also clearly being supported by her white-haired sister and someone else likely still in the castle behind her. This was bad, she had the home field advantage, a literal giant as her personal enforcer along with a bodyguard and a support mage.

And she'd thought that Zouken had tried rigging this war in his favour…

A sudden explosion of prana washed over them all a moment later and Sakura looked towards where it was coming from. She felt more of her prana being drained from her than usual and narrowed her eyes when she saw his Servant Rider take out one of her daggers. She stabbed herself in the neck and blood spurted everywhere. It hung in the air and then formed a blood red magic circle in front of her. Lightning sparked all around it as it started to glow an eerie white…

"That's…" Sakura trailed off at the sight.

"Bellerophon!" Rider called out as the white light consumed everyone's vision.

A large white horse with wings—a Pegasus—exploded from the magic circle and shot forward, galloping towards the mad giant. Rider climbed onto its back and swung a set of reigns over its neck as it drew closer. The Pegasus glowed white and resembled a streak of light as it tore across the battlefield and slammed into Berserker head-on. A deafening explosion rang out as the Pegasus collided with the mad giant and knocked everyone down to the ground. The earth shattered under them and debris flew everywhere as a torrent of flames burst into existence all around them.

This was Bellerophon: Bridle of Chivalry, an A-rank Anti-Army Noble Phantasm capable of controlling even a Devine Beast. It was a golden bridle and whip that granted her the ability to subdue any creature she came across. She usually used it on her Pegasus, the winged horse that she was currently riding. Its strength and speed was already on par with a dragon but once enraged its power went up by one rank making it harder to control without the use of her Noble Phantasm.

When the smoke cleared Sakura raised her head and saw the world consumed in flames. The ground was cracked and debris was everywhere with scattered flames dotting the battlefield. A lot of the trees had been knocked down though the Einzbern castle-villa was still standing, no doubt do to its sturdy construction and the number of protective Bounded Fields on it that were only being reinforced by the Magus still inside it.

And yet still Berserker stood seemingly unharmed…

"Impossible," Rider said as she landed beside her Master. The Pegasus was gone having returned from whence it came leaving her on her own once again. "That would have killed any normal Servant."

"This is Berserker's Noble Phantasm," Chloe explained from her position beside the unmoving mad giant. "Its name is God Hand, and it grants him twelve lives. I must congratulate you on taking one of his lives, but that still leaves eleven left."

God Hand: Twelve Labours was classed as a B-Rank Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm that was continuously active and used on himself rather than as a weapon like most others. It granted him a stockpile of lives for completing his twelve labours in life as well as a body that required only the most powerful of attacks in order to harm him never mind take one of those lives. Not only that but his stockpile of lives regenerated over time so even if he was 'killed,' as long as he had at least one life left, he could just wait for the rest to come back to him.

"You've got to be kidding me," Shinji muttered. "So he needs to be killed eleven more times?"

Emiya Shirou had never been so thankful for Kiritsugu teaching him Reinforcement and Ravel for turning him into a devil than he was right now. He would have never been able to make it in time if he was as fast as a normal human. Chloe and Illya were his sisters, the one link he had left to Kiritsugu besides Miyu, the man that had been his father. He'd known that there was no way to get passed the Bounded Fields surrounding the Einzbern castle in Germany, at least none that he knew of.

He stopped just before the clearing where the battle was taking place and looked out at the scene before him. He vaguely sensed Caster land at his side along with Archer and Rin a moment later as he gazed at the battle going on in front of them. There were four Servants fighting in the clearing and several other combatants, four of them clearly Masters. He vaguely recognized Shinji and Sakura amidst the chaos however the ones that really caught his attention were a young girl with white hair and another with pink hair.

Homunculi…

Chloe…

Illya…

Shirou quickly dropped his steel case onto the ground and kicked it open revealing the contents within. It was a demonic katana, one that he and Ravel had created after the Ainsworth crisis. They had created it for a single purpose, to save Chloe and Illya. It had no special ability nor was it some incredibly powerful weapon, it was a simple blade they had created for him to use in the Grail War which he could carry around with him instead of using Projection Magecraft or the Archer card for every situation. While both were powerful, they required a lot of prana and use of his Magic Circuits to use. He'd learned that the hard way after nearly breaking during the battle with the Ainsworths.

The blade's name was Kuro…

'This Emiya Shirou is different,' Archer mused as he examined the blade, taking note of its characteristics before copying it into himself. In another world 'Emiya Shirou' was a selfless individual that would gladly give his life for anyone that needed saving and would ultimately grow up to become Archer himself. This 'Emiya Shirou' was different because he only cared about saving the people closest to him, not random strangers. He would only save strangers if they were right in front of him, not go looking for others to save. 'He's far too selfish to be a Hero of Justice.'

On the battlefield all sound had suddenly stopped as the wind started to pick up and spiral around where Saber was standing. Archer narrowed his eyes when he saw her, tainted and blackened but still resembling the King of Knights that he knew her to be. Her sword was obsidian black in colour and covered in crimson runes, a testament to her corrupted nature. She was currently gathering energy to her blade in preparation for her strongest attack, unleashing the full power of her Noble Phantasm.

"Damn it," Shirou cursed under his breath as he rushed forward. "Illya! Chloe! Get down!"

"Wait!" Caster shouted after him. "Master!"

Her sword shines black, a dream tainted by betrayal and loss, forever distant. An oath forsaken, their will disregarded and her pride misplaced. Now, the untouchable tyrant sings aloud the name of the burden she holds in her hands. Its name is…

"Excalibur!"

Excalibur Morgan: Sword of Promised Victory was an A-Rank Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm wielded by the legendary King Arthur from ages past. It was a Holy Sword crafted by the Fae—their Last Phantasm—and given to the King of Knights to replace the now broken Sword in the Stone Caliburn. However this Excalibur was different as was its wielder and their nature. Ten years ago 'Arthur' was summoned to fight in the Fourth War and was ordered to destroy the Holy Grail. The result of that event was the Grail's corrupted contents covering her and tainting her very being.

She was a Dark-Tainted Tyrant now…

The energy from the sword was released forward as Saber swung her blade down, unleashing a beam of dark light upon the world. Berserker was the first to fall having been directly in the path of the blast and took the brunt of it the power behind it. The blast washed over him in a matter of seconds, overpowering his God Hand and kept going. Chloe froze up at seeing her Servant fall and could only stare in horror as the blast drew closer to her and her sister. Shirou whom had been running towards her was barely able to get to them in time to grab them and fling them all out of the way of the blast.

The silence that followed was thunderous…

"B-Berserker?" Chloe stammered out in shock before looking up at the face of the one who had saved her. "Y-you?"

"O-Onii-chan?" Illya stuttered also.

"Hey Illya, Chloe," Shirou smiled down at them as he held them close before pulling away. "We'll talk later, stay back while we deal with this."

That was too close…

Far too close…

Chloe and Illya almost died there and if he had been any slower than they would have. He was only thanks to his Reinforcement Magecraft and being a devil that he was able to reach them in time to save them from the blast. He barely pushed himself back to his feet and turned quickly, Kuro now clutched tightly in his right hand. A wave of three shadows slashed at him and he batted them away with Kuro, using it as a bat to protect himself.

Assassin was upon him faster than most could react, and if he hadn't been waiting for it neither would he be able to either. A pair of Dirks came flying at him from the shadow warrior, aiming at his vitals. He brought Kuro up and deflected the two Dirks away from him. A second later Leysritt dropped down in front of him, Illya and Chloe, putting herself between them and the Matou faction standing before them. It was then that Shirou saw it, the remains of Berserker being consumed by a dark shadow on the ground beneath where he had been standing.

A moment later a barrage of pinkish beams of light rained down from the sky above them, bombarding the area where Assassin, Saber and Rider were standing. It was Caster, floating in the air above them, raining down spells which he was sure all modern Magi would be envious of. Each beam was packing three times the amount of prana that Shirou had in his entire body and had enough power to kill a Servant with one hit.

Rider and Assassin fell back, using the trees for cover while Saber simply stood her ground, her Magic Resistance shrugging off whatever Caster threw at her. With the limited amount of prana she was drawing from Shirou, Caster couldn't keep up the bombardment for long and was forced to drop back down to the ground beside her Master. The moment she did, Zouken held up his hand and the three Servants under his command stopped where they were standing.

"The son of Emiya," Zouken spoke upon recognizing the redhead. "Have you come to save the daughters of Einzbern? I'm not surprised given your father's relationship with them, and in particular the girls behind you."

"I won't let you harm my sisters," Shirou glared back.

"Sempai…" Sakura whispered as she looked at him sadly. "Please…don't interfere…I don't want to hurt you…"

"Sakura…Shinji…" Shirou trailed off as he looked over at the two.

"What's the matter, Emiya?" Shinji smirked back at him. "Surprised to see us?"

"I was hoping that the Matou family's Magic Circuits had deteriorated and that you weren't involved in this Holy Grail War. I'm sorry that it's come to this," Shirou responded quietly.

Caster wasn't a fighter by nature, but she was a Magus who had spent a good portion of her life on the move, never stopping anywhere for too long. She had been in her fair share of incidents over the years and wouldn't have lived long if she was careless. Because of that she hadn't taken her eyes off of the three Servants arrayed against her, each one capable of killing her if she let her guard down for even a second. Her Master was an idiot to jump into a confrontation like he'd done but she understood his reasoning, he wanted to save his sisters. Still, they couldn't win with three-to-one odds, but that didn't mean they couldn't survive. She muttered a quick incantation under her breath and a hundred of her Dragon Tooth Warriors emerged from the ground around them. They wouldn't last long, but they would be enough to hold the enemy off and cover their escape.

"I am the bone of my sword," Archer began as he landed beside Shirou with Rin in his arms. "Steel is my body and fire is my blood."

"Archer?" Rin asked in surprise as her Servant set her down on the ground.

"Nee-san?" Sakura asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I have created over a thousand blades," Archer continued unimpeded. "Unknown to death nor known to life."

"Onii-chan?" Illya asked as pain slammed into Shirou's head. "Are you okay?"

'This is…' Shirou trailed off in thought as the pain increased.

"Have withstood pain to create many weapons," Archer spoke as he brought his right arm over his chest in prayer.

"Rider! Stop him!" Shinji shouted out the order. He didn't know what the red knight was doing but he knew that it would be best to stop him before he finished.

"Yet, those hands will never hold anything," Archer said mournfully as Rider launched herself at him but it was too late.

"So as I pray," Archer concluded. "Unlimited Blade Works."

A ring of fire sprung up around Archer's form and exploded outwards, consuming everything and everyone in sight. The flames washed over everyone like a wave as a few yelped in surprise and try to shield themselves. It wasn't hot though, something they noticed after several seconds had passed and they uncovered their eyes to see what had happened. Gone was the forest and castle. In its place was a barren land with dozens—hundreds—of sword buried in the ground like gravestones and a sky filled with giant metal gears moving around like some strange clockwork.

"A Reality Marble?" Chloe whispered in shock.

"Archer…you…" Rin trailed off as she stared at her Servant in horror.

A Reality Marble was a forbidden magic, something that the Mage's Association considered to be as bad as researching vampirism. Those that manifested one were usually given Sealing Designations and hunted down like animals. The fact that her Servant had one meant that he wasn't an archer but a Magus, and one that had delved into forbidden research. Just who was he anyway? Her Servant said that he didn't remember but after seeing this she was starting to doubt his words, though that would have to wait until they dealt with the enemy.

"Master!" Caster yelled as she helped him stand.

"I'm fine," Shirou told them.

"We're in Archer's Reality Marble," Chloe replied warily. "I doubt that he can keep it up for long though."

Archer said nothing as he launched himself right Saber with Kanshou and Bakuya now in his hands. The Chinese swords were C-Rank Noble Phantasms with no true wielder, known as the 'married' blades for their ability to attract each other and how they were originally forged. Their quality was first-rate despite their low rank and fit Archer's style of combat perfectly. They had served him well in life and even now they were his favoured weapons.

"A Reality Marble?" Saber mused as she brought her sword up and moved to intercept him. During the last war she had seen the King of Conquerors project his own Reality Marble so it wasn't like she was really surprised at seeing another one first-hand like this.

Rider rushed in silently with her nameless dagger in hand and attacked the Dragon Tooth Warriors that Caster had conjured up. The situation was getting worse by the second with Rider cutting through them all like butter, her dagger shattering them into pieces with every strike. Meanwhile Assassin was throwing Dirks them from a few feet away, clearing the way for Rider to attack Caster and the other directly. She struck at Leysritt first, stabbing her in the chest with her dagger and mowing her down before she could defend herself. He was barely able to bring Kuro up fast enough to deflect the dagger being thrust at his face and tried to hold his ground. Rin wasn't sitting idle while this was happening either because she had her hand raised in the shape of a gun and fired off a barrage of Gandr curses at Rider, forcing her to break away.

"Master! Hold still!" Caster shouted as she muttered an incantation under her breath.

She cast the spell and Reinforced Shirou's body with her own superior version of it. Between Caster's own Reinforcement Magecraft and his devil body, Shirou was able to rush at Rider for a change and swipe at her with Kuro. He caught her in the arm, slashing across it and forcing her to fall back a few feet away but not before her dagger caught him in his left shoulder and pulled, ripping the arm clean off causing him to collapse to the ground in a heap. It was then that they saw Shinji standing a few feet back, his hands clenched tightly around Sella's throat and squeezing. He snapped her neck a moment later and dropped her body to the ground.

"Leysritt! Sella!" Chloe screamed in horror at the sight of them. "Onii-chan!"

"Caster can't hold them off forever," Rin spoke up. "And we can't retreat unless the Reality Marble falls."

"I know," Illya nodded in understanding. "Can you recall him?"

"He's keeping Saber busy right now," Rin answered as she shook her head. "If I call him back to us, she could use her Noble Phantasm again and we would be killed for sure."

They were up against three Servants and their Masters with no way to back out. Their only options were to fight or die, and so they chose to fight. Right now Zouken and Sakura were hanging back, keeping their distance while Assassin was standing near them throwing Dirks at the remaining Dragon Tooth Warriors. Rider was currently executing hit-and-run attacks on the Dragon Tooth Warriors too while Shinji was standing there looking at his Servant with distain.

"What are you doing Rider?!" Shinji shouted in anger at seeing his Servant continuously beaten back. "Stop making me look bad and finish them already!"

Rider back off at that and stopped a few feet away. She took one look at her Master and reached for the blindfold covering her eyes. The blindfold was a localized Bounded Field called Gorgon Breaker that was meant to keep her eyes sealed, stopping them from effecting those around her. The moment she disengaged the seal and removed the blindfold her Mystic Eyes of Petrification took effect. Shirou, Rin and Chloe froze in place but thankfully weren't turning to stone while Caster merely looked on unimpressed thanks to her high mana levels.

"Those are…" Caster trailed off mostly unaffected by Rider's Mystic Eyes due to her high mana levels. "If it's like this then…"

"Hahahaha!" Shinji laughed at the sight.

Rider launched herself at on Caster, the only one that could still move properly despite her Mystic Eyes of Petrification being active. Caster merely smiled as the dagger tore through her and her body disappeared a moment later. A second later she reappeared behind her with her own Noble Phantasm out and ready. Rider hadn't been expecting it and was caught by surprise as Caster stabbed her in the side with her jagged dagger.

"Rulebreaker," Caster declared.

Rider screamed as her contract with Shinji was forcefully cancelled and transferred to Caster herself. Shinji hissed in pain as the Command Sigils disappeared and appeared on Caster's right hand a moment later. Rulebreaker: All Spells Must be Broken was a C-Rank Anti-Thaumaturgy Noble Phantasm capable of breaking any contract and nullifying magic that it was used on. In this case it had allowed Caster to break Rider's connection with Shinji and transfer it to her instead.

"You…" Rider trailed off in shock.

"You're mine now Rider," Caster smiled back.

"Never," Rider glared back.

"I order you not to harm myself, my Master, the Einzbern girls, the Tohsaka girl or Archer," Caster spoke clearly.

"Damn you Caster!" Rider hissed as she felt the order take effect. The Command Sigils on Caster's hand flashed and one third of it disappeared.

"I order you to kill Assassin," Caster smiled back.

Again the Command Sigils flashed red and another third of it faded away, the prana store in it being used to fuel the order that was placed upon Rider. She tried to fight the command but it was useless and she was forced to turn on the now wary Assassin. He froze in place as her Mystic Eyes of Petrification took effect on him and she quickly moved to kill him, throwing her nameless dagger and hitting him in the center of his forehead.

"Caster!" Rider gritted out in anger.

"I order you to kill yourself, Rider," Caster finished as she gave her final command.

Rider's eyes widened in fear as she felt her body move on its own again and bring her own dagger up to her heart. In one quick motion she thrust it in, piercing her own heart and causing blood to spurt everywhere. She collapsed to the ground a moment later, blood leaking out of her and spreading outwards. A second later a pair of black shadows appeared beneath the bodies of Assassin and Rider, swallowing them whole.

Back with Saber and Archer, the two were continuing their own battle across the barren land filled with swords. Archer was on the offensive, constantly attacking Saber at close range, stopping her from using her Noble Phantasm to its truest potential and completely annihilating him. It wasn't enough, despite the fact that he had brought them here to his inner world, Saber was simply too strong and skilled to defeat in a contest of swordsmanship.

"Tch," Archer grunted as he was knocked back.

That single action had given Saber enough time to jump back and begin charging her sword with prana, shrouding it in a dark light. Archer saw this and knew that there was no way he could stop her now. The only thing he could do now was give the others a chance to survive and live to fight another day. He quickly grasped the handle of the sword that appeared at his side and raised it high, an action that caused Saber's eyes to widen as she recognized the blade in his hands.

"Excalibur!" the two of them exclaimed as they brought their swords down in one wide motion.

Beams of light erupted from the two blades, one black, one gold. The sword that Archer was holding may not have been the original Excalibur but it wasn't anything to scoff at either, especially when he overcharged it with prana, turning it into a 'Broken' Phantasm. It was an untainted version of the legendary blade, the Last Phantasm crafted by the fae, the weapon that embodied everything that 'Arturia Pendragon' was.

The Reality Marble Unlimited Blade Works collapsed and reverted back to the real world as the two beams collided, obliterating everything around them. After several long agonising seconds the place where the beams hit each other exploded, leaving a crater where the clearing used to be. The castle was gone, turned to rubble by the shockwave as Archer hit the ground hard, his red clothes and armour torn to pieces and blood dripping from numerous wounds all over his body.

"Archer!" Rin shouted in worry as she rushed over to his side.

She checked him over quickly and her eyes widened as she saw the state that he was in. He survived the last attack but it wasn't enough, his body was breaking down with each passing second. It didn't matter if Saber finished him off or not, Archer was as good as dead and there was nothing that she could do about it. Her jewels couldn't heal this kind of damage and she doubted even Kirei could have possibly healed the spiritual side of him either if that man was on their side.

"Take…me…to…Kotomine…Kirei…" Archer rasped out. Saber merely stood where she was before, her sword still held tightly at her side and her armour slightly charred but otherwise undamaged. Caster quickly wrapped her cloak around them all and dragged them with her as she 'teleported' away from the area.

"They're gone," Zouken mused upon seeing them flee.

A second later a massive shadow shot up around Sakura's body, encasing it in black flames. Her clothes melted away as the black shadows took shape and formed a dress over her form with red vein-like lines running across it. More shadows lashed out and sliced through Shinji's body like it was made of paper, cutting him in two. Zouken turned in surprise only to be obliterated by Saber's black sword as it swung down upon him.

"I am no longer your tool, grandfather," Sakura whispered as her eyes turned red. "Disappear from this world."

A moment later she reached into her chest and ripped out the crest worm that was there. For the first time in centuries Matou Zouken—Makiri Zolgen—felt true fear and vanished from the world as she crushed it in her hand. Her heart healed quickly thanks to the curses now consuming her body as she turned towards her Servant Saber. She could already feel herself falling into the abyss and losing herself in the feeling of corruption.

Four down…

Three to go…

Author's Notes:

Here is chapter 8 and with it the first official battle of the Fifth Holy Grail War. As you can see it's a free-for-all and an all-out massacre between the various sides in the war. First off concerning Shirou's combat gear, please remember he has been planning for this moment for the better part of ten years ever since his father started training him properly. For a picture of what he looks like please see the image of Fate Extra's version of Archer when he was human and you'll get the general idea. Picture him only with red hair and instead of the rifle slung over his shoulder, picture the katana in his hands and you've got this version of Shirou.

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