Chapter 8: Test Run

A loud explosion sounded from within a certain room, while the door frame itself was ringed with bright magical light.

Within, as the dust cleared, a lone figure struggled up from the centre of the debris strewn about the floor, staring at the pulsating, glowing object in the centre of the ritual circle.

Clearing away the dust with some summoned air currents and purification spells, Morgan wiped at her eyes, removed the protective goggles she'd seen fit to put on to shield her eyes, and took a look at the results of her labour.

It was certainly a decent sized core, though scaled down to properly fit into her own form and integrate with her physiology. It resembled a human heart, though with minute scales ringing the outside, glowing with orange-tinted heat and light and with a wispy cloud of pure Mana seeping from and surrounding it. There were also several glowing runes applied to the atria section, of Morgan's own creation, sustaining passive enhancement spells to bolster the artificial core further.

Summoning a few scanning runes to probe her creation, Morgan narrowed her eyes at the influx of new information for a moment before nodding in satisfaction.

Mmmm…the organ seems stable. Mana output seems lower than I expected, even with the augmentation potions I left it in and the runes I applied to it during creation, but still within acceptable standards.

Now for the fusion itself.

Stepping forward, Morgan waved her hands to activate the ring of gravity and alchemy runes for the next, and final, phase of her plan.

A purple and yellow glow suffused the room as the rune circles lit up, levitating the Dragon Core up to the height of Morgan's chest.

Taking a breath, Morgan vanished into her spirit form and walked the last few steps into the circles, positioning herself so that her own heart was aligned with the Dragon Core. Checking one last time that the alchemy circle was active and the spells being channelled by the runes were ready to activate, Morgan nodded to herself, satisfied that she was as prepared as she was ever going to be, then slowly materialised her form again.

Immediately, an overwhelming pain flooded her chest as her original heart and the new core began to reject one another, both from the incompatibility of an organ of Proper Human History origin and the organ of Lostworld origin coming into contact plus the sheer impossibility of them occupying the same space. Even as the circle of alchemy runes and spells began to power up, starting the fusion ritual proper, the pain kept on coming.

Morgan dropped to her knees with a gasp, clutching her at her chest with shaking hands, trying to blink back some light tears blurring at her eyes. Despite the level of pain she was in, she kept the ritual going.

She'd come too far, put in far too much effort, to stop now.

As the integration and merging spells reached their peak, the pain gradually began to ease.

Gritting her teeth, Morgan put one last burst of Mana into accelerating her ritual.

Let's just get this over with.

As the runes and alchemic circles around her began glowing brighter and brighter, the pain she was feeling actually started to get worse, intensifying more and more and more until…

Then, as she finally collapsed to the floor, it all stopped.

The pain vanished, the ritual circles grew dark and the ambient Mana in the room dipped to almost nothing.

Struggling up, Morgan rubbed at her head and eyes, applying some numbing charms to ease the pain, feeling a little groggy.

That is, until she jolted upwards, suddenly feeling quite thoroughly re-energized.

Her body felt tingly, even a little jittery, but on the whole…she felt amazing.

Now comfortably settled in, her Dragon Core was hard at work, churning out fresh waves of Mana to supply its host. Morgan even allowed a small smile onto her face and a childish giggle of triumph to slip through her lips at the realisation that her endeavour was quite a rousing success!

The Mana output certainly hadn't seemed as high as she'd hoped from an outside scan, but now that the organ was attached to her and providing that Mana directly to her…mmm, it felt MORE than enough, even for a prototype!

In fact, she felt as if she were full of new energy and constantly alert!

And this was what Sigurd experienced every day?

Why hadn't she tried this BEFORE? This would have been an excellent help to her in the Fairy Kingdom!

….ah, yes. She'd needed a 'fresh' dragon's heart, even if the dragon in question used to be a man, as the base material to work with and improve upon. There weren't any dragons to tap for materials in the Fae Kingdom, were there?

So much for that idea.

Well, at least she had it now. That was better than nothing.

Just then, there was knocking at the door.

"Mother? Are you alright in there?" Baobhan's voice came through the door.

"Was the experiment successful, your majesty?" Barghest asked.

"Indeed it was. One moment." She called. Indulging in the feeling of 'youthful energy' she was experiencing from her new Dragon Core, plus the triumph and satisfaction she'd gotten from successfully finishing her endeavour, Morgan skipped and bounded over to the door before she opened it.

After this important step of hers, where was the harm in celebrating by unleashing her inner child a little?

Opening the door, she was faced with her Fae Knights, who immediately took note of her disposition and the changed air around her as they stepped inside the room.

"So I can see…you are positively exuding Mana into the air around you." Barghest observed, raising an eyebrow and smiling lightly.

"Well done, mother! I knew you could do it!" Baobhan cheered, launching forward for a triumphant hug, which Morgan accepted.

"How does it feel, your majesty? Is the core giving you all the power you wanted?" Melusine asked.

"The output is…lower than I expected, I must admit. But, the supply itself is quite adequate for now, there will be time to improve upon the design later, once the old man's heart has been fully restored." Morgan explained.

"Eh?" Baobhan cocked her head, confused. "What do you mean, mother?"

Beckoning them to follow her, Morgan moved to her desk and indicated the stasis container that housed Vortigern's recovered heart, a sizable chunk now missing from the preserved organ. However, the intact sides were saturated with a green-white light that had not been there before.

"What's going on in there?" Barghest asked. "I've not seen a dragon's heart do that before."

"That light is not part of the heart's emissions, they are part of my work." Morgan began gesturing around the outside of the container, pointing to similarly-coloured runes that she'd carved into it.

"A dragon's heart, especially the heart of a descendant of the great Albion itself, is far too valuable to throw away after just one project, no? These runes are powering a series of restoration and regeneration spells to restore the organ. As long as there is even the tiniest sample of heart tissue left within the container, these runes will ensure that I will eventually have a full heart to work with once more. It is simply a matter of time. Observe."

The rune network brightened dramatically for just a moment as Morgan channelled more Mana to the active spells. Within the container itself, the line of green-white light inched forwards instantly, leaving a minute line of fresh muscle and tissue in its wake.

"Woooow." Melusine breathed, gazing in awe.

"That's amazing! As expected of mother!" Baobhan gushed happily. "But can you make it go any faster?"

"Unfortunately not. After all, these preservation and stasis runes here might keep the heart fresh and usable, but the time alteration effect also interferes with any regeneration spells I apply. I would rather not risk compromising my sample any further, so I'm willing to wait a few days or weeks for the heart to regenerate before continuing my work." Morgan explained.

"I see."

Moving over to her workspace, Morgan began clearing away the remaining scrolls of notes and diagrams, plus the mystic objects, glass cases, beakers and the like, teleporting them all back into the pocket dimension she'd set up. Before long, the room was clear.

"But for now, I believe it would be best to use the time to test out this new Mana supply of mine. The simulator should be free, at least soon if not right now. Perhaps Ivan is…"

Knock knock knock.

The sudden series of raps at the door drew the quartet's attention.

"Uh, hello? Morgan, are you in there?"

Fujimaru, showing up right now? What a pleasant coincidence.

What could he want?

Perhaps he just wanted to talk to her?

That was quite the…pleasant thought.

But the only way to fight out would be to open the-

"Hi Master!" Melusine beat them all to it, dashing over to the door and opening it to greet a surprised Ritsuka with a big smile.

"Oh, Melusine, hi there! I wasn't expecting to see you here." Ritsuka smiled back, rubbing at his neck a little before peeking into Morgan's room. "Oh, you're all here! What's the occasion?"

"We were simply here to see the results of her majesty's experimental endeavour." Barghest said.

"Eh? What sort of endeavour?" Ritsuka asked, now looking curious.

"To be truly honest…it was an attempt to improve myself. I was told that my Class of Servants tend to be quite inefficient when it comes to Mana use, that they are 'Mana guzzlers' so to speak, so I decided to try and create a second source of Mana for me, independent of Chaldea's own supply." Morgan explained.

"Oh, really? Wowee, that's pretty amazing for a personal project! Almost everyone else just waits for Ascension and enhancement materials to get stronger…I don't think anyone's done something like this before." Ritsuka said, looking surprised.

"Yes, well, I am not most Servants. I would strive to improve myself beyond those limits, as I have just now in fact."

"Yeah, I can see that. So, how'd it go?"

"Well, the artificial core's output is lower than I hoped, but still adequate for now. I was just planning to go to the simulator to test its limits right now."

"Oh, well…I might have another opportunity for you, if you're willing. I actually came here to ask for your help on a Rayshift tomorrow. If you're okay with testing your new 'core' under proper combat conditions, then would you like to join?" Ritsuka asked.

"Oh, of course. I would be happy to offer my services."

"How about you guys?" Ritsuka turned to the Fae Knight trio. "I could always use the extra help."

"Of course! I am always ready to serve as your sword!" Barghest assured him, thumping her chest proudly and planting Galatine in front of her.

"Yes! Of course I'll help you, Master!" Melusine cheered.

"I…I suppose, if mother's going to be going, then I guess I can come along." Baobhan said, twirling her red hair in her fingers.

"Huh, all of you are free? That's great! The more the merrier on these Rayshi-" Ritsuka began.

"I'm afraid that Baobhan Sith will not be able to come along." Morgan interrupted.

"...eh?" Ritsuka mumbled.

"Why's that?" Melusine asked.

"WHAT!?" Baobhan cried.

"B-b-but mother, I want to help out! I want to go out on a Rayshift with you! Why are THEY-" she stabbed a finger towards Barghest and Melusine "-allowed to go along but I can't!? I'm your heir! This is so unfair, it's not fair it's not fair it's-"

Morgan waited calmly for her daughter's angry rant to slowly peter to a halt, even as she began lashing out and hitting her room's desk, eventually cracking the entire piece of furniture in two.

Walking over, the Fae Queen gently placed her hands on Baobhan's shoulders and turned her slowly to face her, revealing that the Archer was getting a little teary-eyed.

"What is the matter, Baobhan Sith? Why are you crying?"

"I…it's just…we always used to go on patrols together, mother…" Baobhan sniffled, rubbing at her nose and eyes.

"B-but lately, you've been spending all your time on work; or in training; or talking with that ice colossus weirdo; or that linen-spinner girl' or going on Rayshifts without me…it feels like we barely spend time together like we used to."

"We eat and chat at almost every meal, Baobhan Sith." Morgan pointed out.

The Archer's face reddened, and she shuffled in place.

"Th-this is different! It feels like…like we're drifting apart a bit." Baobhan insisted.

"I thought that we could have fun going on this Rayshift together…but you don't want me to go with you. Why is that, mother…?"

"Fu fu, dear me, Baobhan Sith, you do enjoy jumping to conclusions, don't you?" Morgan smiled, petting her daughter's head.

"E-eh?"

"To finish what I was going to explain earlier, you will not be able to come along because I have arranged something else for you to be doing in the meantime."

"Huh? Like what?"

"Think of it as a…what do the children of today call it? A…'playdate'. Yes, that." Morgan said.

A moment of silence. Then…

"Pffft."

"Snrk."

Melusine and Barghest tried hiding their giggles, they really did. Unfortunately, their amusement was not so easily concealed, and their laughter quickly began seeping out from between their fingers, even as the two knights tried valiantly to rein themselves in. Even Ritsuka couldn't hold back an amused and slightly confused smile.

Baobhan, on the other hand, turned progressively more and more red in the face. This time, it was not sadness that darkened her complexion, but mounting embarrassment.

"I-I-I'm not a…I'm not a child mother…I don't…I d-don't go on 'playdates'." She stuttered, too embarrassed and shocked to get angry or riled up.

"Ah, perhaps that was not the right word. Perhaps a 'meet up' would be more appropriate?" Morgan suggested.

"In any case, I have arranged this for you to help you with your efforts to make friends. Since you've not exactly had the most success in that area working on your own, I decided that it was time for me to lend you a hand. To that end, I have found someone I believe you will be able to make friends with, and who will be a good influence on you.

"And yes, before you ask, I have spoken to this person myself. Though they might not look it, they too are effectively royalty-" Morgan did not miss Baobhan perking up at the mention of her potential new friend having noble blood "-and share a few similarities with you. I understand that this meeting might cause you some anxiety, since you are not used to interacting with others in a non-violent capacity, but will you please make an effort…for my peace of mind and your own sake?"

"O…okay, if you think they're a good fit for me, then I guess I can go to this meet up instead." Baobhan grumbled, though looking happier than before. "But you'd better bring me on simulator training or on the next Rayshift, okay!?"

"Thank you. And yes, I promise, my next expedition into combat will be yours to share." Morgan affirmed, ruffling her daughter's hair.

Baobhan smiled, practically nuzzling into the affection she was getting.

"Daaaaww."

Turning around, the Archer glared daggers at her fellow knights, Melusine standing there with an exaggeratedly sappy expression and too-wide smiles on her face, while Barghest stood as stoic and serious as ever.

"Yes?" Baobhan asked, a dangerous edge to her voice.

After a half minute of silence, Ritsuka coughed and began sidling to the door, sensing conflict incoming and not wanting any part of it.

"Well then, glad to know you're all on board! I'll just go tell Mashu to add a few new names to the roster, make sure to be at the Rayshift room by 10 tomorrow morning, okay!"

With that, Chaldea's Master beat a hasty retreat.

"What?" Baobhan practically snarled, pupils shrinking as she dared either of her comrades to say anything.

"You're so cute when you're around her majesty! Maybe you'd make friends better if everyone knew about your soft side!" The Lancer pointed out.

Before anyone could stop her, Melusine flew for the door.

"HEY! Where are you going!?"

"I'm gonna tell everyone how cute our teammate is! I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends if you show that side to them!"

"NO! That side of me is for mother only! Wait, stop! GET BACK HERE IMMEDIATELY!" Baobhan screamed, racing off after her fellow knight, with Melusine's giggling laughter echoing all down the corridor.

"Fear not, your majesty." Barghest assured a bemused Morgan. "Melusine is simply having a bit of fun at the expense of her fellow. I doubt she will tell anyone else about what has happened here today."

"Well, that is a relief. But I cannot recall the last time Melusine ever "pulled a prank" at any point in her service, either to me in the Fairy Kingdom or here at Chaldea, do you know what motivated her to act so… well, outside her usual character?" Morgan asked.

"I cannot say for certain, your majesty, but I think it might have something to do with the time she's been spending among the child Servants of Chaldea. They too have a certain fondness for teasing adults from time to time. A recently developed one, if what Master told me about them is true."

"I see." Pausing for a thought for a moment, Morgan turned to Barghest.

"I suspect that Melusine and Baobhan Sith will be quite some time. I have some spare tea leaves saved up from my trips to the cafeteria, would you care to share some tea with me while we wait for them to return? I would like to hear as much as you know about what Melusine has learnt from these 'children', I believe I have met them once before, their antics sound interesting."

"Certainly, your majesty. But in return, perhaps I could ask about this new friend you've found for Lady Sith? What is her name?" Barghest asked.

Morgan began re-opening her gateways to the pocket dimension, pulling out some tea cups, plates and packets of tea leaves she'd seen fit to preserve.

"Of course, it started when I was returning to my room after I returned from the Rayshift I went on with the dragon slayer Siegfried…"

"I wonder who we're going to be partnered with this Rayshift?" Melusine asked, as the trio of her, Barghest and Morgan strolled up to the door to the Rayshift room, it being roughly nine minutes to ten in the morning as they got there.

Morgan was somewhat proud that they'd made such good time, especially given the last-minute resistance that Baobhan Sith had put up to the idea of sitting out this mission while her fellows got to go with her mother. It had taken a while, but the Fae Queen had been able to once more convince Baobhan to at least give the meeting with Mordred a try.

Hopefully she would persevere, despite the incompatibilities in their personalities, long enough to recognise some common ground between them.

"I do not know, but hopefully it won't be the same group as last time." Morgan said, her teeth grinding as she thought about the attitude of that corrupted Artoria, of the sheer nerve of that woman. Talking back to her, ordering her around, manhandling her even!

THIS time, I will NOT put up with any of her blatant disrespect! Not even for ONE minute!

Barghest looked a wee bit put out at the prospect of not fighting alongside her idols in the Round Table, but quickly gathered herself.

"Well, whoever it is, let's show them the strength of the Fairy Kingdom's elite!" She proclaimed.

"Well said, Barghest, make sure you both perform at your best on this mission." Morgan instructed.

"Yes, your majesty!" The duo affirmed.

With that, the trio stepped close enough to the door that it flew open, before stepping over the threshold to meet their fellow Servants.

The first person the two Fae Knights noticed was the most blatantly warrior-esque of the group. A man with neck-length, white-streaked dark hair, whose blue eyes were covered by a pair of thick glasses.

He wore what looked like a fusion between modern military combat gear, embodied in the armoured gloves, metallic harness, boots and black bodysuit the man had on, and mediaeval noble wear, embodied in the flowing purple mantle he had strung around his shoulders. His hands had a firm grip on a blue crystal blade, wrapped in silver metal at the hilt that fed into a circular grip.

As if drawn by the new arrivals' attention, the man's gaze turned towards them, curiosity blossoming in his eyes as he caught sight of the arriving Fae.

"Ah, it seems there are some new arrivals here." Turning his head, the man called out across the room.

"Master, are these the other Servants you said would be joining us?"

"Oh, yeah! Glad you guys could make it!" Ritsuka came striding over, looking pleased.

"It's no problem, Master. We will always be ready if you call!" Barghest assured him.

"Of course, you can rely on us any time." Morgan said.

"Oh? We have some new arrivals here, Sitonai." Another, mature feminine voice said.

"Ooohh yeah, Master did say we'd be working with some of the Servants from another Lostbelt!" A higher-pitched, more childish voice called.

"Hey Thrud, there's newcomers here!"

"I see them, Hildr."

"Mmmm, Master vouched for them, but still…"

Glancing around, Morgan saw five more people approaching their group, all of them women.

At the front were a trio of white-robed girls with thigh-high black boots and small wings jutting out of their heads, the same colour as their hair. They had golden shields in their left hands and lances that seemed to be made of the same yellow-white energy as the 'symbols' behind their heads in their other.

That said, the blonde girl, to Morgan's practised eye and keen senses, was notably more powerful than her siblings, while also wearing golden feathers around her waist and having black straps on her own outfit. The pink haired girl seemed weaker than her, Mana-wise, but still stronger than the dark-haired girl, who Morgan supposed was the 'youngest' of the trio.

The second girl approaching them looked to be a child, a white haired and blue eyed youngster with what looked to be animal ears on her head, pushed down by quite a fluffy hat. She wore a mostly white and blue ensemble…which she'd complimented rather spectacularly with the large white polar bear that served as her mount.

Now that she looked closer, Morgan could sense a strangely vast reserve of magical energy within the girl, far deeper and stronger than she expected someone like that to possess.

Just who IS this girl to possess such powerful magic?

However, the young girl's power level was nothing compared to the energy being given off by the taller, full-grown woman walking alongside her.

Her hair was done up into a dainty ponytail, tied with a gold-rimmed purple cloth, while her forehead was covered with a rather ornate, jewelled tiara. Her outfit appeared to be more like a wedding dress or ball gown than it did a practical outfit, a white and purple garment that offered a glimpse of her upper shoulders and thighs for those daring enough to try and peek.

However, none of that was what drew Morgan's attention. Rather, the Fae Queen's gaze focused on the burning crimson of her irises which, combined with the roiling waves of barely-restrained power Morgan could sense flowing off of this woman, even when she was relaxed and passive, meant only one thing.

This was another of the veritable legion of Divine Spirits that had made Chaldea their home.

Morgan was just a wee bit irritated to note that her power was significantly greater than Morgan's own, even with her newly implanted Dragon Core bolstering the Fae Queen's power AND the Divine Spirit herself being greatly weakened by her Servant vessel.

Noticing Morgan's gaze, the Goddess answered it with a soft stare of her own and a surprisingly warm smile.

"Fufu, I see you've noticed already. Yes, I am a Divine Spirit, if that's what you're wondering." The woman said, calmly extending her hand. "I am Skadi, Scathach-Skadi, former Lostbelt ruler of the Scandinavian Lostbelt. A pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine." Morgan replied, wanting to make a good first impression, for her own sake if not for Ritsuka's as well. "I am Morgan, former ruler of the British Lostbelt, now contracted here as a Servant of Chaldea."

"Uhu, I see we have that in common already."

"I'm Sitonai." The young girl accompanying Skadi stepped up to extend her own hand, which Morgan took after releasing Skadi's. "Well…that's the name of one of the Goddesses inside me. I don't mind it, but I'd prefer it if you called me "Illya" instead, which is this vessel's name."

"Ah, I see. Well then, it is a pleasure to meet you, Siton…ah, I mean Illya."

"It's fine. But moving on, this is Shirou!" Sitonai indicated her mount. "Say hi to them, Shirou!"

The polar bear's response was a soft growl, combined with pushing his head gently against Morgan. Bemused, she reached out to pet it…him on the head.

"Hello there…Shirou."

"Hi there!" Melusine was more enthusiastic in her greeting, rubbing Shirou all over and fluffing his fur with her hands, caught up in how soft and warm the bear felt to the touch. "Aaahhh, so fluffy and cute! Aren't you! Aren't you!"

"Of course he is! Shirou's the softest in the world!" Sitonai declared.

"He certainly seems to provide comfort." Barghest agreed, petting the polar bear herself. "Hello there."

Surprisingly, Shirou was significantly more receptive to the Saber's petting than he was to Melusine's, despite the latter's greater enthusiasm, rubbing and nuzzling against Barghest's armoured gauntlets quite happily.

"Hee hee, I think Shirou likes you!"

"Well, that is good to hear." Barghest smiled.

It took a full minute, with Melusine's new pout of envy growing larger and larger all the while, until Shirou disengaged from Barghest.

The Fae Knight turned to greet the other Servants she'd not yet met…only to come face-to-face with the trio of red-eyed girls, all of them staring intently at her.

"Ah, h-hello there…I don't believe we've met yet, how do you do?" She offered her hand to the girls, managing to rein in her surprise at them being so close to her.

None of them took it, instead, they kept staring at her.

"Erm, might I help you?"

"What do you think, Hildr?" The blonde girl asked.

"Yep! This is definitely the presence of a hero all right!" The pink-haired girl chirped.

"Hmm…g-great hero, you say?" Barghest asked, cheeks reddening a little at the compliment. "Well, it's true that I strive to meet the ideals of a Knight of the Round Table, and I did distinguish myself in the Caterpillar Wars that one time, b-but I wouldn't say that I'm a-"

"Indeed, this is a worthy hero. We must escort you to Valhalla, immediately." The dark haired girl interrupted.

"E-eh? Wait a moment!" Barghest protested, as the trio began crowding tighter around her. "I-I appreciate your compliments, but I cannot allow you to escort me to this 'Valhalla'! I still have a contract with and an obligation to Chaldea!"

"Ortlinde…Hildr…Thrud." A soft, feminine and very flat voice called out. "It is not this one's time…to enter the Allfather's service just yet."

"A-ah! Big sister!" Hildr, the pink haired girl, yelped as a hand gently came down on her head. Quickly, she and her sisters turned to face a tall woman that had made her way over to them, the same woman who had just spoken.

"We are sorry, big sister Brynhild." The dark haired one, Ortlinde, muttered. "It is our function to find worthy heroes, after all."

"I understand that…there is nothing to be worried about. But please…try to be a bit more considerate…of others in the future." The elder, Brynhild, gently advised the younger girls, in the same flat tone as before.

Had her expression even moved?

Fulfil our purpose? Valhalla? If my knowledge of Norse Myth is up to date…these must be the Valkyries, then.

"I-it is quite all right, Lady Brynhild." Barghest tried assuring her. "There was no harm done, after all."

"Please…just Brynhild…is fine. This…is-"

Brynhild trailed off as her gaze swept over Morgan for a moment, then snapped right to her, seemingly noticing the Fae Queen for the first time.

"Ah…you. I remember you. Did your experiment…go as planned…Lady Morgan?"

"Experiment? What experiment, big sister?" Hildr asked, tilting her head in curiosity, an act that was mimicked by her fellow Valkyrie.

"I believe she was attempting to replicate the Dragon Core that I possess, is that right?" Sigurd asked as he approached, adjusting his glasses.

"Yes, that is quite right."

Narrowing his eyes, Sigurd took a small sniff of the air, then re-focused on Morgan, comprehension dawning in his blue orbs.

"I see that the installation was a success…it is faint, but I can smell the scent of a dragon around you."

On receiving a few questioning looks from Skadi, Sitonai, Melusine, Barghest and Morgan, Sigurd merely adjusted his glasses once more and smiled.

"One of the abilities I inherited upon consuming the Evil Dragon's heart was an enhanced sense of smell, at least when it comes to fellow dragons. It might not be noticeable to all of you, but I can smell the dragon part of her as clear as day."

"Mmmmm…that explains the secondary magic source I could sense from her." Skadi commented. "To create an artificial dragon heart is no small feat…well, I suppose you would not be a Lostbelt ruler without immense power or skill, most likely both."

"Rest assured, I bring plenty of both with me. If you doubt my abilities, then I will give you an in-person demonstration on our mission." Morgan boasted, planting her staff beside her and raising an eyebrow, as if daring anyone to question her talents to her face.

Thankfully, none of them did.

"Well, I look forward to seeing what a fellow Lostbelt ruler is capable of." Skadi smiled back at Morgan, raising her own wand in reply. "And I will show you a God's strength, of course."

"And I will show you the strength of a Fairy Knight of Britain." Barghest promised.

"Well, this one is not normally one for boasts…but if everyone else will be volunteering, then I will give you all a demonstration of Gram's strength as the strongest demonic sword." Sigurd said, hefting the blade in question and planting it in front of him for effect.

"Shirou! We'll do our best too, won't we?" Sitonai cheered, patting her mount encouragingly on the head.

"And I…will show you my power." Brynhild mumbled.

"We won't fail either! On the ground or in the skies, the Valkyrie won't be matched either way!" The Valkyr trio promised, each with varying levels of volume and enthusiasm.

"Well, it's nice to see all of you getting along so well." Ritsuka commented as the Master approached the Servant group, rubbing at his neck. "I, ah…I was a little bit worried about how things would go."

"Fu fu, there's no need for that sort of caution, Master. After all, we're all mature adults here, aren't we?" Skadi pointed out.

"Of course, you can have full faith in us on this mission, Master!" Barghest assured him.

"This one will always follow your instructions, Master. You are, after all, a righteous person at heart. I have faith that you would never attempt to have me fight for an unjust cause." Sigurd insisted.

"Thanks guys…I know it's pretty irrational to think like that, but…well, I was just trying to prepare for a worst case scenario you know? Like, I dunno…arguments about powers and skills or something. Believe it or not, that did happen a couple of times in the early months and…well, I guess it just made me a bit overly cautious." Ritsuka explained, looking a tad guilty nonetheless.

"There's nothing to feel guilty about, anticipating and planning for the worst case scenario is never a bad habit for a leader." Skadi gently assured him.

"Don't worry Master, you'll get no arguing from me!" Melusine promised, giving him a confident smile as she glomped onto the surprised human. "After all, I'm a supreme master of aerial combat who won't lose to anyone!"

It was intended to be a reassuring declaration and show of support, it really was.

Unfortunately…

"Hoh? Saying something like that in front of us…I hope you're ready to eat those words." Hildr narrowed her eyes at Melusine.

"To cling to Master so easily like that…" For perhaps the first time since her introduction, Ortlinde allowed the faintest hint of jealousy and sadness to cross her face as she glared daggers into the other Lancer.

"When it comes to the skies, the Walkure have no equal or superior, save the Gods themselves." Hildr insisted. "You think you're a match for us?"

"Of course I am, I'm the strongest and the fastest there is, after all!" Melusine declared, disengaging herself from Ritsuka and moving to stand in front of the Valkyries, hands on hips.

Acting quickly to smother the conflict he could sense was brewing, Ritsuka stepped between them and patted both Melusine and Thrud, the Valkyrie in the lead, on the head.

"Hey now, before you get all competitive with each other right here, can I suggest something?"

"What is it, Master?" Thrud asked.

"How about you all work together on this mission, keep the skies clear between the four of you? After all, according to the intelligence we've managed to gather from SHEBA, there's going to be quite a few airborne drakes and dragons in this Singularity, and we'll be needing some air cover. If you want to show off to each other, then how about showing off how well you can work together?" Ritsuka suggested.

Valkyrie trio and Fairy Knight each eyed the other, looking a little wary.

"There'll be a nice reward for you if you do~" Ritsuka sang.

Both sides perked up at once.

"Um, M-Master…even…even 'that'?" Ortlinde asked, nervously.

"Yep! Even that!" He affirmed.

That? What could 'that' be?

"Okay, let's do it!" Melusine held out her hand to the Valkyries. "Let's work well together, then!"

"Very well, for Master's sake, we'll co-operate." Thrud said, shaking her hand stiffly.

"Pleasure to work with you! Try to keep up with us, 'kay?" Hildr winked.

"If Master's willing to put his faith in you, then we will too." Ortlinde muttered.

As Ritsuka stepped away from the quartet and turned to the other Servants, he received a small nod from Brynhild.

"Thank you…for helping my sisters like that." She mumbled, mustering a small smile.

"Ah, it's nothing special, really." Ritsuka rubbed his head awkwardly. "If I couldn't even moderate a potential squabble after all this time at Chaldea, well…I'd not be much of a Master."

"Still, thank you for helping the little ones get on, Master." Skadi said, patting Ritsuka on the shoulder and then ruffling his hair. "It warms my heart."

"While I am loath to ruin this moment, Master, since you've mentioned dragons within the Singularity and have assigned Servants to a particular role already, I was wondering if we could discuss the group strategy for the Singularity as whole, now that everyone is here."

"Oh, uh…actually, there's three more Servants still to come." Ritsuka admitted.

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door, followed by a very familiar voice.

"'Scuuuse me! Can someone let me in, nya!?"

Habetrot is here again?

Except this time, before anyone could open the door on their side, another voice interrupted Habetrot.

"No need for that! I'll get that for you, demoiselle!" Came a boisterous, loud and masculine voice, before the door swung open anyway.

In hovered Habetrot, seated on her zeppelin as always, quickly accompanied by a tall and very well-built man…who also happened to be carrying a large, golden-plated artillery cannon in the grip of his right hand. The size of which was only matched by the ridiculous hat he had on his head, so big and expansive that Morgan wondered how it actually stayed on.

Besides that though, he looked to be wearing was the Fae Queen deemed to be some mediaeval officer's uniform, if the sashe on his chest and ornate red scarf woven about his person were any indication.

Though she made a valiant effort to deduce his identity for a few moments, she needn't have bothered. As soon as he noticed the Servant party, his face lit up in a bright (well, brighter) smile and he came striding on over.

"Well isn't this a familiar sight! If only Mashu were here, then we could truly re-create the Scandinavian Grande Armee that my other formed! But no matter, these are a fine group of allies nonetheless! And I see we have some newcomers as well! Archer, Napoleon Bonaparte, at your service!"

"Greetings, Archer Napoleon. I am Barghest, Knight of the Fairy Round Table, it is a pleasure to meet you." Barghest introduced herself, meeting Napoleon's raised hand with her own…only to freeze up as, rather than shaking it, Napoleon raised the gauntlet to his lips and offered a dainty kiss.

"Hu-...wh-what are you-?!" The Saber spluttered, blushing and whimpering bashfully at such a forward display of affection from a complete stranger.

"My apologies, mademoiselle, but I thought a beauty like yours, attached to such an esteemed knight, deserved a greeting like this." Napoleon smiled at her, flustering the poor Fae Knight even more at how sincere he sounded.

"I…I see…" Barghest mumbled, mostly mollified by the explanation. "N-nonetheless, it is improper to simply approach a knight like that, Sir Bonaparte!"

"I see, I will remember to ask for permission in future, and please, it's just Napoleon." The Archer insisted, before moving on.

"Hello there, who might you be?" He asked, smiling down at Melusine.

"I'm not a young child, you know! I'm a Fairy Knight too!" She insisted, though the credibility of her declaration, true though it may be, was rather undermined by the small stomp and pout that accompanied it.

"I see, impressive! Nice to meet you nonetheless, I hope that we can work well together!"

"Nice to see you again, Brynhild!" This time, Napoleon flat-out pulled her into a hug.

"A-ah…Emperor Napoleon, you mustn't…be so kind to me." The Valkyrie mumbled, though she made no attempt to throw the Archer off, simply remaining still until he released her, a blush clear on her cheeks.

"To so easily approach and lay his hands on big sister Brynhild like that…who does he think he is?!" Thrud muttered angrily, brandishing her spear.

"That…that's not right." Ortlinde insisted, looking upset.

"Sir Sigurd, your partner is receiving affection from another man, are you not concerned about that?" Morgan asked, noticing how passive the Norse hero was.

He was even smiling at the sight, for goodness sake!

"There is nothing to worry about. Napoleon doesn't mean anything romantic by it, it's simply his way. But even if he did, I'd not be worried. After all, Brynhild's heart is already mine, just like mine is hers. Ours is a love that can't be broken." Sigurd stated, as if it were the most obvious truth in the world, taking Morgan aback.

As if on cue, Napoleon came over and, rather than hugging the other man, stuck out his hand for a hearty shake, which Sigurd accepted.

"A pleasure to be able to fight alongside you this time, Great Hero!"

"I feel the same way. After this one was suborned by Surtr for so long, forced to raise my blade against dear Brynhild…it is truly a great gift to be able to fight alongside my beloved and fellow Heroic Spirits in defence of mankind."

While he moved on to greeting the Valkyries, Sitonai and Skadi, Morgan took the opportunity to approach Habetrot. Up to that point, the Rider had been content to sit back and focus on Napoleon introducing himself before doing so herself, and was thus startled when the Fae Queen suddenly appeared in her vision.

"Waaah!" The poor linen spinner jumped backward in fright, nearly toppling off her zeppelin before Morgan stepped in to right her with a palm to the back. Thankfully, she recovered quickly enough, expression flipping from shocked to pleased once she got a good look at the person accosting her.

"Oh, hi Morgan! You're on this mission too, eh?"

"Indeed I am, dear Habetrot. I was asked by our Master to come along and provide support."

"Ol' Habenyan's here for healing, as always!" The Rider saluted happily. "And woooaaahhh…look at all these potential brides here! I can feel new inspiration coming on already!"

"Ah, you've not met the little lady with me yet!" Came Napoleon's voice, followed a few moments later by the man himself, gesturing towards Habetrot. "How about introducing yourself to the others?"

"Yep! Name's Habetrot, and my class is Rider! I'm a linen spinning Fairy who sides with every bride in existence, it's my purpose to bring them all happiness and find their true love! Besides that, if you need healing, then please leave it to me, nya!"

"Hello there…" Brynhild said.

"Welcome, I will do my utmost to keep you safe." Sigurd offered his hand, which Habetrot shook.

"Hello there-"

"Pleased to-"

"Meet you."

The Valkyries introduced themselves all at once, merely bowing slightly.

"Hello again!" Melusine waved.

"Greetings." Barghest opted for a small nod.

"Wooaaah, you're so small! Hehe, that's adorable. Hey, come and meet Shirou!" Sitonai insisted, bringing the titular polar bear over for Habetrot to pet, which she did with gusto.

"Hehehe, he's really soft, eh?"

"Yep! Shirou's the softest in the world!"

"'The friend of all brides', you say…?" Skadi mumbled to herself, shuffling back and forth and looking pensive.

"Pleased to meet you all, nya! Let's get along well and, for the ladies of the team, bring out your inner bride together!"

Barghest and Skadi had hopeful smiles on their faces, while Brynhild merely snuggled up to Sigurd in response.

"Haha! I can tell that you have an intense passion for your craft, demoiselle! I'm sure that fire will drive you to bring happiness to many of the ladies here!" Napoleon chuckled, giving the small fairy a gentle pat on the head in support.

"You..do not lack for passion either, do you Napoleon?" Morgan observed. "Are you always so…intensely charged with everything you do?"

"But of course I am! I am the legend of Napoleon Bonaparte, a Heroic Spirit that answers the hopes and dreams of mankind! I'm a man who achieves the impossible, that's who I am now!

"And that passion is what lets humans achieve their own dreams, to make what is impossible 'possible' for themselves! What sort of Heroic Spirit would I be if I didn't embrace that passion and use it to drive myself forward, no matter where I am?"

No one could really disagree with Napoleon's statement, with Sigurd even offering a few rounds of polite applause, out of respect for the other man's dedication if nothing else. The rest of the Servant team shared nods of appreciation and shoulder shrugs of acceptance among themselves.

"So, anyone else we need to wait for, Mast-nya?" Habetrot asked.

"Yeah, just uh…just one more person." Ritsuka admitted, suddenly looking a lot less confident, scratching at his neck and not meeting anyone's gaze.

"So, who is it then, Master?" Asked Sitonai, tilting her head curiously and raising an eyebrow, still petting Shirou.

"It's ah…it's one of the newcomers." He muttered.

Morgan frowned in confusion, bringing a finger to her lips and she processed that new information.

Newcomers? But we haven't taken on any newcomers as of late, aside from…

….those from the…fairy…kingdom.

A rather terrible thought wormed its way into her mind, sending a spike of anger up her spine.

"Master, this….this newcomer." She spat the word out as if it were a caterpillar stuck in her throat.

"Y-yeah?" Ritsuka asked, looking a tad more nervous as the Fae Queen turned a very intense glare onto him, while clutching at her spear so tight her knuckles turned white.

"Would they happen to be….the ONLY member of their Servant Class?" Morgan's Fae Eyes bored into the teen's own, as if DARING him to try and lie to her now.

"Um…well…" Ritsuka began.

He was interrupted by the sound of the door opening yet again, heralding the arrival of the newcomer.

A short moment later, Morgan's anger was sent through the roof as said newcomer started to speak up.

"Alright, I'm here like you asked, Master. Let's just get this over wiii-...uuurrrrggghhh."

No. No…nonononononoNONONO-

What about my tracking spe-!?

I…neglected to reactivate it?

Curses. BLAST IT ALL!

Slowly, oh so slowly, Morgan's head swivelled to face the newcomer, her movements so stilted and forced that most of the observers half-expected her to start creaking like some rusty, under-serviced automaton.

She drew in a deep, calming breath…

Only to blow it out again VERY sharply through her nose once she finally locked eyes with Oberon-Vortigern, who was standing in the door frame with his face scrunched up into the most concentrated look of disgust anyone (at least, those who had previously interacted with him) had ever seen him give.

"'Uuurrrrggghhh', is that all you have to say? I suppose that insect sized brain of yours DOES limit your intellect a great deal, so I'll forgive you for that." Morgan snarled, already raising her spear in the Pretender's direction.

"Well, considering this 'insect brain' of mine helped collapse that flimsy, rotten husk you called a kingdom, I'll take that as a compliment." He sniped back, smirking maliciously at her.

Another spike of anger at the sheer smugness he was radiating.

I'm sure Master won't mind TOO much if I tear off just ONE of his limbs…

"Insulting her majesty like that…do you have a death wish, hmmm?" By this point, Barghest had advanced on the Pretender, her hand gripping the hilt of Galatine threateningly.

"Honestly, I could ask the same thing about you. I mean really, you've got all these bad memories you want to keep locked away, and yet here YOU are, approaching someone with my…skills. Damn, you really must want to go on a rampage again, huh?" Oberon-Vortigern matched her glare with an even more malice-filled once of his own, dark magic dancing between his fingertips.

To her credit, even with the looming threat of the Black Dog's re-emergence, Barghest did not back down, instead slowly drawing Galatine with a growl, her blue eyes flashing an angry red.

"Should that happen…I will make sure that you are the Black Dog's first meal." She threatened.

Oberon-Vortigern simply smirked even harder…until an Arondight was held up to his neck.

Glancing down and to the side, he saw that Melusine had snuck up on him, her other blade aimed for his heart.

"If you don't stop right now…I'll fight you." She hissed. "You really think you can take me on?"

"Kkhhh…" The Pretender's expression slipped into a small grimace, suddenly a lot less confident than he had been before.

Nevertheless, he quickly rallied himself, straightening up and re-affixing his usual smirk.

"Heh, why not? Even getting dogpiled by you idiots is better than having to spend a whole Rayshift with you!"

"Alright, enough!"

The other Servants, who'd been standing transfixed by the burgeoning conflict in front of them, were snapped out of their stupors as Ritsuka finally stepped forward, getting between the two sides and pushing them away from one another. Of course, that was more a testament to how shocked they were that he'd do something so brazen than a feat of his raw strength.

Sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose, his earlier nervousness replaced by an adrenaline-fuelled sense of purpose, Ritsuka held out his hands to keep the two sides from getting closer to one another.

"I asked Oberon to join us because I wanted to see you guys all work together. From what I've read on your Spirit Origin entries…you two are pretty compatible when it comes to magic techniques."

"WHAT?" Morgan and Oberon-Vortigern both yelped.

"I'm not usually one for questioning your tactics, Master…but I must protest, this is truly an absurd strategy!" Barghest insisted.

Ritsuka sighed again, staring at the Fae Knights, Fae Queen and Insect of the Abyss one by one before speaking again.

"Well, the way I see it, it had to happen at some point…elephant in the room and all.

"I can't keep you apart forever, Caster Artoria told me about your encounter in the hallways. So I decided that we might as well just get it over with and give you a…I guess you could call it a 'trial by fire' of sorts.

"I'm just asking you to work with each other for one mission, just ONE. If there's something I've learnt at Chaldea that's really stuck with me, it's that Servants can bond surprisingly quickly on the field together…I guess old grudges tend to fall by the wayside when you're putting your life in your old enemy's hands.

"If it doesn't work out, then okay, I'll try and keep you two apart from this point on. If it does work out, then great, you two can go along together more often..and hopefully fight less often, and Chaldea only gets better for it."

"Urgh, it's certainly the kind of stupidly optimistic plan I've come to expect from you…but what if I don't WANT to work with this hag?" Oberon-Vortigern growled, glaring at Morgan, who replied in kind.

"I would rather throw myself in the great pit than work alongside this shitty little bug." Morgan snarled.

"...alright, that's…that's fine. If you want to leave, you can leave.I'm not gonna force you to stick around on a team you don't want to be on." Ritsuka shrugged, looking a little crestfallen, but nonetheless accepting.

"Thank you for the offer, Master. I for one will very much take you up on it." Morgan began walking towards the door, pausing only to address her knights.

"You two may stay or leave, that is your choice. I cannot work with this scum."

After she resumed walking, Morgan noted that the duo made no attempt to follow her. Well, that was fine. Hopefully they would find the insect's presence a mite more bearable than she did.

"Heh, guess I'll stick around then, at least this trip will be bearable without her whining and moaning in my ear all the time."

Resisting the urge to flay the filthy bug alive for that last comment, Morgan kept up her stride.

"Hey, you're really leaving just like that!? You could always just stick with Habenyan!" Habetrot called, sounding a little upset at her friend just walking away the way she was.

A pang of guilt ripped at her heart, for Morgan did so hate to see her dear friend troubled, but the Fae Queen swallowed the lump in her throat and continued on.

"Yeah that's it, you keep walking. Slink away and just let me do everything you can do, but better." Oberon-Vortigern sneered behind her.

…what was that?

"Hey Master, make sure you get this down in whatever logs you keep! That hag witch chickened out while I answered the call with no problems! And she's the one flapping her jaw about her 'superiority' at me every five minutes, ppfffftt!

"Guess this just makes me the winner again, huh? But hey, I gotta commend you, well done for recognising just which of us is better. That's a real sign of growth and it makes me very proud."

The sound of slow clapping filled the air.

Sound that, from Morgan's point of view, was being drowned out by the grinding of her teeth and the ringing in her ears from clenching her jaw so hard, veins popping out across her head and neck all the while.

ALL RIGHT THEN…YOU FILTHY BUG.

Wordlessly, Morgan swivelled about and stomped back over to the group. She adamantly refused to look anywhere near the Pretender, who for his part kept up that infuriatingly smug smirk, instead choosing to focus on Habetrot's happy smile at seeing her return.

"Don't worry about that downer. Just stick with ol' Habenyan and we'll get through this together, nya!" She assured the Fae Queen, patting her on the arm as she drew close.

"Thank you." She mumbled, ruffling the Rider's head in turn.

"So…you're staying, then?" Ritsuka asked, cautiously.

She nodded stiffly.

"Yeah! There's the spirit!" Habetrot cheered, patting Morgan on the shoulder.

"Well then, glad to have you on board, I suppose." Ritsuka cast a wary glance at Oberon-Vortigern.

"All right, new rule, try and keep the insect usage to a minimum if you can unless Morgan's out of sight. Oh, and less of the insults too, hmm?"

"Oh you can't be serious! Sure, they're horrible and disgusting, and they never leave me alone once I bring 'em out, but they're part of how I fight! You're really gonna handicap me just because this hag can't handle a few bugs!?" The Pretender protested.

Ritsuka shrugged and nodded.

"Tch…fine." Despite kicking at the floor and shoving his hands in his pockets, Oberon-Vortigern still relented with a small nod.

…

"Well, now that everyone will be taking part again, perhaps we should discuss our roles within the team?" Sigurd, ever the professional, suggested.

"And I would also like to go over our objective, if that is alright Master." Barghest added.

"Yeah, no problem!" Ritsuka hefted the notepad he'd been holding out of his free hand, bringing it up to his face and clearing his throat.

"All right then, here's what I've gone for in terms of team roles.

"Skadi and Morgan; you're the primary magical support for our team. Protection spells; enhancement spells; curses; tracking spells; things like that."

"I had a feeling that would be my role, fufu."

"As you wish."

"Habetrot, you're the primary healer. We'll be relying on that Noble Phantasm of yours."

"Leave it to Habenyan!"

"Ah, but if anyone else has healing runes available, then hopefully they'll step in and lend a hand."

"I can…help you."

"This one will lend his experience, if it is needed."

"Thanks guys. Alright then…Napoleon, Oberon-Vortigern and Sitonai; you're our primary ranged attackers because you're not all that durable, so stay away from the front lines and pick off whatever targets you can get your hands on."

"Leave it to Shirou and I, Master-san!"

"Oui! They won't know what hit them!"

"'Support from the rear!' he says, but don't use your bugs! What sort of crap conflicting logic is that…?"

"Barghest, Melusine, Sigurd and Brynhild; you're all on frontline duty, because you're the toughest Servants on this team. Make sure you prioritise the strongest enemies you can find first, we don't want them attacking our backliners, all right?"

"Of course, Master!"

"You can count on me, Master! I'll show you I'm the strongest!"

"This one will do his utmost, as always."

"I will do…as you ask…Master."

"And one last thing! Valkyries, you're keeping the skies clear! There are supposed to be some dragons and winged demonic beasts roaming the Singularity, according to SHEBA's predictions, so I want you all in the air keeping an eye out for them!"

"You got it Master!"

"Affirmative, Master."

"I'll do my best."

Noticing Melusine's huff and betrayed pout, Ritsuka shook his head and smiled slightly.

"If you think you can pull double duty, then you can keep the skies clear too Melusine, okay?"

"Thank you, Master! I won't let you down!" She perked up immediately, eyes sparkling happily with a bright smile on her face, while it was the Valkyries' turn to look a little betrayed.

"All right then!" Ritsuka clapped his hands together. "Does everyone know what they're doing?"

A chorus of affirmatives resounded from the group.

"Right, now onto the mission!" Ritsuka flipped over his clipboard to the next set of notes.

"Just yesterday, SHEBA picked up the formation of a Singularity within Shinjuku province in Japan in 2015. All we've been able to glean is that dragons and demonic beasts have been sighted appearing, along with the formation of…some kind of religious movement in the city, dedicated to worshipping some 'Saint'. It's chaos right now.

"SHEBA's predicted that if the Singularity isn't stopped, Shinjuku will be reduced to a wasteland in a week or so, and it's already been one day. Obviously, we need to get in there and close the Singularity quickly, before more damage is done."

"Do we know the source of the Singularity, Master?" Sigurd asked.

"Ah…no, SHEBA didn't quite get that far, I'm afraid." Ritsuka admitted.

"But, considering all the other Singularities I've dealt with…I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Holy Grail there sustaining the whole thing. I'm thinking that we should look around for it, and try to shut down that religious movement. SHEBA's predicting that they'll turn violent soon enough and I'd hate for more innocents to get killed because of them.

"So, that's what we're doing. Everyone understand?"

Another chorus of affirmatives.

"Great." Ritsuka put the clipboard down onto a nearby desk and clapped his hands together. "Right then, shall we get o-"

""Master."

"Hmmm?" Ritsuka blinked before turning his gaze to Morgan.

"Might we…speak in private for a moment?" The Berserker asked, giving him a questioning look.

"Er…yeah, sure. Can everyone else get into the pods? We'll join you in a minute, okay?"

As the other Servants began shuffling towards the Rayshift apparatus, Morgan and Ritsuka retreated outside the room, with the Fae Queen casting a sound nullification charm on the door and surrounding walls. Once she was sure that they would not be overheard, Morgan turned back to Ritsuka, her expression grave.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" He asked, a little confused. "Is it your role? I mean, if you'd rather do something else, then I'm sure that-"

"It isn't that, I assure you. However, I do have a problem with…one aspect of the group composition." Morgan said.

"I know Oberon can be, well…pretty annoying, but I've taken him on Rayshifts before, and he tends to be pretty reliable, even if he grumbles a lot. If that's what you're worried about, then I promise I'll do my best to keep him in line here."

"No, not that either. Rather, it has to do with those two Norse heroes. The King of Warriors and his Valkyrie wife."

"Oh. You're worried about them?"

"And you aren't?" Morgan levelled a disbelieving stare. "This is a woman who will regularly go murderously berserk towards anyone she falls in love with. And as far as I am aware, that is practically anyone who both treats her kindly and possesses certain 'heroic traits' that she finds desirable, a category which just so happens to include YOU. She is a threat to our mission, and I must recommend that you dismiss her from the Servant party."

"Eh? There's really no need for that, though. We'll have Sigurd near her at all times for safety's sake. Besides, it isn't like her curse acts up very often on a Rayshift. Just as long as we all keep our distance and, well, don't praise her too much, she'll be able to stay calm and not have a…'freak out'."

"While those are certainly…precautions, but that still leaves a significant margin for danger. After all, there is no guarantee that she will not lash out at others after attacking her significant other. I…I am simply thinking of your safety here, Master. What would happen to Chaldea, to the likelihood of restoring human history, if you fell in battle?"

Ritsuka frowned, turning contemplative as he considered Morgan's point for a moment.

"I get how you feel…sometimes I feel that way myself. But Bryn's proven herself to be really capable, and we've got a handle on her…well, her 'love fits' is what we call them. I-I know I'm asking you to take a gamble here, but I'm going to keep her on the team."

"I…if that is your decision, then." Morgan reluctantly conceded, not wanting to get on Ritsuka's bad side once he'd made up his mind. She did not want to lose her hard-earned progress towards building a better and more trusting relationship with him.

"Thanks for trusting me on this." Morgan would have turned to leave, but Ritsuka reached out and gently grabbed onto her shoulder, giving it a supportive squeeze. "Seriously, thanks for being concerned. A lot of Servants…they seem to forget I'm not as tough as they are, you know?"

"It..i-it is no trouble at all." Morgan mumbled, suddenly feeling quite bashful and hot all of a sudden. "It is my job t-to ensure your safety as your Servant, after all."

His face is…has he leant closer to me?

Her stomach felt lighter somehow, and it was a struggle to keep her breathing regular. Her heart seemed to be thumping harder in her chest than she'd previously realised.

"Hey, you okay? You look a bit flushed." Ritsuka peered at her, concern on his face.

Get control of yourself! You are not injured, or ill!

Concentrating, forcing her heart rate to slow and her cheeks to cool, Morgan took a step back and nodded.

"I am fine. We should get back to the group. After all, this Singularity will not resolve itself." She insisted.

Ritsuka didn't seem wholly convinced, but nonetheless relented.

"All right then. Let's get going."

"Maitre, behind you!"

Fujimaru managed to heed the warning quickly enough, ducking aside in time to see the crazed man's blade slash at the space where his throat would have been.

Reinforcing his fists and arms, the young Master delivered a punch that sent his attacker flying backward, before raising his right arm to block an attempted stab from a second man, this one so maddened that he was practically frothing at the mouth.

Thanks to the Reinforcement Magecraft, the knife twisted and bent as it met the magically hardened material of Ritsuka's Mystic Code. Without giving him time to recover, Ritsuka kicked his attacker's legs out from under him, grabbed his body while it was still in the air and threw him away.

At this point, he was very thankful for the hand to hand combat lessons he'd gotten from Martha, Beowulf, Penthesilia and Leonidas.

A tired sigh slipped from the youth's mouth as he noticed two more attackers, generic thugs from the way they were dressed, advancing towards him with pipes in hand.

This time, however, they were gunned down by a barrage of gatling gun fire before they could properly get within range…along with most of the group of rioters behind them.

"Maitre! Are you all right?"

Napoleon was by his side in a moment, the Archer checking him over for a few moments, now that he'd given them some room to breathe in the chaotic melee by killing the most immediate attackers.

"Ah, I think so. Nothing's gotten through the Mystic Code yet." Ritsuka assured him, giving himself a check over, just to be sure.

After he was satisfied that Ritsuka was unharmed, Napoleon had turned his back on him and was immediately on guard once more, firing his cannon into the larger groups of demonic beasts and thugs while watching for and prioritising anyone peeling off to attack them directly.

Glancing around the chaotic battlefield, Ritsuka could see that the enemy force, previously a massive horde of deranged cultists and thugs, supported by swarms of wyverns and demonic beasts mysteriously under their control, had now been whittled down to a few scattered groups of stragglers.

This way and that, even they fell quickly. Over to his left, Ritsuka saw a huddle of cultists and thugs crumbling before a barrage of icicles from Skadi and Sitonai, supported by waves of dark magic and litanies of curses of Morgan. The Alter-Ego and Caster picked off their opponents more strategically, taking care to aim their icicles with laser-sharp precision, while the Fae Queen was far more indiscriminate, saturating the area with blasts of dark energy and bolts of magic from her spear.

"Fufufu, to challenge a God like this…what were you all thinking?"

"There, Shirou! Get that one, there!"

"Hmph, these fools are nothing to me, bring me a real challenge."

Over to his right, Habetrot's supercharged linen balls and Napoleon's cannon fire was ripping through a horde of demonic beasts and once they fell, the Archer brought out first the gatling cannon configuration, and then resorted to firing an outright laser beam, to deal with their remaining handlers.

"Eat this!"

"Hii-hooo!"

Directly in front of Ritsuka, Barghest, Sigurd and Brynhild carved through the largest remaining group of attackers, a combined arms force of cultists, demonic beasts and wyverns. Each of Galatine's ferocious, sweeping, flame-charged strikes incinerated line after line of the maddened, gibbering lunatics that once were ordinary Shinjuku citizens. They threw themselves into the Fairy Knight's range heedlessly, ignoring the deaths of their fellows in their frenzied desire to kill her, and were met with a swift death at the Saber's hands.

Gram pierced and sliced through wyvern after wyvern, the King of Warriors wielding the demonic blade with his usual peerless skill and cold precision as he practically walked through the enemy's lines with contemptuous ease, breaking his blade when multiple foes tried to dogpile him and then reforming it a few moments later, after he had dispatched them all with little effort on his part.

The demonic beasts, meanwhile, fell one after another at the hands of Brynhild. The Valkyrie was almost a blur as she kept up her offensive, darting from target to target. She wasted no effort on flashy shows of skill, instead focusing on slaughtering her enemies as quickly as possible before they could harm her beloved or her Master, decapitating each and every beast with ruthless efficiency.

"Weakling! Don't try to stop the march of the strong!"

"I'll end you in the blink of an eye."

"...please die."

Ritsuka was snapped out of his awe at the awesome displays of both boundless raw power and unmatched martial skill taking place all around him when a cackle of laughter, filled to the brim with malice and contempt, reached his ears.

Twisting to look behind him, Ritsuka caught sight of another surviving pocket of cultists being brutally cut down. This time, it was at the hand of the star (well, the only) member of the newest Servant Class to grace Chaldea.

Oberon-Vortigern was tearing through the terrified remainders of a third cultist force. His human hand held a scythe formed from a combination of solidified Mors flesh and raw curses, which he wielded with naught but raw brutality as he sliced and slashed the cultists apart, while his chitin-covered insectoid claw tore deep gashes in their flesh…when it wasn't outright ripping the terrified humans' hearts out or slashing their throats.

Gone was the relative grace and air of nonchalant whimsy that had defined his combat style as Oberon, replaced with a primal, savage and angrily direct combat style that seemed as much about venting the Pretender's ever-simmering rage than it was about defeating his enemies.

He had, as promised, refrained from summoning his insects to aid him in combat and in intimidating his enemies, but he needn't have bothered, they were already terrified enough as it was. Especially by the sneering, triumphant smile that had practically been glued to the Pretender's face from the moment he'd fallen upon the first few cultists.

And of course, his accompanying yells weren't hurting his intimidation factor any.

"Did you just underestimate me? HAHAHA! Thanks for the meal!"

…sure am glad that he's on our side now.

As if on cue, the sounds of pained roaring and the sight of severed limbs falling from the sky had the Master looking upward, suddenly reminded that there was a battle being fought in the skies as well.

A handful of larger dragons, supported by what remained of their accompanying wyvern flock, were making their final stand against Melusine and the Valkyrie trio.

The Norse warriors danced and weaved gracefully through the skies, a gift from the Svanhvít they all wore, their spears poking holes in the larger dragons' hides while slicing the lesser wyverns to pieces with a deft ease. Their enemies attempted to retaliate time and again, but their efforts were ultimately wasted. Every attack was either blocked by the girls' Divine Iron Shields, absorbed by the protection of the Svanhvít, or outright dodged by the Valkyries before they lashed out once again.

In sharp contrast to her fellows' graceful movements, Melusine tore through the wyverns and larger dragons with sheer brute force. There was little skill or finesse behind her Arondight swipes or her punches and kicks, but this was more than compensated by her absurd strength and the power of her anti-dragon weapons, allowing the Lancer to slice through their hides and crush their bones to powder.

"An exceptional matter. Using offensive runes."

"O father, lend me your strength!"

"In the name of Odin."

"Let's go, Arondight! I'll start to crush you!"

With the combined might of all the Servants in their party, the only advantage their enemies had had was sheer numbers…but that superiority alone could not make up for their lack of proper power or skill.

They had managed, early on, to inflict some injuries to the Chaldea group. However, their enemies had quickly rallied themselves, shaking off the disorientation that had set in on being ambushed so soon after their arrival, and began destroying the attacking force piecemeal.

Now, all that remained were desperate stragglers, and those that did not flee immediately were quickly being finished off. All too soon, the last demonic beast keeled over, the last cultist dropped dead and the last dragon fell from the sky.

They had won…at least, they had won this battle. There would no doubt be others ahead, but they were prepared for hostilities now. The group would not be surprised again if they could help it, though that would mean a whole lot more checking around corners, near-constant overwatch (though Melusine and the Valkyries could handle that with ease if asked) and more liberal application of scanning spells.

After all, they'd just been dogpiled from three sides at a set of crossroads, with Shinjuku's wide streets allowing several hundred enemies to fall on them all at once, which had contributed a great deal to the group's initially subpar showing against them, since they still needed to worry about possible friendly fire.

"All right, I think that's all of them…everyone okay?" Ritsuka asked, looking around as his Servants all regrouped together.

"I believe so."

"I'm quite all right."

"We're all right, aren't we Shirou?"

"This one has no serious injuries."

"I am…quite all right."

"Such small fry are nothing to me."

"No one could even keep up with me, so I'm fine!"

"Valkyrie units report no injuries."

"Perfectly fine and ready to continue, Maitre!"

"Everything's a-okay here, nya!"

"Yeah, fine over here. Pity everyone else is too…"

"All right then!" Ritsuka clapped his hands together.

"That's good! Well then, I don't know about anyone else, but I think we should keep moving to the centre of Shinjuku. We're on the outskirts right now, and SHEBA predicted that the cult would expand their influence from the centre of the city, so if we want to find out what they're all about, we should head deeper in. Any objections to that?"

A chorus of 'no's' resounded in response.

"Well, since we're all agreed, just have one last check over to see who needs any healing, then we can-"

A loud beeping noise cut Ritsuka off.

Lifting up his left arm, the Master saw that there was an incoming message on his communicator. Tapping the screen, he was greeted with the worried visage of Da Vinci.

"Fujimaru, are you and your team okay? There was a massive spike in magical energy readings at your position that only just died down a few moments ago, what happened?"

"We got attacked by an enemy force, but we managed to fight them all off. No casualties or serious injuries on our end."

"Well that's good, but I'm afraid we've got some potential bad news for you!"

"Hmmm? Go ahead, Da Vinci." Ritsuka's expression darkened a little.

"We're picking up Saber and Lancer Class Spirit Origins in the Singularity, one of each. And there's something else, they're registered. Unfortunately, we can't tell precisely who they are from here…you might have to fend for yourself for now." Da Vinci explained.

"So, they're in Chaldea already? Did they get abducted to the Singularity or are they a fresh summon? They might remember some of our adventures together. Maybe we can link up with them for more support, they might know more about what's going on here if they've been here for longer." Ritsuka wondered.

"Eh, that's an admirable idea Fujimaru, and I think it's worth a shot, but please don't let your guard down okay? If these Servants were ones from Chaldea, they would surely have tried to get in touch with us already. Best to assume that they're hostile until proven otherwise, just to be safe."

"Yeah, you're probably right…" Ritsuka sighed. "Thanks for the warning, Da Vinci, we'll be extra cautious as we explore the city."

"Well, that's all I can really ask from here. In the meantime, we'll keep scanning to try and find any other large sources of magical energy. With all these mystical creatures and phantasmal beasts that have leaked into the modern era, there's lots of magical interference on our sensors."

"Got it, just keep doing your best back there, and we'll be careful here."

"All right then, we'll check in again later, Fujimaru."

"Be safe out there, Senpai!" Mash's voice interrupted, the Shielder observing the Rayshift alongside Da Vinci.

"Don't worry Mash, I will."

With that, the image vanished and the communicator's screen darkened, leaving the Master alone with his Servants. Turning back, Ritsuka surveyed his group.

"So, is everyone sure they're all okay?"

Everyone nodded.

"All right, then let's continue, hopefully we'll find out more on the way. Just to warn you all, there's a Saber and Lancer roaming the Singularity and they may be hostile, so keep your guard up."

Gathering their weapons, with Skadi and Morgan casting medium radius Bounded Fields to warn the group of oncoming life signs (for Skadi) and magical signatures (for Morgan), the group set off.

As they moved further through the streets of Shinjuku, the Chaldea team could see that the damage to the city was growing steadily more and more severe. More and more abandoned vehicles, greater and greater damage and devastation when it came to the surrounding buildings, with fires starting to spring up in their vision…and larger piles of bodies.

Ritsuka was rather ashamed to admit that he didn't react nearly as badly as he should have done, the sight was far too familiar to him by now to really affect the Master.

Most of the Servants in his party were too used to or too professional to let their sadness at the slaughter show on their faces, with a few exceptions.

Sitonai snuggled into Shirou and frowned, thinking about how many innocents must have been slaughtered by the Phantasmal Beasts rampaging through the Singularity.

How many young maidens out there were lost to these vile creatures? She wondered, tightening her grip on Shirou.

I suppose it doesn't matter…it's already too many.

Her loyal companion, as if sensing his master's distress, leant his head back and tried his best to nuzzle her, doing what he could to reassure Sitonai. A small smile crept onto the Alter-Ego's face as she petted him back.

"Thank you, Shirou." She whispered, kissing him gently on the forehead.

For her part, Skadi had to take a deep breath to avoid sniffling, blinking rapidly to try and stall the tears threatening to drip from her eyes. She might have previously tried to overwrite this history with her own, but her kind heart was still moved by the sight of Pan-History humans butchered and just…just dumped to the side of the road like this.

These poor souls…they didn't deserve this fate. The Goddess thought, shaking her head and trying to look away from the carnage. It would only shake her further.

This should not affect me like this, I am a Goddess, I have…I have seen far worse than this. I lived through that monster's rampage through my Scandinavia and my pantheon, this should be nothing to me!

I should… should not be moved…by all these poor, poor souls…

And then there were the fires. The seemingly endless pillars of smoke that sprung up from who-knew-how-many blazes raging around the city, caused by stray dragon attacks, demonic beasts or rampaging cultists.

The heat…the smell of sulphur…it was all so very suffocating.

Almost as suffocating as it had been when…

"The Age of Gods is at an end, and the Age of Man will never arrive! Soon, the Age of FLAME will begin!"

Burning. Screams. Devastation. Hell on earth.

How swiftly had Asgard fallen before that giant? How easily had Lord Odin been laid low?

How helpless had she been as she hid, stealing away in this godslayer's body to escape the carnage while the world burned around her?

How helpless would she have been to save her people without the aid of the Pan-History heroes all that time ago?

How helpless had she been to save that sweet girl, forced to watch her life slip away even with her best primordial runes working as hard as possible to keep her alive?

I…I am so sorry, dear child. I am sorry that monster bound your life to his, that you needed to-

"Skadi?"

"Eeep!"

Skadi was rather ashamed to admit that she squealed in a most undignified way at the sound of Ritsuka's voice, jumping a ways back and turning her head to face him, eyes wide with shock. Fortunately, she soon calmed down as the adrenaline surge drained away…leaving a burst of embarrassment to replace it.

"Ah, Master…is there something you need?" She muttered, not making eye contact.

"Are you okay? You slowed down and…well, you look pretty down all of a sudden. Is all…all 'this' bothering you?" He asked, gesturing at the surrounding destruction.

Checking behind him, Skadi saw that the Servant group had marched on ahead of them, though they still cast occasional glances back their way just to make sure Skadi and Ritsuka were still in sight.

I must have let them get ahead of me when I was lost in thought.

Satisfied that none of them would be able to overhear her confession, Skadi leant a little towards Ritsuka.

"I…yes, I must admit. Seeing all of these humans just…just cut down so needlessly. All of these youngsters with their lives ahead of them…I-I know it is not befitting of a Servant of Chaldea or a Goddess to be so affected by such things, but I cannot help it when I see all of this…this pointless death."

"And besides, there is so much heat here. All of this flame and this destruction, as hard as I try to avoid thinking about it, brings back…terrible memories."

"I see." Ritsuka's expression turned solemn and serious in a heartbeat. "You're thinking about your Lostbelt again?"

"Yes, my apologies. Seeing me like this…this isn't how a Goddess should act at all."

"It's fine, really. You don't need to apologise for anything, okay?" He assured her, giving the Caster a gentle, supportive squeeze on the shoulder.

"Between you and me…I get how hard it is to deal with reminders of the past. Some days are better, and some are…they're worse." For a moment, the blue of the Master's eyes dulled quite badly as dark thoughts snuck into his mind, before he shook them away and refocused on Skadi.

"Believe it or not, I don't exactly have the best memories when it comes to burning cities myself. Especially the…the first time I was in one."

"From the moment I was born, I've never been accepted by anyone!"

I can reach her…I can grab her hand-

NO! Don't…don't think about that.

Blinking a few times to shake off the sudden memory, Ritsuka refocused on Skadi.

"So don't worry about it. If you need a minute to take a breath, then that's fine. If you need to take things a bit slower here, then we'll go slower. If you don't think you're up to it, you can sit this one out and I'll get Da Vinci to try and Rayshift you back as soon as possible. How about it?"

Skadi thought on it, for a moment, holding Ritsuka's gentle gaze with a gaze of her own.

Master…

"I…I believe I will be all right, Master, but…b-but I would appreciate if you could stay close to me for a while, I find your presence comforting." She hoped Ritsuka didn't notice the light red stain on her cheeks.

"Sure thing, I'll stick by you for a bit if you think that'll help."

"Thank you, that would be most appreciated."

Smiling, Ritsuka offered her another supportive squeeze on the shoulder, but was surprised when Skadi pulled him into a gentle hug in return.

"Thank you for supporting this Goddess, Master." She whispered in his ear.

"No problem, Skadi." He replied, blushing a bit himself at the close contact.

…

To offer his company so easily just like that…

Morgan felt as if bile was rising in her throat as she watched the pair start moving back towards the group, while that nasty pit in her stomach returned once more as she noticed Skadi discreetly leaning against their Master for support.

"Woooaaaahh, I'm getting some real strong bridal energies from that Goddess right now." Habetrot whispered excitedly in her ear, sending Morgan flinching back at just how sudden it was. She was a bit ashamed to admit that she'd forgotten Habetrot was there, so intense was her focus on Skadi and Ritsuka.

She also resisted the urge to growl and glare at the bug behind her as his low, mocking chuckles reached her ears.

Instead, she decided to focus on her friend to take her mind off him.

"Bridal energies, you say? So she would make a good wife then, yes?"

"Mmmm hmmm, especially once she's alone with her husband. Yep, I can tell that she'd be a big ol' softie when she's not in front of any subjects!" Habetrot chirped. "Someone like that deserves a big frilly dress, with plenty of decorations on it! Ooooohhh, I'm getting inspired!"

"And you can tell all of this at just a glance, can you?" Morgan questioned, both confused and slightly in awe of her friend's capabilities.

"Yep, you gotta know these things as a guardian of brides, you know? Aaaahh, but looking at it like this…Mashu has another bride rival, this isn't good! I'll need to redesign her dress to be even better, she needs to shine the brightest any bride has ever shone!"

"I…I see." Morgan mumbled.

Perhaps…should I take the opportunity to ask her about why she reacts to Barghest the way she do-

"Ah, we wondered why you'd stopped like that. Are you back with us now, your highness?" Napoleon asked as the pair drew close, interrupting Morgan's thoughts.

"Yes, my apologies. It's simply that this environment…it doesn't bring back good memories for me." Skadi admitted.

"I understand." Surprisingly, it was Sigurd who spoke up, the King of Warriors pushing his glasses up onto his face as she continued.

"This environment…there is a part of me that feels uneasy being around this much fire, around this many dragons, around this much destruction. To me, this simply proves that humans are right to fear fire, and that fire can never truly be controlled.

"Besides that, I am also reminded of my failure. Of the fact that this one was not strong enough to withstand the King of Muspelheim."

"Dear…you did what you could…" Brynhild insisted.

"Oui, I find that I have to agree with her there! Like it or not, Surtr's a being far beyond you, beyond any of us here really. There's no need to feel ashamed that he was able to take you over. After all, if I was in your place, I'd have no doubt that I'd have been his puppet in no time." Napoleon agreed, offering his fellow hero a supportive smile.

"Besides, in the end, you helped kill him with what life you had left in you, I'd say that more than makes up for any failing, actual or imagined, no?"

"...well, when you put it like that, perhaps this one has been too hard on himself." Sigurd smiled back.

"And now you're here with us and you've been helping to protect and restore humanity for quite a while now, so I'd say you've made up for everything by now." Sitonai chipped in.

"Mmmm, I see. If that's how everyone feels, then maybe I've been…"

"Underselling yourself?" Ritsuka suggested.

"Yes, that will do. Well then, from now on, I'll try to remember my accomplishments a little more…and I think you would benefit from doing the same, Goddess Skadi."

"Eh?" The Caster cocked her head.

"In this one's opinion, you did the best you could with the terrible situation you inherited. Till the end, you were determined to live up to your peaceful ideals, and wanted everyone in your kingdom to survive. From what I've heard of the Indian and Greek Lostbelts…that certainly makes you a far kinder and better-intentioned leader than their rulers were.

"And you managed to stall Surtr's escape for many centuries. For a single Divine Spirit to be able to restrain the king of the Jötunn for so long, especially since he'd absorbed the power of the great wolf into himself…that was no easy feat either.

"And ultimately, you defeated him with our help. In the end, you stood tall while he fell. Perhaps holding onto that victory now will give you the extra strength to move forward with us, even with all of this heat and flame around."

"Goddess, Valkyrie Ortlinde will do her best for you too." The dark-haired Lancer voiced her support as well.

"We're here for you, your majesty!" Hildr affirmed.

"You are no longer alone." Thrud said.

"The same…goes for you…dear." Brynhild squeezed Sigurd's left arm with her free hand. "I will be here…for you."

"Thank you, my love. I feel more at ease already with you saying that." The Saber smiled, kissing Brynhild on the cheek.

"That was…not necessary." Thrud mumbled, gaze turning dark.

"Elder sister didn't need that…" Ortlinde muttered, tightening her grip on her spear.

"Thank you, everyone. Though this is a little unbefitting of a Goddess to just come out with so suddenly, I still feel like I need to say it…I feel blessed to have all of this support, my deepest thanks to you all." Skadi said, smiling lightly and blushing a little at the sudden influx of support.

"Hey, it's okay. So, do you think you're okay to go on?" Ritsuka asked.

"...yes. I…I do believe that I am. But just in case…" Skadi glanced towards Ritsuka for a brief moment.

"Don't worry, it's fine." Ritsuka stepped close to Skadi once more, and the Caster lightened up almost immediately, just a little.

That pit in Morgan's stomach reopened, and there was that bile again…

You certainly have my sympathy for your problems, Caster, but do you truly need Master so close by to properly hold yourself together here?

"Are we all ready to keep going then?"

The group all nodded.

"All right, to the centre of the city, hopefully we'll find out a bit more about what's going on here."

They'd been moving towards the inner sections of Shinjuku for about fifteen minutes, a journey broken only by a few battles against small roaming groups of demonic beasts and stray flocks of drakes, for the group to begin encountering the banners and spray painted proclamations.

They began appearing more and more frequently the further the group proceeded. The walls of the surrounding buildings, what walls were still intact between the claw-damaged architecture and extensive cultist-inflicted fire damage anyway, gradually became saturated with graffiti. Said graffiti also changed as the group proceeded, in the outer streets of Shinjuku, they were composed primarily of proclamations of 'the end', bemoaning the misfortune of the writer and their loved ones, or begging others for help.

However, as the Chaldea team moved further and further to the centre of Shinjuku, towards the area containing prominent buildings and locations like the Isetan Shinjuku-hanten Honkan, the Gyoen National Garden and the Theatre Moliere, the graffiti's messages turned from grim and pessimistic to…surprisingly upbeat. As if the writers no longer cared about being trapped in a city with legions of demonic beasts and dragons, all of which could rip them to shreds with very little effort.

More and more messages, proclaiming that they'd found a way out. That they'd found a way to survive. They'd found a group that promised shelter, supplies, protection…hope.

Some of the messages also chronicled how the situation within Shinjuku deteriorated further and further, from tallies of deaths in the local area at the hands of the invaders, while others detailed warnings about the areas with large concentrations of dragons and demonic beasts for survivors to avoid.

And then…the contents shifted again.

As the messages continued, scrawled and carved into the stone walls with increasing frequency, they stopped providing updates about the situation in Shinjuku, or the death toll among the survivors, instead focusing exclusively on what they called 'The Followers'. From what the Servant group could tell, they seemed to be the same group that had offered food and shelter to the desperate residents.

And eventually, after a few more blocks, multitudes more piles of bodies and several more ambushes, even they began to degrade.

What messages remained steadily lost coherence, with detailed descriptions and invitations for others to join 'The Followers' slowly transforming into the same scrawl, the exact same scrawl, of words repeated over and over and over.

She Will Set Us Free.

"No doubt the cultists' handiwork." Morgan observed.

"But the way these scrawls degrade over time…it's almost like they were becoming obsessed." Barghest muttered.

"Well, whatever's up with them, they're still dangerous." Napoleon said, hefting his cannon. "They've been attacking us ever since we got here, so I say we keep shooting first and save the questions for later!"

"But who's "She" referring to?" Melusine wondered, as she hovered over the group's heads. "Is that their leader?"

"I'm sure we will find that out once we reach their headquarters, wherever it might be." Sigurd said.

"Master." Skadi called.

Turning to look at the Caster, Ritsuka saw her holding a Primordial Rune in her palm, looking serious.

"Eh, what is it?"

"My Bounded Field is picking up a very large concentration of humans and demonic beasts just a block away."

"She is quite right, mine is detecting them as well." Morgan said. "However…Goddess, do you detect that same difference?"

"Mmmm?" Skadi manipulated her Primordial Rune for a few moments, then hummed in affirmation. "Yes, I see it now too."

"What difference, what is it?" Ritsuka asked.

"Most of the humans inside the field have trace emissions of magical energy coming from them, I would theorise that the energy is coming from whatever protection they have that lets them corral the demonic beasts and avoid being attacked by them." Morgan explained.

"Hmmm, now that you mention it…it was weird that they've both been showing up in mixed groups in the Singularity." Ritsuka said.

"There is more, and a possible cause for concern, a minority of humans do not emit this magic. My Bounded Field detects nothing mystical from them at all."

"So…civilians?"

"I'd not rule out the possibility."

"Then we need to help them, obviously!" Napoleon said.

"Indeed, it is a knight's duty to protect the innocent!" Barghest said.

"We can't just rush in though, nya!" Habetrot pleaded. "What if those people get hurt because we charge in?"

"I would cut down all their captors before they'd even realised what was going on." Melusine insisted.

"All right, I think that some reconnaissance is in order. How about we find out where the captives are before we run in there to save them?" Ritsuka suggested.

"A sound suggestion, Master. The apartment buildings and highrises around us would give us an excellent view of the gathering from above. Just give the word, and this one will find a suitable observation post."

"I can…carry you…dear."

"Carry…wait a moment, we've got flight capable Servants here! Ortlinde, Hildr, Thrud and Melusine, can you guys fly up and have a look from above?" Ritsuka turned to the quartet hovering above the group's heads.

"Can do, Master!" The Fae Knight responded.

"Valkyries, head out!" Hildr cried, pointing her spear skyward.

"Please wait a moment." Skadi called, before any of the Lancers could rise higher. "You might need to go very high indeed to keep anyone from spotting you, so allow me to offer you a gift."

With a circular flourish of her wand, primordial runes manifested around her in an instant, before flying towards and tattooing themselves onto the skin around the eyes and ears of the Valkyrie trio. They took a few moments to blink, looking around in wonder, while wincing a little bit, rubbing at their ears.

"Take a moment or two to get used to your enhanced senses, you'll need them to see what's going on with that human gathering from so high up." Skadi advised.

"Melusine, face me for a moment." Not to be outdone by her fellow Lostbelt ruler, Morgan manifested her own runes to apply to her knight. At the sight of her wiggling her head and rubbing at her ears, trying to adjust to her newly enhanced senses, she chuckled lightly.

"Calm yourself now. Take a moment to adjust if you need it."

Fortunately, the Lancers of the group quickly got their bearings, shaking off the previous disorientation and standing ready…well, floating ready.

"All right then, get us a bird's eye view of what's going and report back to us where everyone is. That way, we'll be able to plan our attack to not hurt any civilians."

"Yes, Master!" The quartet chorused, before taking fully to the skies, flying higher and higher until they'd breached the cloud layer completely.

"Er, isn't that a bit too high?" Ritsuka muttered, watching them ascend.

"No need to worry, Master." Skadi assured him. "Our runes are powerful indeed, they'll be able to see everything that's going on, even from that high up."

"If you say so."

Standing around, not doing anything, was a little bit nerve-wracking for the Chaldea Master. After all, there could be (and likely were) civilians in danger, and he couldn't do anything to help them yet.

Fortunately, the Servant scouts returned after about a minute.

"So, what did you see?" He asked, a little urgent.

"There is a substantial dragon presence, they are flying low behind the buildings to try and conceal themselves. We observed roughly two dozen dragons of varying size, but most of them are adults." Ortlinde said.

"There's also plenty of demonic beasts! They're all spaced out in lines around the humans, as if they're protecting them! There's more than fifty of them." Hildr picked up the explanation from there.

"There's over a hundred cultists in the centre, and there are civilians present. They've all been herded into what looks like a ritual circle, and from what I heard…they're supposed to be sacrificed as a 'blood offering'." Melusine explained.

"How long do they have?"

"The ritual won't be for some time now, but everything is prepared already. The civilians have all been bound in rope restraints, so none of them are going anywhere on their own until we free them."

"Mmmm, I see…" Rituska hummed in thought for a few moments, scratching at his chin, the gears in his head turning. "All right, I've got a plan, everyone gather around please!"

Quickly, all of his Servants shuffled over, ready to hear what their Master had come up with.

"All right, so we need to get in there and get all those innocents to safety, but we can't just charge in there without securing them first or else they'll probably get caught in the crossfire, or killed by those cultists. So here's my idea for how we'll do it.

"Morgan and Skadi, get into a position that gives you a good view of the hostages and get whatever protective or barrier runes you've got ready. Once the fight starts, keep the hostages safe with your shields as much as you can. Attack and defend yourselves if you have to, but make sure those barriers stay up, okay?"

"As you wish."

"They won't be hurt, you can rely on me."

"Napoleon, Oberon-Vortigern and Sitonai, find high-up positions and take aim at the cultists. Once I give the signal, you're to focus on taking them out as fast as possible. Prioritise the ones that are closest to the civilian hostages and then go for the others."

"Of course, Maitre!"

"Shirou and I will do our best!"

"What, without my insects still? Yeah, that'll go well…"

Ritsuka sighed.

"I said you can use them when Morgan's not looking, and she's going to be looking quite a lot of the time, right?"

"Yeah, that's precisely the problem." The Pretender said.

Watching this exchange, Morgan bit her lip, considering the ludicrous thought that had just entered her head, before stepping forward and clearing her throat.

"Master, I may…have a…solution."

The words were like bile in her mouth.

"Eh?" Both Ritsuka and Oberon-Vortigern looked at her with confusion and quite understandably so, since it was reasonable to assume that there was absolutely no way she would ever voluntarily help that disgusting bug.

Ordinarily I wouldn't even consider it, but this is a…special circumstance. I do hope that this effort on my part is appreciated.

"I can maintain the barrier by myself, my new core supplies more than enough power for that. You can have Goddess Skadi aid in defeating the cultists and, if he so wishes, the…the bug can bring out those filt- I mean, his insects to help fight."

"Really? Are you sure you'd…be okay with that?" Chaldea's Master asked, understandably wary.

"It would be no trouble for me to maintain the barrier and avert my eyes at the same time. Besides, perhaps the bug will stop whining so much about those insects of his if he gets to use them at least once." Morgan explained, shooting a look at Oberon-Vortigern.

"Huh, and here was me thinking you were too wizened at heart to be nice." He rolled his eyes.

"All right, cut it out you two." Rituska cut in, before Morgan could open her mouth and argue back. "Thanks for what you're doing, Morgan, could you find a good vantage point now please? Skadi, Sitonai, Napoleon and Vortigern, you all go too."

Grudgingly, Morgan and Oberon-Vortigern stomped away from one another, while the others followed along with less enmity and splitting into their respective groups.

Turning to his remaining Servants, Ritsuka continued.

"All right then, continuing on! Barghest, Sigurd and Brynhild, you'll be on demonic beast duty! When you see that the civilians are safe, get in there and start clearing them out!"

"As…you wish."

"Acknowledged, this one will carry out his role promptly."

"The beasts are as good as dead, Master!"

"Finally, Melusine and the Valkyries, you're still on aerial duty. Stay in the skies until you see the barrier go up, then take out every dragon, drake and wyvern you see."

"Hmph, I'm unmatched in the sky, so those dragons aren't anything to me!"

"Our spears shall clear the way for you, Master."

"All right then, just to make sure…everyone knows what they're doing?" Ritsuka asked.

"Yes Master!" The group all chorused.

"Okay then, the signal will be a Gandr bolt fired into the sky, so look out for that. How long do you all need to get into position?"

"We will not need long to prepare, perhaps two minutes would be enough?" Sigurd suggested.

The other Servants all nodded along with him.

"All right then, two minutes it is." Ritsuka said. "Well then, everyone to your posts and wait for my signal!"

Immediately, the group scattered.

Morgan and Skadi went to a three storey apartment block to the left, to the east of the road where The Followers had set up their sacrificial site, while Napoleon, Sitonai and Oberon-Vortigern moved to a six-storey block to the south of the site.

The Valkyries and Melusine immediately flew into the sky again, disappearing behind the clouds once more.

Barghest, Sigurd and Brynhild all moved down the street, crouching and slowly sneaking their way forward as they rounded the street corner and moved onto the same road that held The Followers and their beastly thralls.

All while Ritsuka waited, and waited…and waited, counting down the seconds in his head as he did so.

As it turned out, two minutes was an agonisingly long time when you were by yourself. Especially in a Singularity filled to the brim with threats to your life.

Twitching his left index finger and channelling his Mana through his Mystic Code, Ritsuka materialised a Gandr bolt at the tip as the last few seconds of his countdown ticked away.

As the 'clock' hit zero, he aimed for the skies and let the magic blast loose.

…

The Followers' faithful took note of it immediately.

"Wh-what is that!? Is that a sign to begin the offering?" One of the initiates gasped, as the rest began to murmur among themselves.

"No." The cult confessor in charge of the site replied, his face grim. "That was NOT the signal the high priest agreed on…which means there are heathens nearby. FOLLOWERS!"

At his yell, all of the nearby cultists turned to face the confessor.

"There are INFIDELS here in our city, so spread out and find them! Do NOT let them disrupt the ritual and do NOT let them live! Now go, all of you, and remember that the Elder One's blessing is with u-"

"C-confessor!"

Scowling, the confessor glared at the initiate who had interrupted him. The young man had a rather nervous and confused look on his face, and was currently pointing behind the older man.

"What is it, initiate? Why are you interrupting me like this?"

"I-it's the unfaithful, confessor! Strange symbols have appeared around them!"

"WHAT!?"

Whipping around, the confessor was startled to see that the initiate was correct. The civilian hostages were surrounded by glowing, black-blue coloured runes. All of them were huddling together as best they could, trying to shrink away from the mystic symbols despite being bound.

"What is-"

The confessor was interrupted as the runes flared bright, projecting a similarly coloured spherical barrier around the crowd of terrified civilians, and sending a spike of shock up the spines of all the Followers present.

A few moments later, all hell broke loose as a large blue-white laser beam erupted from a window of the nearby apartment block, incinerating a whole line of initiates.

"DEFEND YOURSELVES, CHOSEN OF THE SAINT!" The confessor roared.

The Followers scrambled to re-organise themselves and ready their weapons, even as icicles began to fall on them from the same apartment block as the laser had just come from, quickly joined by alternating barrages of cannon balls and gatling gun fire.

Even as the cultists began to shoot back with what guns they'd gotten their hands on, sent out the demonic beasts to swarm the building and form a defensive line around the shield barrier, the barrage was joined by what looked like a thin, purple laser sight. It daintily, almost whimsically, carved a symbol into the nearest cult initiate.

A couple of seconds later, the initiate screamed as large icicles tore from and through his body as the symbol flared bright, his fellows reeling back in shock and horror.

"SEND FORTH THE DRAGONS! CRUSH THE INVADERS!"

Before any of the cult's beastmasters could comply, however, one of the smaller drakes' heads came crashing to the ground, followed soon after by its body. Looking up, the cultists saw that a quartet of girls had descended from the heavens and were now engaging the beasts in combat. A trio of them wielding a spear and shield combo, while the fourth attacked with both her fists and dual swords sheathed in her

"No…no no NO NO!" The confessor snarled, before turning to beastmasters again. "SEND FORTH THE BE-"

He barely finished his order before an explosion of flame burst forth nearby, sending a group of demonic beasts flying back.

"What NOW!?" The man roared, swinging around to face the new threat…while feeling a shiver of nerves creeping up his spine.

As the scrambling cultists and snarling demonic beasts watched, those of them that could without being felled by cannon fire or magical assault, a trio emerged from the firestorm. One of them was an incredibly tall, heavily armoured blonde with a flaming sword, the second was a demure, light blue-haired and far less armoured woman carrying a large spear and the final figure looked more like a special forces operative with a cape than anything else, carrying a large blue crystalline sword in hand.

"I will give you just this one offer! Surrender now and release your hostages, and on my honour as a knight, we will spare your lives!" The blonde woman called, levelled her blade at the cultists.

"KILL THEM!" The confessor roared, as the cult beastmasters finally ordered the demonic beasts forward, the tattoos on their hands pulsing with power as they relayed their commands.

"Very well."

Sweeping her blade wide, the knight sent a large wave of flame towards the advancing beasts, while the male soldier split his blade into six separate daggers that he then punched into the nearest demonic beasts and cultists. The spear-wielding woman followed up by flying forward and lopping a chimaera's head clean off.

As the cultists moved forward to join the fray, the barrage of ice, magical bolts and cannon fire only intensified, while the initiates and beastmasters also had to dodge the falling corpses of their dragons as they were swatted from the sky by the flying invaders. A few of the slower initiates weren't quite so lucky, barely having time to scream properly before they were crushed under the weight of their would-be air support.

Unfortunately for The Followers, it only got worse for them as a figure leapt out of the same apartment block the the ice shards, now joined by rune-fired magical bolts and laser beams, and cannon balls were coming from. He landed in front of the building with a loud rumble, cracking the pavement beneath him and kicking up a cloud of dust.

As the smoke and dust cleared, the remaining cultists could see that the assailant wasn't entirely human, one of his hands and both of his legs were insectoid in nature, being made of chitin rather than flesh, while he was surrounded by a dark, harsh black ink-like substance that seemed to pool around his feet. Soon enough, insects and bugs of varying shapes and sizes, the largest being a dung beetle the size of a car, began crawling out of the substance and surrounding the new arrival.

Smiling a very wicked smile, he formed a scythe in his hands and held it ready, glaring the cultists down.

"So…who wants to be the first meal, huh? Who's gonna entertain me the most?" He asked, licking his lips.

The cultists fired whatever ranged weapons they had, mostly handguns, at him en masse. A few of their more 'thoroughly blessed' members even called upon the Great One's gift to them and began hurling magical bolts at the man and his insect swarm.

"Heheheh, there's the spirit! I love feisty prey."

With that, he and his swarm fell upon the terrified initiates, hacking, slicing, carving, biting and slashing with merciless abandon.

"No…nononononononono."

The confessor stumbled backwards, pulling at what little hair he had left and frantically looking left and right, watching as his loyal flock was slaughtered before his eyes by these infidels. By these…these monstrous warriors.

What WERE they to stand against the faithful so easily!? What sort of power did they possess!?

"No…no, th-this…this cannot be the end!"

"Yeah! How's it feel!?"

Whirling around, the confessor found himself staring at a defiant Shinjuku resident. Despite the restraints on his limbs, the young man had managed to push himself up into a standing position and was glaring at the older man from within the barrier.

"What did you say?" The confessor snarled.

"I said 'How's it feel'!" The younger man yelled back, rage clear on his face. "You…you bastards have been terrorizing and killing us all this time, and now YOU'RE on the receiving end for once! How's it feel to be the little guy now!?"

The confessor would have replied, but a second voice interrupted him.

"You there, surrender now. The battle is ours."

Turning around, the confessor could not help but gape in horror.

Almost his entire force had been wiped out, save for a couple dozen initiates who were at present running for their lives every which way. All of the invaders were now gathering around the shield barrier…and him.

"Yield. This one promises clemency if you cooperate."

Clenching his teeth, sweat dripping down his forehead, the confessor decided that it was now or never.

"I will NEVER help the unfaithful!" He snarled, throwing out his tattooed hand while calling upon the fragment of power the Great One had seen fit to give him.

He felt a searing pain in his chest almost immediately, courtesy of the three bullets that had just slammed into his stomach. Swaying on his feet for a few moments, the confessor tried to stay standing…but eventually collapsed, his vision slowly fading.

The last thing he saw before his vision went dim was the portal tearing open.

…

A couple of minutes later, after he was confident it was safe, Ritsuka left the cover of the stone wall he'd hit behind and moved over to the ritual site.

"Everything okay here?" Ritsuka asked as he jogged up to the scene.

"The plan worked just fine, Master!" Melusine reported, the first to hurry up to greet him.

"All of these survivors are safe, thanks to us, at least for now!" Napoleon said, banging the ground with his cannon triumphantly.

"No one needed any major healing at all, either!" Habetrot chirped up.

"My runes took care of our injuries well enough." Skadi said.

"I see, well done everyone!" Ritsuka congratulated them all.

"Uh, there is something else that you might want to ask mister Sigurd about." Before he could move on to the other Servants, Melusine tugged on his sleeve to keep his attention for a moment.

"Hmmm? What about?"

"Well, one of the remaining enemies managed to open some sort of portal, and…something came out of it."

"Something? Um…you have anything more than that?"

"I didn't see it before mister Sigurd killed it, sorry." Melusine bit her lip. "But I heard it, and it sounded…I didn't like that sound it made."

The Lancer rubbed at her arms, looking down.

"Hey." Ritsuka bent down to pet her on the head, concern on his face. "Are you okay, Melusine?"

"I'll be fine, Master. It's just…I wasn't expecting it, is all. But thank you for worrying about me." She leant into the pat, a relieved smile on her face.

"No worries." Giving her one last ruffle on the hair, Ritsuka turned to the other nearby Servants.

"So, have you tried talking to the civilians yet? They'll surely know more about what's been going on here than we will."

"They apparently told 'us' quite a bit. I wouldn't know, of course, everyone else said I was too 'creepy' to have around the normals, so they asked me to go away. Tch, even the hag got to stay and talk to 'em." Oberon-Vortigern rolled his eyes and folded his arms.

"Er, right then."

Moving past the Pretender, Ritsuka approached the ritual circle proper. The magical barrier had been dispelled now that the civilians were safe and untied, though they still huddled together for safety. Ritsuka couldn't really blame them, since they were still in danger as long as they were in or even near Shinjuku while the Singularity was still active.

"Ah, Master. You are unharmed?" Sigurd asked as he approached.

"Yeah, no one came after me while you guys were all busy. But uh, before I talk to everyone else, can I ask you about something?" Ritsuka asked, motioning for Sigurd to follow him a ways away.

"Of course, this one is always ready to share his wisdom." The Saber complied nearly instantly. "What do you want to know?"

"It's…it's about what Melusine said you saw in that 'portal' one of the cultists opened up."

"Ah." Sigurd's expression turned grave.

"It was a demon, Master. It was nothing I'd not faced before, but at the same time…I'd never seen anything quite like it before. When I looked at it, I cannot explain why, but there was a part of me that felt afraid."

"I see…what did it look like?"

"I didn't see its full body, I closed the portal with my runes before it could fully emerge. But what did come out was…I can only describe it as a mass of blue tendrils, with eyes and mouths in places that should not have them."

A shiver ran up Ritsuka's spine at the description. That sounded…eerily familiar to him for some reason, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Okay, so the cultists can summon demons now. Nice to know. Keep an eye out for anyone else doing that in the future, okay?"

"Acknowledged, Master."

"Is everything…all right?" Brynhild asked softly.

"Ah, yeah, nothing to worry about. Great job freeing everyone." Ritsuka said as he and Sigurd wandered back over to rejoin the others.

"It was…nothing." She mumbled, brushing a lock of hair aside.

"Protecting them was nothing to me." Morgan said.

"So, what do we do next then, Master? We can't just leave these people here." Napoleon said.

"And there aren't many safe areas left in this city, either." Melusine said. "When I was looking down on it, there's a lot of raging fires and still loads of monsters and cultists roaming around."

"If there isn't a sanctuary here, then perhaps we should carve one out for them." Barghest offered. "After all, I'd say we're more than strong enough to protect these people should anyone come for them."

"That's not a bad idea, Barghest." Ritsuka muttered, scratching at his chin.

"But we'll need to find a suitable location. Mmmm…okay, Melusine and the Valkyries, can you go scouting around for some sort of large building? A warehouse, big shop, theatre, museum, anything like that. Morgan and Skadi, I need you to scan as much of the city as you can for living things and magical signatures, try and find an area with few of both. When the others get back, we can compare what you've both found to see if there's somewhere we can use to hide these civilians."

"As you wish." Morgan said, immediately summoning her runes.

"I'll be back before you know it!" Melusine saluted and nodded, before taking off.

"Ah, wait for us!" Hildr cried, the Valkyrie trio hurriedly following along.

"I'll get started right away, then." Skadi said, summoning her own runes and recalling every scanning spell she could recall.

Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, Ritsuka wandered over to the crowd of civilians, hoping to check for himself that they were all right and perhaps find out if they knew anything else about the Singularity.

"Hello there! My name's Ritsuka Fujimaru, I'm the leader of this…uh, rescue team, and we're here to try and help you." He introduced himself, approaching the nearest civilian, a young man.

While he was prepared for at least a modicum of enthusiasm or interest, since he doubted these poor people had anyone else come to their rescue for the past day or so, he was rather caught off guard when they pretty much dogpiled him almost immediately.

"You're here to help us!?"

"Thank you, thank you so much!"

"Please get us to safety!"

"Thank you for freeing us!"

"These used to be our friends and neighbours, you know! What went wrong with them…?"

"Please keep my family safe!"

"The way your team beat all these guys was SO cool!"

"Mister, mister! Can I be a part of your super-awesome team when I grow up!?"

"Thank yo-"

It all quickly turned into a cacophony of noise, with everyone shouting over everyone else in their zeal to express gratitude. Ritsuka simply stood there, letting them get it all out of their systems. The flyers of the group wouldn't be able for a while, so he'd be waiting either way, and he could always talk to the civilians properly after they'd calmed down.

"Fufufu, our Master sure attracts quite a bit of attention wherever he goes, doesn't he?" Skadi shook her head, speaking more to herself than anyone else…at least until she noticed Morgan glowering a bit at the crowd.

"Is something the matter?"

"I can understand their delight at meeting a potential saviour, but must they crowd him so? There is a certain etiquette to these things."

"Ah, of course that is the problem, fufu."

Mmmm? What does she mean by that? Morgan wondered. There was something about her tone…

Unfortunately, Morgan would not get to ponder on Skadi's statement for too much longer.

For, unbeknownst to anyone present, one of the thought-dead Followers had in fact survived the Chaldea group's onslaught, if only barely.

Ten feet from the main clearing, a trail of blood lining his way, the confessor slowly and shakily dragged himself along the ground, his remaining strength just barely enough to even keep him awake, let alone move.

The pain in his stomach was unbearable, especially with how hard he'd needed to press on his bullet wounds to staunch the bleeding. Nonetheless, he'd persevered, free hand and stiff legs scrabbling along the ground all the way.

Unfortunately, even before the confessor had made it properly out of the ritual area, his vision had begun to fade once more, his mind began to cloud and his body began to feel progressively more sluggish.

He wasn't going to make it anywhere near the High Priest's headquarters at this rate.

But there was one other option.

Grimacing and rolling onto his back, the confessor raised his free hand to the sky and began calling upon the Great One's power again, as much of it as he could.

"My brothers and sisters…will finish what I started."

Dark red energy began to gather in his hand, growing brighter by the second.

"The Followers…will not…be denied."

The magical energy was eye-searingly bright now, catching the attention of several civilians and even a couple of the Servants.

"The ritual will be complete, and the Great One will bring her back."

The Servants began readying their weapons, taking aim to try and silence the confessor.

But it was too late now.

Mere seconds before Sigurd's thrown dagger struck home, the confessor released the energy blast in his hand.

It rocketed high into the sky, slowly resolving into a sigil as it reached the clouds, before exploding outwards. The sigil at the centre of the blast spread outwards across the sky, imprinting itself onto the clouds and glowing fiercely.

It was only in the sky for a few moments, but that was more than enough.

"I don't know what the heck that is, but that can't be good." Ritsuka mumbled, staring up at the sigil.

"W-what's that!?" Several of the panicked civilians asked in rapid succession.

"That's a signal for help if I ever saw one!" Napoleon said, coming up behind his Master with his eyes to the sky.

"If so, then we should probably prepare for an assault." Sigurd advised.

"That's a good idea, but what about the Valkyries and Melusine? They're still out th-"

"Master!" Came a loud cry

"...nevermind, they're back already." Ritsuka shook his head with a small smile.

Quick as a flash, the Lancer quartet dived down from the clouds to land in front of the rest of the team.

"We'd found some good hiding spots, but then that big sigil got shot into the sky! It also blinded us!" Hildr said.

"Then we noticed that large concentrations of enemies were moving towards this position." Thrud picked up the explanation from there.

"How many are there?"

"There were roughly nine large groups on the move the last we checked. Fortunately, they won't get here all at once." Melusine said. "There's still an awful lot of them, though. They've got drakes, wyverns, demonic beasts, cultists…they're going to throw everything we've seen so far at us."

"How long…do we have…to prepare?"

"Not long. About fifteen minutes before the first enemies show up." Ortlinde said.

"I'm afraid that dear Ortlinde is right." Skadi cut in, holding up her runes. "According to my Bounded Field, they are on the move and closing in."

"Well then, we'd best prepare as thoroughly as we can." Sigurd said.

"Hmmm, while I don't doubt our ability to survive such an assault, it will be quite the tough fight through sheer weight of numbers on their side. However, what of the civilians? They need protection too?" Barghest asked.

"True, we'll have quite the hard time keeping them safe." Napoleon admitted.

"Just look at this place, it's very exposed. We've got four approaches to defend all at once, five if you count the sky, so we'll be spread thin on all fronts."

"Hmph, I will be able to hold an approach by myself. These creatures are nothing to me." Morgan insisted.

"I like your enthusiasm there, but that's just one approach taken care of. Ideally, we need to take care of them all." Ritsuka rubbed at his eyes and scratched at his chin, mind working quickly to think of a strategy.

They were too exposed like this.

They'd be facing overwhelming numbers, perhaps enough that some of them might slip by the group's defence lines, especially with it being split across four approaches, and beeline for the civilians…or him.

If they could take that advantage away, then they'd have a better chance.

But how to…?

Out of the corner of his eye Ritsuka noticed Sitonai, seated on Shirou as always, conjuring some ice and snow in her hands to entertain the children among the civilian group.

That just might work!

"All right everyone, I've got a plan!" He called. "Can you all gather round a sec?"

Soon enough, his whole Servant team had lined up in front of him.

"Your orders, Master?"

"All right, Skadi and Sitonai, I need ice walls across three of these roads into the square, as much of it as you can conjure to block them off! If we can funnel the enemy through one single approach and remove their numbers advantage, we might stand a better chance at holding them off."

"Can do, Master-san!"

"Just leave it to me."

"Morgan, I need you to shield the top of this area to make sure none of the flying demonic beasts or dragons can get in from above, we've got to force them to take the same route as everyone else,, and shield the civilians as well. We don't want to lose them to any strays if they get through the rest of you guys."

"Of course, it will be done."

"Everyone else, do you all remember your roles from earlier?"

The others all nodded.

"Great, then you know the drill. Tougher and melee Servants at the front, ranged Servants at the back…and Vortigern, no bugs unless it's safe!"

"Oh come on, just what the fu-"

"All right everyone, when Sitonai and Skadi are done walling off the area, then line up at the final approach and get ready."

"Yes Master!"

Less than ten minutes later, the sounds started. The sounds of pipes, clubs, blades, claws, paws and teeth all digging into the ice walls, trying to break through.

Unfortunately for them, Skadi and Sitonai had done very good work. The mighty, towering, dense walls refused to yield. Even as a full minute passed and the clattering intensified, the attackers now doing all they could to make headway, they barely dented the summoned ice. Even when they did, their progress was swiftly undone as the line of primordial runes at the base of the walls flared to life, reinforcing the existing mystical ice while adding a fresh layer to replace what had been destroyed.

From the centre of the crossing Ritsuka eyed the walls warily, while the gathering of civilians behind him, once more protected by a shield dome, began whimpering in fear and huddling together.

Their fear only grew as the flocks of dragons, drakes and wyverns, herded by their cultist masters, began hammering away at the shield barrier that stretched across the the peaks of the ice walls, forming a protective 'tent' over the crossing square and stretching for at least a half-mine down the adjacent roads.

The barrier flared and sparked as the beasts tore into it, using claws, teeth and eventually adding their flame breath to bolster their assault. The assembled Servants did spare a glance up at their protection as the assault wore on, with Melusine and the Valkyries readying their weapons and preparing to intervene as they noticed minute cracks appear within the shield, but they quickly refocused on the remaining approach to the ritual site, trusting that the barrier's architect to keep them safe.

Sure enough, the moment the rune on her right arm began to spark, signalling that breaches were appearing in her shield, Morgan spared a glance up at the dragons before raising her free hand and summoning a shielding rune. Lazily, she stuck her fingers into it and began pushing it outward, expanding it into a dome, while channelling extra Mana into it.

Almost immediately, the barrier was engulfed in a bright glow and began expanding in time with the rune, the previous damage disappearing as it received a fresh injection of Mana from its creator. This did not deter the attacking dragons, however, with all of them continuing to gnash and swipe at the shield, determined to punch through.

A small smile flitted across the Fae Queen's features as she noticed none of them giving up.

That will be the last mistake you ever make.

Quickly, Morgan stabbed her fingers upward into the rune, pushing spike-like pillars into the existing dome that the sigil was projecting.

It was quite the relief to those present, the civilians and Ritsuka especially, that she'd seen fit to amplify her barrier's density enough to block just about any physical matter, since it protected them from being showered by gore and blood from the attacking dragons as the larger ones had their hides punctured and the smaller ones were outright impaled or torn to shreds, the large and sharpened Mana spikes protruding from Morgan's barrier too fast for many of them to dodge.

"Good job, that takes care of a lot of their flyers!" Napoleon said.

"That's Morgan for ya!" Habetrot cheered.

Morgan was lying if she said she didn't preen just a little bit at their praise.

"Pfft, what's so special about that? Anyone with the right spells can do what she just did, why are you getting so excited about it?" Oberon-Vortigern said, miming gagging at their praise for the Fae Queen.

"Perhaps you would care to repeat my feat, little insect." Morgan cast him a very knowing look, eyebrow raised and just the hint of a smirk on her face.

"Just go die in a fire, hag."

"Ready yourselves." Sigurd's voice cut across their bickering, the King of Warriors drawing Gram and stepping forward. "Here they come."

Sure enough, when the Berserker and Pretender turned to look, they saw what looked to be a huge wave of bodies hurtling towards them. A myriad of slavering, enraged demonic beasts at the front, hordes of fanatical cultists in the rear, and what dragons survived Morgan's shield trap flying overhead, all of them enraged at the loss of their fellows.

"Let's take it to them, hahaha!"

Wasting no time, Napoleon levelled his cannon and fired an energy beam to sweep the front line of demonic beasts, who all roared and screeched in pain as the Archer's attack landed. The weaker and smaller beasts were vaporised entirely, some of the larger ones were slowed by their injuries, while others continued their ferocious pace despite the burns.

"Fu fu, I suppose I'd best do my part as well."

Skadi raised her lit wand and began carving runes into several of the approaching demonic beasts and dragons, which exploded into clusters of sharp icicles that sent their fellows scattering to the sides. A few of them were a little too slow, and fresh screeches of pain reached the group's ears as their hides were skewered.

Despite this, the horde kept coming.

"Just hold steady Shirou!"

As Skadi and Napoleon continued their assaults, Sitonai drew her bow and began firing her own icicles, aiming for the lesser drakes and wyverns flying towards the team. Though they tried to bank to the sides, the Alter-Ego's skill and speed with her bow meant that they simply curved into a follow up shot, with no time to dodge again.

Unfortunately, despite the combined barrage of weapon fire, icicles and magic spells, sheer weight of numbers propelled the enemy force forward without losing momentum. They were almost there.

"Warriors of Chaldea, HOLD THE LINE!" Barghest roared as she ignited Galatine's blade, charging forward to meet the first demonic beasts. Wasting no time, Sigurd, Brynhild and Melusine all followed her into the fray.

"Habetrot, return to our Master! Do your utmost to keep him safe!" Morgan called to the Rider, before morphing her spear into its blade form and unleashing a wave of power to knock away some approaching cultists.

"Are you sure, nya? What about you guys?"

"We will be fine! Defend our Master and the civilians!" She insisted.

"Okay, nya…stay safe!"

As Habetrot retreated, Morgan quickly summoned a fresh set of shield runes, this time to apply to both herself and the nearby Sitonai and Skadi, neither of whom were as durable as the frontline Servants.

"Ah, thank you for this." Skadi nodded to her, nonchalant even in the face of being swarmed by demonic beasts. Though they kept pressing closer to her no matter how many she impaled with her icicles, the Goddess simply laughed softly.

"Mmmm, which rune should I use…?"

"Thanks, Morgan-sama! Ah, Shirou, get that one!"

Sparing a glance at the Alter-Ego, Morgan turned her head just in time to see Sitonai snipe another cultist, while Shirou sent several of them flying with one mighty blow of his paws, then followed up with a burst of icy breath that froze a trio of attackers solid.

Without missing a beat, Morgan summoned a trio of dark magic spears and propelled them into the frozen cultists, shattering them into several dozen pieces each.

Her barrier sparked from several small impacts, causing Morgan to refocus on her own attackers. She spied several guns among their weapons, no doubt the primary cause of the damage she was taking, and quickly moved to relieve the cultists of them. With expert precision, she launched small runes into the armaments that inverted gravity's effect on them, sending the guns hurtling into space.

A few of the cultists managed to let go before they got too high…others weren't quite as lucky, messily splattering onto the ground.

Morgan paid their brutal demises no mind, they were merely obstacles to Chaldea's objective after all, and unleashed a few more sweeping strikes of her blade, sending out sharp waves of dark blue magic to slice and eviscerate the hapless cultists that dared to attack her. When they kept approaching in spite of the carnage she'd unleashed, Morgan called upon her dark magic to sap the life from a dozen attackers at once, the maddened men and women screaming in agony as the Fae Queen's spell reduced them to withered husks in seconds.

Glancing all around now that she had a moment to breathe, Morgan noted that her companions were equally encumbered by the large numbers of enemies assailing them all at once.

Barghest seemed to be having the easiest time with holding off the oncoming hordes of beasts and cultists, the mighty bursts and trails of flame from Galatine that accompanied her every swing letting her clear the space around her easily. After all, most of the human cultists recoiled in fear of or were quickly incinerated by the sunfire, while any demonic beasts that dared to approach were easily dispatched by the knight's brute strength.

"If you have any sense, you will give up and retreat now! My strength is unmatched!"

Nearby her, Sigurd and Brynhild had both cleared smaller spaces around themselves. Sigurd was constantly in motion, darting from target to target to retrieve his weapons, he had separated Gram into four separate daggers that he continually launched into cultist after cultist. Though a few of them tried to attack the King of Warriors while he was unarmed, they were met with a swipe to the throat, a pressure point strike, or a leg sweep from him before he moved on.

"Give in and surrender, or I will keep fighting until these innocents are safe."

Brynhild didn't move nearly as much as her lover, instead opting to limit herself to a slow walk towards her enemies, allowing her sweeping spear slashes to clear the way for her. The spear emitted small explosions of blue flame every time it struck home, sending human cultists flying and demonic beasts scrabbling away, hides scarred with deep cuts. Desperate, a few cultists attempted to attack her from the rear while Brynhild was otherwise occupied…only to be engulfed in a wave of blue-white flames from the Valkyrie's palm.

"I'm sorry about this…but you need to die."

Having been surrounded mostly by Followers initiates, Melusine was a blur, relying on her natural durability and incredible speed to turn herself into a combination of pinball and cannonball, flying from one foe to the other to drive them back. With every impact, the unlucky cultist's corpse was blown away, their chest caved in from the force Melusine hit them with. When it came to the few demonic beasts that managed to slip into the circle of bodies around her, she stopped moving quite so fast and began fighting with her swords or her fists, pulverising the creatures with a rapid barrage of stabs and blows.

"I'm not letting you get to Master! If you want to keep trying, then you're as good as dead against me!"

A ways behind them, Napoleon was making quite effective use of both his cannon's armaments and weight to keep himself from getting dogpiled. The Archer rapidly alternated between directly blasting the surrounding enemies with the weapon, and reversing his grip to use its recoil to ram his cannon into the face of an unfortunate cultist or demonic beast, which also served to kill whatever hapless foe happened to be directly behind Napoleon as they received a chestful of heavy ordinance.

"That's right, keep on coming! Who else wants some of this!?"

In the skies above, the Valkyrie trio danced about, tending to the remaining dragons before they could slip past the grounded defenders and threaten their Master. Ortlinde was tackling the juvenile drakes, while Hildr handled the older and stronger wyverns, and Thrud engaged the large adult dragons.

Seeing that the dragons' sheer ferocity and relentless barrages of flame breath was bogging the Valkyries down, Morgan spared a moment to give them a hand by firing off gravity runes at the adults to weigh them down. Hopefully that would make them easier to hit.

To her right, Skadi was practically dancing around the attackers that had surrounded her. Her wand had been exchanged for dual crimson spears, near-constantly twirling in the Goddess' grip to sweep aside any cultist unfortunate enough to try and get near her. For the demonic beasts, whose hides were made of sterner stuff and would not crumble so easily to her spear swipes, Skadi had enchanted her feet to leave light purple trails wherever she walked.

As soon as a beast stepped onto or over one of those trails, mighty jagged icicles erupted from them, the mystic backing of a Divine Spirit making them powerful enough to skewer through even the mightiest demonic beast's hide with ease.

"If you're going to insist on hurting these innocent humans, then I won't hold back when crushing you."

Over to her left, Oberon-Vortigern was having the time of his life, swinging his curse-formed scythe this way and that with a huge, bloodthirsty grin fixed onto his face. As it turned out, he had perhaps the most freedom of movement in the Servant group, since the majority of the Followers were trying their very hardest to avoid engaging him.

"Aaaawww, what's the matter, worms? Don't wanna play with little old me? That's fine…chasing you down makes the kill more fun."

At least he isn't bringing out those disgusting-

Morgan's focus was snapped back fully to the battle at hand when the shielding rune on her right shoulder sparked.

Her barrier had been breached.

But how? These humans' weapons should be no match for her Magecraft, so what was-

Her question was answered a few moments later, as she was beating back the latest round of attacks for the cultists, when she locked gazes with a robed man standing a ways behind his fellows.

"Do not relent, brothers and sisters! The Great One is with us!"

Great One? Whoever that is, that THESE are his disciples is NOT a good sign at all.

Before she could react, the tattoo on the man's right hand lit up and a bolt of dark purple energy manifested in his hand, which was then flung in her direction. Her barrier as a whole held against the impact, but the bolt did still punch a small hole in the sphere.

What sort of power is…

Reaching out and probing the foreign magic with both her senses and her scanning spells, lazily swiping at the surrounding Followers initiates with her spear to keep them away from her, Morgan let out a sharp breath as the resultant 'data' was sent back to her.

This was magic that could only be described as "beyond this world." Magic she had little experience with.

But she'd sensed it before, at least a few times, in Chaldea…whenever one of those 'Foreigner' Servants happened to cross her path. Which meant only one thing.

Of course…I suppose it makes sense now.

As Morgan re-focused on the battle at hand once more, the robed man began speaking.

"Come forth, child of the Great One! Cross over to this plane with my blessing!"

The space in front and to the left of him began rippling and cracking open as soon as he'd finished speaking, even as the dark magic spear Morgan launched at the man struck home, revealing nothing but a seemingly pitch-black abyss on the other side.

And then, as Morgan watched, heedless of the cultists and demonic beasts that clawed and hacked away at her barrier, slimy, sucked-studded tendrils began to emerge from the portal.

Tendrils that sported…eyes. And mouths.

Despite herself, despite everything she'd already fought against, in both her lifetime and her existence as a Servant, Morgan felt her breath quicken, her heart begin thumping in her chest and shivers run up her spine at the sight of the invading creature.

What…w-what IS this? Why do I feel this way?

She shivered ever further as the creature's…what she could only really describe as 'a cross between a screech and growl' reached her ears. It sounded so distorted, so deeply inhuman, that she flinched back from it.

The Followers and demonic beasts continued to batter at her barrier, but Morgan barely registered them anymore, staring transfixed at the monstrosity that was slowly pulling itself from the portal in front of her.

This…this should be nothing to me! Why am I not acting!?

Why do I…feel-

Afraid?

Wait a moment…she'd felt something like this before, hadn't she?

Yes, she had. When she'd confronted that demonic nun.

Could this creature…?

Forcing her shaking left hand to move, Morgan etched a couple of warding runes onto her right forearm, quickly forcing Mana into them to activate their joint mental and mystical protection.

As the runes began glowing faintly, the tremors vanished, her heart began to slow and her breathing stabilised. The fog that had been clouding her mind and filling her with dread lifted.

All right then, monstrosity…now it is MY TURN.

The eldritch horror hauled itself out of the portal and pushed towards her, snarling out another of those broken, garbled roars.

Morgan retaliated by throwing her Mana-infused spear right into its central body. And then pelting it with a half-dozen dark magic constructs for good measure.

Taking advantage of the distraction the horror's emergence had caused to her attackers, Morgan quickly forced the portal it had emerged from closed, charged her spear with Mana and then slammed it into the ground pommel-first, unleashing a violent wave of force that sent them all tumbling back.

All right, now that I have a moment to breathe…

"Master, get back, nya!"

Habetrot?

Turning in the direction of her voice, Morgan noticed that both she and Ritsuka were slowly getting surrounded themselves, with increasing numbers of cultists slipping past the defending Servants, taking advantage of their sheer numbers, to try and attack Chaldea's Master directly.

Habetrot was, of course, doing her utmost to fight them off. Unfortunately, she was not much of a fighter compared to everyone else, especially since she lacked the immense combat experience that Totorot had accumulated as a Fairy Knight, and her upgraded zeppelin could only do so much.

Ritsuka, too, was supporting as best as he could, firing Gandrs to paralyse any cultists that got too close to Habetrot. The latter stood atop her zeppelin with her spinning loom drawn, swinging it at anyone who got too close, while the zeppelin itself alternated between pink energy blasts and barrages of explosive linen balls.

As she watched, despite their already horrific casualties, more and more cultists kept peeling off from the hordes surrounding all of the defending Servants to have a go at attacking the civilians and Ritsuka.

We need to finish this up quickly.

If only the other Servants were further away, then her stronger spells wouldn't carry that risk of friendly fire.

Quickly summoning more shielding runes, Morgan launched them towards Habetrot and Ritsuka before shifting her spear to its blade form and turning to engage the remaining Followers and demonic beasts surrounding her.

Channelling as much power as was safe into her weapon, then summoning another shield dome to limit any potential collateral damage unleashing her power might cause, Morgan began swinging and slashing wildly at every cultist she could get her hands on. As the waves of dark magic tore into the Followers' initiates and their demonic beast allies, Morgan supplemented her offensive with a barrage of magical bolts and dark magic spears.

In less than a minute, faced with the Fae Queen's unrestrained might, all of the hapless cultists were reduced to nothing but paste and chunks of burnt, eviscerated flesh, muscle and bone on the floor.

Letting out a soft breath, Morgan de-activated the small barrier she'd thrown up, while leaving the 'net' above the group's position intact, and took a look around.

What was once a mighty living wave of humans and beasts had now been reduced to a mere few handfuls of terrified, brutalised survivors, all of them in full retreat. None of her fellows paid them much mind, instead jumping on and swiftly dispatching the remaining Followers attacking Ritsuka and Habetrot.

"Well, that is the first wave beaten." Morgan said, as the last cultist fell to Sigurd's blade. "But there are still two more to come."

"Mmmmm, and they're very close by now." Skadi added. "I'm afraid that all of this fighting was the distraction they needed."

"Anyone need some Habenyan-brand healing? You'll wanna be in tip-top shape to take on these next bad guys, after all!"

After a quick check around the Servant group, they all shook their heads.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think we'll be fine for now." Napoleon assured Habetrot. "We should all get back into position for the next attack."

"But will we be able to hold them off this time?" Morgan asked.

"The next group will be quite a bit larger than this one just passed, and though none of us were badly injured even with their numbers, Master was threatened because there were simply too many of them for us to hold back all at once. A larger assault force means that more of them will slip between our lines, and Master will be in greater danger."

"Mmmm…that is a problem, indeed." Sigurd scratched at his chin.

"Then perhaps, instead of destroying the next force piece by piece, we should crush it all at once!" Barghest suggested. "We have Noble Phantasms, yes? Why not use them?"

"But who'll do the honours?" Napoleon asked. "Of course, if no one else wants to, then I'd be more than happy!"

"How 'bout I do it? These trash are no match for my worm." Oberon-Vortigern raised his hand, looking positively eager at the prospect.

"Absolutely NOT."

"What's the matter, hag? Afraid I'll steal your thunder because there'll be nothing left for you to do after I'm done?"

"There also won't be anything left to SAVE, either. That abomination of yours is the size of BRITAIN, you fool, and you want to bring it out in the middle of a city?"

"Y'know I can summon it smaller, right?"

"It is still far too dangerous and wantonly destructive."

"What, you think YOU can do better?"

"Of course I can, I have far better control over my Noble Phantasm."

"All right guys, cut it out." Ritsuka waved a hand in between Morgan and Oberon-Vortigern, who had both stalked forward and were currently nose-to-nose.

"I've already got ideas for whose Noble Phantasms we need. Morgan, you're on for the third wave. For this wave, I need Barghest and the Valkyries to the front! Everyone else, get whatever enhancement spells you've got ready, I want them at as close to top strength as you can get them!"

"Yes, Master!" The Servants chorused.

They'd only just gotten into formation when the second wave arrived, thundering towards them down the street. There were almost no dragons among them this time, though the numbers were more than made up for with far larger hordes of fanatics bringing up the rear, while demonic beasts once again led the charge.

Stepping forward and flying out his hand, Ritsuka gave his orders.

"All right everyone, given the Valkyries all the enhancements you've got! Valkyries, take out the cultists! Barghest, wait for the demonic beasts to get close and wipe them out! Go!"

Morgan and Skadi got to work at once, applying a dozen enhancement runes to each Valkyrie present, blue-white winds and reddish bursts swirling around the trio as their power was bolstered by several magnitudes.

Floating steadily into the air, the Valkyries began speaking.

"Commence manifestation of identical bodies-"

They vanished in a burst of feathers.

High in the sky, they reappeared, alongside five other Valkyries.

"Synchronisation start. True name release…"

Raising their hands, all eight of them gathering javelins of light in their palms.

"Ragnarok Leifdrasir!"

In unison, the Valkyries launched their javelins downwards, aiming for the Followers' onrushing hordes. The sky, previously dim as night had begun to set in in Shinjuku, was lit up with streaks of light as the Valkyries' ultimate weapons tore through the clouds and the darkness to reach their targets.

The Chaldea party and Shinjuku civilians were all forced to cover their eyes and look away, blinded by how bright all eight javelins were together. It was like staring directly at the sun.

The Followers army barely had time to scream before the javelins landed, exploding in showers of energy, heat and light that whited out the street they were on.

By the time the light dimmed enough for Chaldea to get a good look at the aftermath, the cultist army had been reduced from a hundreds strong force to about a handful of survivors, all of whom were some degree of burnt or scarred and in no condition to continue the fight, opting to flee instead.. Their less lucky peers were naught but charred skeletons or severely burnt corpses.

The demonic beasts, however, kept on coming.

"Barghest, you're up!"

"As you wish, Master."

Stepping forward, Barghest clenched her fist as a flaming aura flared around her, lifting her a foot or so into the air.

"I swear upon my sword, I will not fail!"

Immediately, Morgan and Skadi went to work once more, engraving enhancement runes upon the Saber's armour as she stomped forward to meet the horde barrelling towards them. The other Servants all readied themselves, just in case there were any survivors.

"I will show you the strength of a Fairy Knight!"

Reading up, Barghest grabbed at one of her crown-like horns and tore it clean off.

"I shall show you my true form! Pan-Human History, you are nothing to me!"

Bright red energy began swirling around her, almost completely obscuring her save for a faint silhouette.

"You are tiny, weak, far and distant!"

The swirling funnel of red energy exploded upwards into a large misty cloud, while a single red-white orb became visible from within…followed shortly afterwards by a colossal Excalibur Galatine.

In a flash of light and thunderous volley of red lightning, the mist cleared, revealing an equally giant Barghest raising Galatine high into the sky, preparing to strike.

"You cannot even become a stain on my sword!"

Gripping her blade tight, the giant Saber brought it slashing downwards towards the demonic beasts, who had almost reached her.

"Black Dog Galatine!"

The blade's impact into the ground unleashed a mighty explosion of blue-white flames, followed almost immediately by those same flames spurting from the ground itself at tremendous speeds. The road and surrounding pavement quickly cracked and buckled under the strain of Barghest's Noble Phantasm, and chunks of debris were whisked into the sky, carried high by the Saber's flames.

A cacophony of pained screeching and roaring reached the ears of Chaldea's team, the demonic beast army having run right into the Fairy Knight's onslaught, with almost no room to escape with crashing into their fellows.

By the time the flames dissipated, few of the beasts were left alive…and none of them were left unharmed. Those few survivors were quickly finished off by a combination of cannon fire from Napoleon, icicles from Sitonai and explosive linen balls from Habetrot.

"Great work, you guys!" Ritsuka called, as Barghest hurried on over and the Valkyries, now back to their usual number, descended to meet the rest of the group.

"No problem, Master!" Hildr said.

"The outcome was never in question the moment you picked me." Barghest allowed a triumphant smile to cross her face as she planted her sword in the ground.

"There's still one more wave to deal with." Skadi pointed out, gesturing down the now-wrecked and debris-littered road.

Following the Caster's finger, the group gazed off into the distance. Morgan even used Reinforcement on her eyes just to get a better look.

It was a veritable tide of hides, furs and scales, drenching the ground beneath them with drool from their myriad mouths, hundreds of glowing eyes fixed onto the Chaldea Servants.

At that moment, the tremors began to reach them.

Morgan consulted her Bounded Field again, just to check that-

Right.

So, there are at least a thousand and a half life forms heading straight for us.

"All right Morgan, you're up." Ritsuka said, sounding far less confident than he did when he ordered Barghest and the Valkyries forward just moments ago.

"Leave it to me." Gripping her spear tight, Morgan took several steps forward to separate herself from the group. "Should any of you have enhancement spells or techniques handy, I would much appreciate them."

"Mmmm…which rune should I use?" Skadi immediately got to work preparing her own spells and runes for use, summoning a dozen of them at once.

"Ability employed. The dragon's wisdom never runs out."

"Raging flames…bolster this one."

Morgan was both surprised and not to see Sigurd and Brynhild manifesting their own rune magic. Though she'd picked up on their skill with primordial runecraft in her interactions with Sigurd for scans of his core, she'd not seen them call on those skills at all during this Rayshift.

Well, there was a (not quite) first time for everything, wasn't there?

"Let's send them off with a bang! Hahaha!"

To her surprise, Napoleon stepped in to give Morgan an extra little boost, producing a cigarette and puffing on it as lightning crackled around him for a moment or two.

Immediately, the Fae Queen felt invigorated as Napoleon's enhancement took effect, yellow light swirling around her.

Shortly after that, she felt her energy levels skyrocket as Sigurd, Brynhild and Skadi all cast their enhancement spells, surrounding Morgan with a veritable tornado of light and power as their magics took effect.

Oh yes…I certainly feel MUCH stronger now, but perhaps I can do even better.

After all, this Servant vessel of hers gave her certain 'Skills' to use in combat, didn't it? Aggregates of the experiences, knowledge and…well, skills she'd gained over her lifetime.

Why not dip into them a little right now? She'd been relying exclusively on her runes and spells up to this point, no need to handicap herself.

Especially when facing down such a large army in such a weakened state.

Flexing her free arm, Morgan placed it to her chest while willing her Saint Graph to respond. And it did.

"With this, I'll burn down everything."

A surge of dark magic flared around her as Morgan felt her power soar once again, with fresh Mana flooding her body and her limbs feeling lighter…and stronger.

This is quite the familiar feeling…it's as if I'm closer to my old self again.

She would have liked to explore that feeling a little more, but the rumbling of the ground at her feet brought Morgan back to the present.

Ah, yes, I'll crush these fools first, then indulge this feeling.

Closing her eyes and focusing for a moment, Morgan began.

"This is clemency. Bow your head."

There she was, back on her throne again, that familiar path stretching down the road ahead of her. A brief surge of blue-black magic flared around her as the Fae Queen opened her eyes, and Morgan suppressed a sharp exhale as she felt her power spiking yet again.

Another last-second boon from a fellow Servant, no doubt. Well, that was most welcome.

"There is no fear, nor is there hope."

The magical javelins came soaring down, lining the sides of the wrecked road. This time, however, they were significantly larger, manifested in greater numbers and embedded themselves further into the concrete as they struck. The light that shone from them, dimmed as it was, was now enough to have Morgan squinting to avoid hurting her eyes.

That in itself was a good sign of the enhancements working, her javelins hadn't been so radiant before.

The demonic beasts were mere moments away from engaging the Servant group now. They swarmed through the wreckage of the Shinjuku street, snarling and gnashing their teeth, climbing over and onto their fellows in their bloodlust.

The fanatics that followed them were a little more wary, but they still pressed forward. Having just passed by the burnt bodies of their peers, they were more than eager to avenge the deaths of their fellow Followers.

However in their zeal, they completely ignored Morgan's constructs, as none of them had actually hit anyone so far, swarming around them and ignoring them completely.

Just like she wanted.

"Simply, die like a sinner. None shall pass──!"

The glow from the mystical javelins turned overpoweringly bright…and the sky above was saturated with sickly blue magical energy, forming into a tornado's funnel.

"Roadless…Camelot!"

The javelins exploded all at once, bathing the surrounding area in light, ripping apart demonic beasts and flattening whole rows of buildings with the shockwaves of magical energy they let off.

A moment later, a spectral Rhongomyniad replica slammed into the ground just a ways behind where the furthest javelins had landed…the sheer size of the replica and volume of magic being released ensured that the cultist army was swallowed up by the discharge.

By the time the light faded and Morgan could see properly again, there was nothing left of the assault force.

Smirking to herself, a sense of triumphant glee filling her, Morgan got up from her dissolving throne and turned towards the Chaldea team, ready to re-join them.

…only for her power to begin draining away. Rapidly.

A shiver of shock jolted through the Fae Queen's body as she felt all of that extra power, all of the enhancement spells from her fellow Servants, simply leave her.

A second later, she was hit with an overwhelming sense of fatigue. Of sluggishness.

Her head began to bob and dip, her eyelids feeling weighed down by great metallic slabs. It was almost impossible for her to stay awake.

She didn't even have time to yawn before she began collapsing.

The last thing Morgan saw before her vision darkened completely was the expressions of shock on her peers' faces as they began rushing over.