My life had become a fucking horror movie. The fact hit me as I continued my running, really hobbling, through the dirt tree forest. I admit, the sheer stupidity of it all made me crack a smile. I would have laughed, were it not for the fact that I was trying to be as quiet as possible, so I had to keep it at a smile.

But hey, at least now I could officially call bullshit on horror movies. If I'm not tripping over my damn feet like a dumbass every five seconds, then there's no reason all those dipshits in the movies should be. …That said, I now found the use of religion in horror films to be very, very realistic…

Combat was still raging on, out of view. The purple flashes of bright light could only be from Saber, and Lancer… well, I highly doubted Lancer was having any trouble. Considering Saber was still around, I could only assume that Johnathan was still alive. As for Sortiara… eh, she'd be fine. She had Lancer, and she was still full of energy, if her shouting had been anything to go by. I didn't have to worry about them; just myself for now. Right? Right.

Just think of it like WotH: you're playing Guo Jia, holding the main camp against a lone enemy. It was just a one versus one against the priest. You can deal with that. Totally.

…Except it really was nothing like WotH. As least then I could juggle the enemy and stall, if not very, very slowly kill him. Fat chance in hell I was going to juggle the priest, even if I had a staff instead of a sword. Thus, I really only had the one option: keep on running.

Dodging behind a nearby dirt tree, I caught sight of a flaming black key go whizzing by, just missing me. The priest was laughing. Laughing. At this point, he was treating this as little more than a game. Which it was, so… fair, y'know?

"I wonder… what will burn first" the priest mused. "Your flesh and soul, or this park?"

It was hard to judge from sound alone, given all that was happening elsewhere, but by the sound of things… the priest was leisurely walking, rather than giving serious chase. In other words, he was mocking me; refusing to take me seriously. …Perhaps there was a chance to live through this then…

"I knew it: you freaks do still have that pyromania streak from Jeanne D'Arc" I chirped before taking off again. "Not everything needs to burn, you know: paradise isn't built upon ashes."

"Yet paradise cannot exist so long as even a single heretic remains."

"I can only imagine your productivity if you'd actually dedicate yourself to something… actually real."

"As if you have any understanding of what is and is not real, when a mere week ago you didn't even understand that magecraft was very much real."

"Well, no one's perfect. Not even your false god."

The sound of a dirt tree crumbling to bits sent a shudder coursing through me. Which hurt, considering I still had a dagger or two in me. Maybe more now; it had felt like another black key had pegged me… somewhere… and those things were basically daggers. Honestly, I was just focused on trying to stay alive; any pain my body was feeling just wasn't even registering with me at this point. If that was a good thing or not though, I wasn't sure; wasn't a medical professional by any stretch of the imagination.

"…"

"…What? Thought I was there" I chirped the priest.

"…Indeed, I did. How… vexing…"

"Aww, don't feel too bad" I spoke, never stopping my movement from cover to cover, sticking to the shadows. "Aren't the first to lose me, and won't be the last, I'm sure."

"Your speaking should give you away though. So how?"

"What can I say" I giggled. "Besides… pfft… magic!"

Well, to the priest, science may as well have been magic. The art of 'throwing one's voice' really was an art of scientific basis. Best part was, the hardest bit was already dealt with thanks to the dirt trees. After all, didn't need to 'sell it', as they say, if the priest can't even see me to begin with. His leisurely pace had led to him tracking me by sound alone. Within this bounded field of his, though, where multiple skirmishes were currently raging, well… to say that was a smart thing to do would have been a lie. Add in my little trick, and good luck finding me now, I say!

Not for the first time in my life, I was thankful for what my younger years had led me to teach myself. There were all kinds of neat tricks to help one stick to the shadows; all that was required was to search it out, and practice.

"Tch! Trust a heretic to know of dark magics."

"…Was that a joke, my good sir" I asked, genuinely shocked a bit. "And here I though fun and cheer were simply beyond you."

"We will see who's speaking of cheer when this is all over."

The sound of another dirt tree crumbling rang out. This one sounded a bit closer. Now, if he were actually thinking rationally, he would just destroy every one at once, so that I ran out of cover. Instead, this guy was basically trying to play whack-a-mole, destroying one dirt tree at a time.

…And people say I have a big ego… Look at this man, fully confident in a victory he hasn't even claimed yet!

"You talk big for someone who can't even afford to kill me."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Have you forgotten already" I laughed, now hidden behind a dirt tree back towards where we'd come from, having fully looped around. "All the info I've gathered about magecraft? About the Holy Grail War? You kill me, that shit goes out, and poof: your whole world is what turns to ashes."

His back was turned to me. He wasn't even focused in this direction, thanks to my trick. I still had the sword. I hadn't ever killed anyone before. At least… not like this. Not with certain knowledge that I was the cause of it. But… he was right there… open; exposed… A quick, silent run up. A swift swing at the neck… decapitation?

I wasn't opposed to doing it. I wouldn't feel shame, remorse; anything negative towards it. I was completely desensitized to death. Besides, this was a war, even if magical in nature. People die in war. It's kill or be killed in war. It was all just a game. Just another part of the game…

"Heh… Hehe… Hehehehahahahahaha" the priest broke out into a big round of laughter. "Is that what you think, child? That I forgot about your apparent hold over us all?"

Going for it. Just need the perfect opening…

"Fail to see how you could kill me otherwise" I smirked to myself, looking for the perfect opening.

…Steady… …Steady…

"Then that is your own oversight" the priest continued to laugh. "For you have failed to consider one simple, simple thing! Failed to take into account-"

Now!

"-something we all have!"

Clang

…I had to bee seeing things wrong... I had to be. I had timed that perfectly. I had remained completely out of sight; not even a purple flash had gone out in my run up. His back had been turned to me the entire time. I had remained perfectly silent; it was one of my greatest feats, my silent movements. No way he had heard me. So… how? How?! How did he catch my blade in his hand without even looking at me?!

I could question all I liked; protest all I liked. It wouldn't change the outcome though. My decapitation attempt had been foiled. In his right hand was the blade of my sword, stopped mere inches from his neck. His hand was devoid of injury; a familiar blue glow running along his hand and what must have been the rest of his body. That magical armor shit he had done many times previously. He hadn't had that on when I first made the move either…

A sharp tug pulled me forward. Managing to maintain my grip on the sword, I found myself staring directly into the face of the priest before my mind had even finished fully processing what had just happened.

"I, too, have a wish, child" the gentle smile across his face made him look far more sinister than I'd ever considered him being before. "Care to know what that is, now that our game has come to its end?"

"…"

"It's quite a simple wish, really. All I want, from the grail… is an end to heresy, child. And, before you revealed yourself to me, there was nothing more heretical than this so-called magecraft. …Do you understand my meaning, child?"

"…But, then…" my eyes widened as it did indeed dawn on me what he was saying. "You would-"

"Yes, I would" the priest nodded, never dropping either his grip, or his smile. "My wish, child, is the end of these false miracles you and all these heretical magi desperately chase after, in defiance of the Lord. The end of these false miracles that the heretics masquerading as devout followers of the Lord allowed to continue for centuries, if not millennia. What you deemed to be my world was never mine to begin with. So go ahead: reveal all there is to know about magecraft to anyone who would listen. It won't matter come the end of this grail war, for my wish is a simple one."

The priest leaned in close, now whispering right into my ear.

"My wish, child" he practically hissed. "My wish… is nothing else... but the end of magecraft."

The way he pulled his head back. The way that smile was still plastered on his face…

…The one person I was never safe from, then, and I walked right into him… I didn't know the pieces well enough to proper judge the board state…

"Consider this the last act of equivalent exchange between you and I. A wish revealed, for a wish revealed."

Forgoing black keys, the priest's other hand produced the familiar glow and heat of flames.

"Soon, I shall be free of this curse" at this point the priest was practically just talking to himself. "But, while it still has its use…"

The ball of flames grew brighter and hotter in his hands. Man was seriously going to straight burn me to ash… Ok, not going to lie, that was a sick way to go out; a literal blaze of glory. Better than the horror movie ending I thought I was going to end up with.

Well played, priest. Well played.

Many things happened in that moment. For one, the priest shot the fireball right at me. Point blank, it wasn't missing; hit me square in the chest, setting my body on fire. At the same time, my eyes were blitzed by two vibrant explosions of color. White and purple spots danced in my mind as I felt the flames run along my body. The sound of shattering glass and chunks of dirt being sent flying deafened all other sounds from the battlefield. A new, unseen force latched onto me, pulling me along with it. With the last of my strength, I cradled my sword against my body. No matter what else happened, I had to keep hold of it; have it melt in the flames with me. I would not let Caster's identity be revealed because of me.

Ha… Good luck, Caster. Achieve your victory, whatever it is…

I let the darkness consume me, then, and awaited whatever was to come next.

A/N

A short chapter; really short, like nearly a Fragment short... I want to try and avoid that as much as possible, but really, while writing this I felt adding anything more would just be pointless padding, so hopefully this little bit is enough to satisfy y'all.

Finally back to posting on time too (maybe even a bit early, depending on time zones and all). I'm going to be busy moving into my new place for school over the next couple of days, so I don't know when I'll have the next bits ready to go up. Aiming for Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest, but... well, I never really seem to get scheduling right xD

Now, on to the latest review!

As for the first point... well, all I'm going to say on that for now is: bold of you to assume Nathan would just declare his 'wish' to become God to fucking Gilgamesh, of all people.

If he were to have a 'debate' with Gilgamesh... it would be rather disappointing, I think. It's not like Nathan doesn't agree with Gilgamesh and his decision to separate man from the gods (even if you consider the fact that, with modern day religion being as big as it is, Gil's plan was somewhat of a flop). Really, there isn't much for him and Gil to debate at all; Nathan would LOVE Gilgamesh (probably not mutual xD). Now, if it were someone like Artoria, or Jeanne D'Arc or Iskandar (especially Iskandar on one, particular thing), then that'd be a different story xD

Now, about not having the 'OP' servants like Gilgamesh or Karna in this war... yeah, that was completely by design. Beyond the fact that I wanted to just work strictly with originals so I didn't have to worry about botching the character (which, well...), having servants like them, Enkidu, Ozy, Herc or even someone like Achilles is very... restrictive.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have no problems with them being OP; it should be the big shots like them that are OP as all hell. But when it comes to using them in a story... you really fuck yourself in the writing department, I think, by using them. Gil, for example, needs to be so heavily plot armored around so he doesn't just insta win. Either his arrogance is his undoing (which is *yawn* boring IMO...) or he needs to just be the 'fly on the wall' or the 'jester' character of the story (in which case, why not just watch/read FATE Zero; like hell I'm writing better than Gen the Butcher LMAO).

Of course, using multiple of them could give you an out; have the OP fight the OP. But in a normal grail war of seven servants:

1) that's highly convenient

2) it's still limiting in terms of who can fight who and who can even win the damn thing in the first place (unless all seven are OP hitters, in which case REALLY refer to point 1)

3) that kind of firepower being thrown around really restricts where you can do the big, flashy battles FATE works are loved for, especially if you use a big city for a setting, or set the work in the modern day (which I wanted to do)

4) it really renders masters obsolete (more so than usual, which I always find to be a shame in nearly every FATE work; can we please have the magi do shit, like in FATE Zero)

Keep in mind that in Apoc, were it not for Archer of Black being Chiron, Achilles was LITERALLY UNKILLABLE, because no other Servant of Black had divinity! Had Amakusa just had every other Servant of Red snipe Chiron out of the war at the beginning, Achilles could have literally soloed the rest of it, because until another servant WITH divinity hits his heel with an attack, he is IMMUNE TO ALL DAMAGE, be it from a divine being or not.

Now, I do plan on using some of the OP hitters from established FATE works in my next Fate thing (as well as my own OP hitters), after this one is done, but it ain't a war of seven servants; I got my roster of 49 all set to go xD

…Anyways, that's all for this post. Thanks for reading, and see y'all in the next one!