It was quick and sudden, and quite a surprise.
Caster, having leaked some of her mana, tricked Archer into believing she was behind a wall, which she was. However, in front of her was her beloved Kuzuki who she had enhanced with her gifted power. Reinforcement magic is known to empower a being or item by filling them with magical energy, though is considered tough to do so on a person. To someone like Caster, giving her darling Reinforcement was child's play, and even gave him a more advanced version as well.
This is what Archer realized in the instant the fist came at him. He was in midair and could not dodge, as such all he could do was brace himself as the teacher's killer fist slammed into the Servant's right cheek. Archer was then launched away hard and fast until he slammed into the temple wall all the way on the other side, ruining it.
Caster's Master having made his grand entrance to everyone, who watched in shocked. The man then blinking as he saw those in his home and then said one thing. "Do you think later you can fix the temple after all of this?"
Kuzuki would rather not sleep in rubble.
"Of course I can Master." Caster nodded while giving a smug grin at Archer as he got back up and spat blood out of his mouth. Kuzuki having done actual damage to a Servant, with Rin shocked by this herself. Her eyes then looking at Kuzuki's fists and saw the spell placed on them. Reinforcement.
'Damn!' She thought angrily as she shot another werewolf down. 'Our own teacher was a Master!? Not to mention a fighter!?'
It's a known fact facing Servants is suicide. However, while rarely done, there were stories of past Masters who actually faced Servants using their magecraft. Most ended up dying to be honest, and rather foolishly too. However, it was clear to Rin that her teacher was anything but a fool. Especially since it seems not only is he Caster's Master, but also getting support magecraft from her.
"No way." With Shirou just as shocked as he saw his teacher. Where he couldn't believe that another person he knew is even in this war. As for Ozpin, he just narrowed his eyes at the man as he saw his stance and the way he held himself. This man, he definitely wasn't some amature.
As for Caster, she just smiled as she saw all her enemies here and gathered. Just there to be destroyed. Beneath her hood, she gazed at all of them. Some magus brat who while definitely is superior to her darling in magecraft, can be handled by her own hands. A boy that while rather tough, is nothing to her darkling husband. Then the old man, who gave off a...unique air of sorts around him.
The only threat really is Archer, and he can be handled honestly. As such, Caster made her move.
"Master." Caster then spoke. "Why not play with the girl and her friends for a bit and I'll deal with the lovely Archer myself."
"Understood." Kuzuki nodded as his eyes, one that showed no hesitation, eyed the three humans. "I will deal with them as you wish."
"Thank you darling." Caster said as she floated up and prepared some magical circles. "Oh. But try to leave the gentleman there alive. I may have a use for him." Kuzuki nodded as his fists glowed. Then, he launched himself towards Shirou.
"Damn!" Shirou says as he lifts his sword and attempted to use it to defend himself. His own teacher, now in front of him, just slammed his fist against it. The light from Kuzuki's Reinforcement and the wooden blades' own version flashed as they clashed. However, only one can reign supreme and to Shirou's shock, Kuzuki's blow and reinforcement was slowly outdoing his blade as it began showing signs of cracking.
"Hey!" Rin attempted to shoot at Kuzuki though was stopped when one of the boars tried to roll her down, forcing her to focus on the dark creatures around them. As such, Shirou had no choice but to step back and try to attack Kuzuki again, only for the man to avoid the blade's path and then land a sucker punch in his chest.
"Gu-h!" While Shirou once faced the blow of Berserker, and can honestly admit Kuzuki's own punch wasn't as bad, that didn't mean it didn't hurt any less. Shirou felt his own aura drain while spit left his mouth. Then blood soon after as his teacher slammed his fist at his face disorienting him.
Shirou desperately tried to attack, however his rattled mind could only swing his blade clumsily. Caster's Master able to easily avoid such amatura moves and kick Shirou down. Where he then got ready to kill him to Shirou's horror as he lifted his foot, ready to stomp on his head.
Rin attempted to help but was once more blocked by Caster's familiars. As for Archer, he grunted and tried to rush at Shirou's aid only for magical blasts to stop him. Making him forced to defend himself as Caster got in his way. Musashi was still facing Assassin, and it was unlikely Shinji would show up to help. This naturally left only one person left to save Shirou.
"I'd rather not have you kill my student." Ozpin, as he suddenly appeared in front of Kuzuki and blocked his foot with his cane. The cane not even bending, let aside showing any signs of damage at all. Kuzuki's empty eyes met Ozpin's slightly angered ones. Kuzuki moved backward and threw a punch.
Ozpin attempted to dodge only to find his shoulder to be hit. Knocking him backward and forced to balance himself, with Kuzuki using that chance to strike as he went for the head. Ozpin raised his cane and attempted to block the blow, only to feel his neck to be hit.
Shirou was shocked, as he saw Ozpin on the defensive and actually taking hits from Kuzuki when he himself never landed a hit on the man. However, unknown to Shirou, while Ozpin was taking hits he was also taking no damage as Kuzuki himself noticed. Though he already suspected why, as he saw green flashes coming from Ozpin's body.
"Defensive measures." He simply says, believing this to be the work of some form of magecraft that allows his opponent to defend himself from damage.
"How observant of you." Ozpin says as he ducks from one of the blows. Kuzuki then throws a fist at Ozpin's temple. Arm then bent in mid-air to hiit the Adam apple when suddenly, his fist was caught. "So am I."
Ozpin then moved at speeds that matched Kuzuki as well, and began using his cane as a blunt weapon against Kuzuki. The man himself tried to destroy the weapon with his reinforced fists, only to once more find the cane to be incapable of even cracking. Ozpin smirked. "You should aim for the body!"
The Huntsmen then stepped back, and rushed foreward making his cane attempt to land numerous blows against Kuzuki. Caster's Master defended himself by blocking those end strikes with his own forearms and fists. While feeling some pain, similar to Ozpin he felt no damage thanks to Caster's Reinforcement on him. However, Kuzuki noticed something. Once Ozpin stopped his assault, he resumed his own and realized that his attacks were being blocked more efficiently. Realizing this, Kuzuki came to a simple conclusion.
"You can see them." More specifically, his moves.
"I admit, you are certainly an interesting one." Ozpin says as he slammed his cane down where a small green wave burst out, sending Kuzuki back. Ozpin then coming forward as he used his cane like a sword with Kuzuki blocking them only for Ozpin to step forward and get personal before throwing a fist that slammed into Kuzuki's chest and sent him stepping backward as his breathing was disrupted.
"For the most part, your ability to bend your limbs when attacking is astonishing." Kuzuki tried to use his 'Snake' again, but Ozpin kept blocking his lethal strikes by parrying them with the cane. "Not to mention your breathing involves no wasted movement." Again Kuzuki tried to twist his fists in a different direction, only for that blasted cane to block him again and then it twirled before being slammed in his face. Instead of retreating to grab his clearly broken nose, Kuzuki smacked Ozpin in the chest.
Even then Ozpin didn't stop talking, even as he felt some pain from that attack. "Quite honestly, you aren't really a warrior. But instead...you seem more like an assassin."
Kuzuki said nothing. Instead moving forward and continued his onslaught of attacks and doing what he could to get at Ozpin who easily avoided such hits as he smiled. It was a shame really. This man, while not a true warrior, his attack style was certainly interesting and were it not for his aura, Ozpin was certain he'd have died from those blows that honestly hurt him quite a bit.
However…
"Your style revolves around finishing the fight quickly." Ozpin put away his cane and then grabbed both of Kuzuki's fists, making both men struggle as they faced one another. Ozpin lectured him even as they continued to fight. "And while you are indeed fearsome and a strong foe, those with good enough eyes can adapt you your attacks. And unfortunately," Kuzuki then say Ozpin's hands glowing. "I'm very good at adapting."
From Ozpin's hands, green energy sparked and Kuzuki found himself being shocked to his core. While reinforcement did wonders to defend against physical attacks, in the end Caster's Master held no form of magic resistance. As such the green electricity easily caused pain and while he didn't let out even a scream let aside a whimper, the magical power caused him to fall on his knees.
Something Caster noticed as her voice was tinged with worry. "Master!"
She then tried to rush to his aid only for an arrow to land in her path which then exploded. "Uh-uh." Archer then tried to slice her back which she barley avoided as she saw Archer's cold eyes. "You aren't getting away so easily."
"Tch!" Caster then flew high in the air and sent beam after beam to kill him. Archer simply stopped them with his blades. Blades that were known as Kanshou and Bakuya, which held high magic resistance. While a good hit on his body would definitely cripple, if not outright kill him, Archer utilized his blades to defend himself from Caster's attacks. He then threw Kanshou at Caster who dodged it.
"Getting sloppy!" She growls before sending three beams at him. Without Kanshou, Archer is forced to move to avoid them and then throws Bayuka at Caster. She simply blasted it away. "Really?" She then smirks. "Ws that it."
The white blade fell onto the ground in front of Caster. Archer smirked. "Yes. Really."
Caster looked confused until suddenly she heard the sound of whooshing air and then felt pain. "Ahhhh!" The pain of none other than Kanshou stabbing her in the back. The secret power of the blades, that being their attraction to each other, being used against Caster.
Archer used her moment of pain to then jump up at her. Where he then spawned a bow and then pulled back the string. An arrow materializing and shot it at speeds that would put a bullet to shame. Naturally, the speed was too much for Caster to see it properly and she felt the arrow not only hit her right shoulder, but also take some of it when it burst through it.
"Aha-ahhhh!" She screamed as her concentration broke with her bloody and disfigured shoulder, falling onto the ground. Archer then rushed her intending to finish her off.
"Grua!" Only for the ground to burst and a nasty lizard-thing came at him and bit at his leg. While these things weren't that strong, they were still far stronger than normal humans. So while those teeth certainly didn't break his skin, the lizard did hold him down making him unable to move.
Archer summoned Bakuya and slashed at it's head, killing it and watched as it dissipated. He then turned to deal with Caster, only to see her turn having already healed herself. Not wanting her to be back in action, Archer threw Bakuya right toward her head. Where instead, she then vanished.
"Hm?" He narrowed his eyes at such a disappearance. That wasn't her moving quick at all. His eyes then widened as he spawned his usual blades, where a second later a beam of magical energy slammed into the blades with the force strong enough to make him skid back. Once the energy stopped, he then saw Caster smiling as the magic circle in front of her hand stopped glowing.
"I see now." Archer says as he was a bit impressed. "You, you have somehow managed to find a way to mimic teleportation. I'm rather amazed."
"And I'm disappointed in you." Caster mocks him without a care. Her Dragon Tooth Warriors then attacked Archer who then slashed them apart while Caster just continued being confident. "I thought you might be someone special, but you don't seem to have any particular traits other than benign a sneaky trickster."
"I do my best." Archer replies. "And besides, it's not as if your little friends here are tough. Why, even my Master and her allies are doing away with them."
"That is true." Caster admits, as she looks around and sees how those strange dark creatures and her own familiars were being reduced to either dark mist or vanishing broken bones. "In which case, I suppose I just have to kill you all."
It was at that moment everybody around her then froze. Their bodies incapable of moving at all. All of them just unmoving with their eyes seeing some form of a haze around them. Caster then laughing as her new pets and warriors began to surround them all while the gang were confused.
"Wha...what's happening?" Shirou asked as he couldn't do anything at all. Hell, this was worse than those wires Caster used on him. Because here, he couldn't even bend his fingers.
"Shit." Rin then cursed, a rare thing for her. "She...she's locked down space around us."
"Huh?" Shirou says, wishing he could turn to face Rin and instead only got to see the face of the werewolf now growling at him. "What-what are you talking about?"
"Yes." Ozpin said as he to couldn't so much as lift his leg. Also incapable of even grabbing his cane. "Please explain Miss Tohsaka. I would like to know what's happening."
"Oh why bother asking her, when you have me." Caster said as she floated down towards her Master. Looking at his poor state he was in. An easy heal really, but it still made her upset that he got injured like this. The space around Ozpin now feeling more pressurized. "To explain so even a monkey can understand, I have immobilized space around you all." She then looked at them, particularly Archer who's the only one properly facing her with a grin. "Even great heroes can't do anything if they cannot move."
"Damn you!" Shirou says as he struggles even more yet accomplished nothing.
"I knew Caster was good, but not this good." Rin says while doing her best to ignore the raised swords the Dragon Tooth Warriors have over her body, along with the claws those familiars had on them. Caster clearly ensures they won't attack yet, if only so she can make them suffer.
"What a complement." Caster had overheard Rin and walked toward her. "I can see you also possess some fine circuits. In fact," Caster then smiles innocently, yet the smile isn't one that portrays kindness. "Maybe I can use you as a battery. That'll be sweet."
"You." Shirou then angrily says, getting Caster's attention. "First it was innocent people, and now her to! What kind if Servant are you!?"
"One who will win, sweet little boy." Caster condensenly says to Shirou who scowls at her tone. "Honestly, this is the Holy Grail War after all. Not a little battle where one puts on the safety gloves. Why, you must have been raised by a terrible magus." Shirou's eyes became more angry, yet couldn't do anything to relive the anger. With Caster then walking towards Ozpin as she looked at him.
"And you...you're certainly an interesting find." She says while giggling a little, making Ozpin rather unsettled. "I must say, the mana in you is certainly of superior quality if I've ever seen it. Small, yet so potent." She leans a little closer to Ozpin. "I don't suppose you'll tell me how you gained such high-quality power, will you?"
Ozpin really wished he could grab his cane. Unable to do anything but instead stay silent. Caster mockingly made an upset sound. "My, not even going to share." The pressure around Ozpin now felt like he was being crushed a bit as he choked. "What a rude little man."
Caster then went to her beloved, which her warriors have now propped him up in a sitting position while she then began using some healing magecraft on him. "Well then, I suppose this will be the end for our little conversation." Caster giggled as she looked at all of them. "While I did consider making all of you batteries, maybe I'll only do it after I get rid of all those limbs."
Archer saw how the familiars got ready to tear apart the human allies of his. Then, he saw Caster aiming her staff at him with a magical circle appearing and sparking red. "You, on the other hand, will die. Unless, you wish to join me?"
Archer scoffed.
"What a shame." She said though didn't look too upset. "In any case, I suppose this is good-bye."
Ozpin saw the Grimm growl, as they were ready to attack and brutalize them. The Dragon Tooth Warrior's prepared to slice off their limbs like so. While Archer saw the small spark on Caster's staff start to become a flame that would undoubtedly grow bigger and consume him. With no defense around him either. Though oddly, some of the Grimm seemed to leave for some reason down the steps. Strange, but not enough Grimm left either way to make things easy.
So with that, Caster was ready to end them all.
"Go get em Saber!" Only for Caster to turn with others hearing the voice of none other than Shinji. Shirou himself, who's positioned allowed him to see where the voice is coming from, saw Shinji while looking ragged from climbing stairs also looked smug. Where it revealed Saber who rushed at Caster who gasped at Saber who came at her. Quickly she conjured a barrier to protect herself as Saber clashed her blades against the barrier before rebounding back.
"Finally!" However in doing so, she released everybody from being held down by her spell. Where the Grimm and Warriors struck at that moment.
Ozpin released a blast of magic and sent them packing.
Rin jumped up thanks to Reinforcement and started shooting Gandrs.
Shirou increased the durability of his wooden blade and started attacking.
As for Archer, in one second he hacked and slashed the enemies around him like paper and then materialized his bow once more. Instead of a normal arrow though, what he prepared was a strange sword of sorts where Shirou, as he killed the enemies, saw with his eyes growing in awe at such a sight.
"I am the bone of my sword." Archer then says as the sword morphed into a sleeker version of itself as the Servant pulled the string back. "Caladbolg!"
He then released the 'arrow' and from there the blue light swirled around it as it's target is none other than Caster. Dust, leaves, and dirt alongside even familiars being shredded upon the arrows path with Caster seeing it alongside Saber who moved away to not get caught in the blast.
"No!" Caster created numerous magical defenses due to lacking the time to teleport herself. Yet it was all in vain, as the arrow broke through such defenses and Caster could only scream as the arrow continued it's path from her to the temple itself and destroying a good chunk of it, leaving everything in a trail of blue light that blinded Ozpin and Rin for a bit with Shinji covering his eyes.
Once that settled though, soon everybody saw what the aftermath was.
"No way." Shirou said as he stabbed a bears head. "She...she's still alive."
"She's a tough one." Ozpin says as he and everybody else sees how Caster is actually alive despite the hit. Though she was certainly heavily injured, instead of that elegant look and stance she normally had, now she was on the ground bloodied, injured, and far from okay. The Dragon Tooth Warriors collapsed as Caster could no longer support their existence while the Grimm began to start acting more erratically.
Slam!
Ozpin killed the Beowolf and saw Shirou valiantly dealing with the rest with decent enough swordsmanship skill. They won't be much of a threat now. No, the only threat at this moment is Caster who is cornered. Injured, her Master incapacitated, and facing two Servants to boot. In other words, she likely wasn't going to live past this.
"Well," Something Caster seemed to know. "Are you going to finish me or not." She pulled herself forward and tried to stand, only to collapse back down. "Or do you get enjoyment seeing me like this?"
"No." Archer says as he walks closer to her. "But I suppose now is best to deal with you before you get in the way." Shirou didn't like the way Archer spoke, and neither did Ozpin either. However, in the end both knew that what Archer said was true. Shirou had already known that Caster was putting people's lives at risk, and understood that Caster had to be defeated.
'Plus, she isn't really a person.' Just a copy of the true person in the Throne of Heroes. Admittingly, not that he liked having to kill someone that was just so human in their own way. With a part of Shirou even wishing they could somehow spare her, but knew that wouldn't happen. Heck, he was also disappointed in Kuzuki as well, as he never knew his teacher was allowing Caster to do these things. Wanting to ask him why, but that won't be happening since he's knocked out.
Either way, the time to defeat Caster was now. Not wanting to see her death, Shirou looked at Saber to congratulate her victory.
"?" Only to see her having a very glum face while Shinji just appeared smug. "Uh, Saber," He then asked. "Are you okay?"
Saber didn't answer. Instead just looking rather sad for some reason while gazing at the dirt. Shinji then spoke up. "Oh she's alright." He patted her on the back. "She's probably just upset that coward Assassin got away."
"Huh?" Rin overheard this and looked at Shinji. "What do you mean by that?"
Shinji grinned. "Well, allow me to tell you."
Flashback!
Trees were being cut down by the blasts from the two swords clashing. Blood was being spilled as both swordsman kept on slicing at one another. Maniacal grins and blood lust was thrown around to the point that a regular person would feel it and run away.
"Come on! Come on! Come on!" With one to smart (dumb) to realize this and just wished to record. To bad Shinji's stupid cell phone wasn't recording this epic battle! "Uh. If only they didn't move so fast!" Not to mention the dark.
Wait...the dark! That was it!
Meanwhile, Musashi ducked from one of Assassin's overhead strikes and attempted to swing her blade across his chest. However, her hand felt a stinging pain and she dropped her right sword, having put to much stress in using it. Assassin grinned as he saw this as his moment and tried to slice her down by stepping back and attacking again with Musashi blocking with her only blade left in her hand.
"You've done well beautiful flower, but it seems I have the upper hand." His eyes looked at her hand, which twitched and was red. "That arm is of no use now, and it'll take time for it to heal." He stepped forward and angled himself so that Musashi couldn't attack him as her defense weakened. "Time you don't have."
"Ha!" Musashi yells as she imbues her final blade with energy. "While while beating you with two blades would be cool, I only need one."
"Then prove it." Kojiro smirked as both then jumped back and clashed their blades producing wonderful sparks. Though it was clear that Musashi had the disadvantage as Kojiro's familiarity with the temple's steps and advantage over Musashi's lack of using one blade forcing her down. The right side of her body now getting more cuts with her ability to parry Kojiro's attacks decreasing every second.
Yet even then, Musashi smiled as even if she did somehow fall, at least she would do so in an epic way. Kojiro clearly feeling the same as despite pressuring her, her battle spirit roared louder than before. This was it. This is the fight he was searching for. Confined to this temple was one of the worst things that can happen here, as while Assassin felt no desire for the Grail, him being trapped as a mere guard and unable to find worthy foes frustrated him.
Now this was worth it. At last a foe worth killing.
Musashi tried to cut an artery only for Kojiro to divert, then sent his blade to her leg, making her gasp as she fell onto a knee. Kojiro raised his blade and prepared to end her.
Shing!
Then in a twist of surprise, his blade was blocked by two swords. Musashi, even though her hand hurt like hell, had drawn her other blade from behind to stop the killing blow. Smirking at Assassin who did the same. Quickly he attacked and put pressure on her hand, making her drop the second blade again. He then attempted to take a step back to get in position to move, Musashi, not wanting to take her eyes of Kojiro, just tried to grab whatever it was behind her to get her blade.
Kojiro lifted his leg to adjust his stance and attack.
FLASH!
Only for a blinding light to hit Kojiro's eyes just as Musashi swung whatever she grabbed hold of. Kojiro blinded and unable to see anything as suddenly, he felt an immense pain his his head and knocking him down the stairs where he tumbled downward.
Musashi gasping once the light faded as she turned and saw poor Kojiro slam into a tree disoriented.
"Got it!" Where it showed Shinji grinning as he had used his camera to light up the scene. "Man I'm a genius!" The camera light that had blinded Kojiro at that critical moment, where it then showed Musashi had somehow grabbed not her sword...but an oar!
"What the-!" Even she was shocked and had no idea why the temple even had this in the shrubbery. However, to Kojiro he gasped. An oar. The swordsman skill that, while felt flash and yet ever so vaguely familiar. Not to mention...that blinding light...It couldn't be.
As his head hurt from being wacked by that oar, his lips moved and asked, "Who...who are you..?"
Musashi paled. Kojiro had revealed his identity, yet she never revealed hers. For good reason though, as she didn't want to say her name. Because she feared what he would do after.
"I said," Kojiro however, was not wanting to be kept in the dark as he picked himself up. "Who...Who are you?"
Musashi gulped while Shinji, sensing the animosity, decided it might be wise to step back as he entered back into the forest. From there, Musashi let out a breath and sighed. Seeing she had no choice.
"My name..is Miyamoto Musashi." She then finally revealed.
"...what?" With Kojiro's eyes going blank.
Shinji's jaw dropped. Where he then, unhelpfully, yelled out, "Miyamoto Musashi! As in, the epic rival of Kojiro Sasaki!?" He couldn't believe it. The famed Miyamato is here, and as a girl! Then again, his Servant Medusa wasn't some creepy ugly woman, so maybe history got Miyamoto's identity wrong somehow. Yet even then, Shinji just couldn't help but say, "As in the one who disgracefully blinded Kojiro and killed nhim with an oar!"
Musashi dropped the oar.
Yet as it clattered, Kojiro looked at the oar, then at Shinji's phone, then finally at Musashi herself.
"He...hehe.." Then, he laughed. "Hehehe..hehe..Ha..HahaHAHAHAHAHA!" Eyes of what once saw a worthy foe then rapidly changed to him looking at Miyamoto like trash. Eyes that made the Saber step back in shock at such a look. Kojiro's eyes narrowing with anger marks coming at him, veins bulging and his out hand gripping his sword harshly while the other hand turned to a fist and blood seeped out by pressing too hard.
He didn't care.
"Miyamoto Musashi." His voice hissed that name like a curse. "I see...now I see…" His eyes looked at Shinji. "He...he's your ally...a student…" He saw the sword Shinji had on him. Then at the phone. "He blinded me...while you then attacked me...with that." Eyes hardened on that blasted oar.
Normally he shouldn't have felt any form of pain from being hit by such a thing.
However, history has recorded that Kojiro was harmed and in some stories, killed by the oar. Of course that didn't mean a person could walk up and hit him with it and think they could harm him. Hell, not even a Servant could do that.
But...what if Miyamoto Musashi was the one who wielded it?
That's why the oar hurt him even though it wasn't even infused with mana. Because Miyamoto Musashi wields it as a weapon, and used it to try and kill him. A form of 'weakness' that was part of Kojiro's legend. One where him being blinded also added to that legend which led to his downfall.
"Now I understand." Kojiro looked at what he thought was beautiful blossom, now seeing her as what she truly is. "Let me guess," He spitefully spoke while lifting her weapon. "You took on a new form to distract me. Like you did during our match, huh?"
"W-Wait." Musashi tried speaking. "I wasn't-"
"SHUT UP!" Kojiro then yelled so loudly that it shut Musashi up with Shinji yelping even though he wasn't the target of that rage. "You dare." He says. "You dare! As if humiliating me in life wasn't enough, now you try to mock me again. Taking the form of a woman just as how you dressed slovenly whenever you faced other foes. To let my guard down!"
Kojiro disliked Caster for keeping him trapped here.
Now he hated the 'woman' before him more.
Kojiro got ready to attack. To avenge the dishonor he had faced as the role he played as Kojiro Sasaki. To kill her-no, him!
"Graa!" Only for the shadowy creatures Caster claimed to have controlled to burst from the trees. All now aimed at him.
"Damn it!" Kojiro yelled as he killed the werewolf as he then saw the boy running up the stairs and then grabbing Musashi. Dragging her up to...to no doubt help her allies. He had been tricked again! "This isn't over!" Kojiro shouted as more of the creatures ran at him, none going toward Musashi at all for some reason making his anger grow. "I will find you and kill you Musashi! You here me!"
Then the creatures blocked his view of his hated foe, with him not once seeing the sober look on Musashi as she turned and ran up the stairs.
Flashback Over!
"And then I saved her!" Shinji proclaimed.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
None of the five, Rin, Archer, Ozpin, Shirou, and even Caster believed Shinji. Not one bit. Though they couldn't get Saber's side as she wasn't even talking at all. As such, they could only lightly believe that Shinji did something to help Saber but nothing more.
As for Ozpin, he now had the answer why some of the Grimm left during their immobilization. Caster may have had some degree of control over the Grimm, but clearly not enough to stop them from going after what sounded like a very angry man. Well, Kojiro was likely to survive.
"Oar huh." Shirou then says. "Talk about rude littering." He'll have to tell Issei about this later. As for Archer, he huffed.
"Enough chatter." He said. His blade then pointed at Caster. "If everyone has forgotten, we should be ending her here and now."
"Then do it!" Shinji commanded only to shut up when Archer glared at him. Then whimpering, "P-please."
Archer rolled his eyes and got ready to end the witch. Though before he could, Ozpin spoke up. "Wait." He said as he stepped forward. "Before this ends, I must ask something." Something he had to know. "Where did you get these creatures?"
The Grimm. They shouldn't be here. They can't be here. Yet they were, and as such Ozpin had to know where they came from. Because if they were here...then what was the possibility she is here as well.
Caster looked at Ozpin. "Oh." Where she then grinned. "You...you know these creatures." Ozpin's eyes widened while Shirou and the others looked at him. Rin gasping.
"I...Do not know what you a-" Before Ozpin could even defend himself, Caster laughed.
"Don't try to lie old man." She giggled. "I can see it. In your eyes. You, you're familiar with them. I can tell, especially since you seemed to be the most successful in killing them."
Shirou realized that too. He thought it was just because Ozpin was tougher, but he did seem to know how to kill those creatures more easily than even Rin. Not to mention the way he reacted to them, as if he knew something.
"Hold on, you know them!?" Rin then yelled out as she glared at Ozpin. "Then why were you hiding such critical information?" If he knew what these things were, then he surely knew what they were alongside strength and weaknesses. Yet kept it to himself.
"Hold on Tohsaka." Shirou stepped in front fo Ozpin. "Maybe he had a reason, right?"
"..." Ozpin said nothing, as worse, he had no real excuse either. A rather bad habit he had developed, one that clearly has gone to bite him with Shirou being surprised he wasn't saying anything to defend himself. At all.
Caster smirked.
Archer quickly tried to kill her, but instead she vanished in a burst of small butterflies and escaped. Archer went to see if he could get the Master but saw he was gone to. Damn it all, they wasted too much time talking nonsense! She must have been healing herself and had her Master taken away while they were distracted.
"Damn!" Rin said as she saw Caster had vanished. "Are you kidding me! She's gone!"
"And it's about to get worse." Archer said as he and Saber then saw Dragon Tooth Warriors being summoned from the mist. "She's already worn us out, and she's still good with all the mana she's draining. We're at a disadvantage here.
"No, no, no!" Rin couldn't believe it. They came to stop Caster and Assassin, and even had the luck to face the Master. Instead, because of a stupid mistake, they let Caster get away while Assassin will no doubt hide away quickly. In other words, a huge waste of time!
"It's best we go now." Archer said as he sniped a few Warriors. "There is no point in staying here and let Caster recover while we wear down our own strength."
"But what about stopping her from killing the people?" Shirou was quick to add. "We can't just leave and do nothing."
"And I suppose you just magically gained the knowledge to know where she is now, huh?" Archer sarcastically said to Shirou. "It's a waste of time now, especially since we have no idea of her location. Best to retreat and come up with a better plan." Archer then looked at Ozpin. "And gain more information that should have been shared."
Ozpin said nothing. Instead dealing with the familiars while keeping an eye out.
Shirou wanted to say more, but he could do nothing at this moment. Gritting his teeth, he just turned and began running toward the gate with everyone following him. This was their loss for now. But next time they'll return, and make real progress.
At least, Shirou hoped so.
And the winner is nobody.
Caster and Assassin live another day, while our heroes failed in their task. Not to mention Ozpin in hot water. While I don't hate him, I do dislike his inability to share certain secrets, thus costing his allies at certain times. Now he'll have to share. On the bright side, at least they didn't get killed.
Though Musashi now has a target on her back as poor Kojiro mistakes her identity as the one he knows, and will vengefully try to kill her for what he sees as humiliation. What a shame. There goes the friendly rivalry. Nice going Shinji. But hey, he did technically help so good for him.
In the meantime, let's go back to the Brothers.
The final Singularity was finished, and the last Holy Grail was gained. It had cost a lot to get this far, with many allies gone and past, but Chaldea was slowly close to finishing their mission. The chance to save humanity was now.
"You know, we could just resurrect everybody and restore your world at this point." The God of Darkness says as he was sitting down on a chair while the staff were a bit away from him. Rather fearful of the aura he radiated alongside the Grimmified Rider next to him. "I mean, with those seven Grail things gone from distorting your past, a simple snap and work and my Brother and I can fix your world by resetting it."
"Eh? Really!" Meunière says as he couldn't believe it. "You mean, you could resurrect seven billion lives?"
"Give or take." The God of Light answers as he's also sitting and observing what the humans called a comic. "And we wouldn't do it anyway. Both because we have no reason, and your world is still rather unstable even with these Holy Grails are removed. So don't make promises brother."
"Not like I was actually going to do it. I was just making a point." Dark responds as he makes Ushiwakamaru, his new Grimm Servant, serve him these comics as well. He then opened one of them up. "..." And burned it up much to Sylvia's horror. Her BL comics!
"I have to say, that's pretty cool still." Ritsuka says as she was resting a bit. "I thought Gods couldn't resurrect the dead though. Something about final death and all."
"That's true." Roman said as he looked at the two Gods literally sitting down as if it were normal. "Just how are you guys able to resurrect the dead. Those souls should be entering the Root until they're reincarnated."
"I suppose I could tell you." The God of Light says, interesting Roman. "Then kill you for giving you such forbidden knowledge." Interest went away with the God of Darkness chuckling.
"Or you could just transfer the information, and hope is mind breaks down thus no need to kill him from learning the secret of resurrection." Roman began gulping and breaking into sweat. "But no." The God of Darkness looked at Roman who flinched. "Humans shouldn't have nor deserve such knowledge. It can lead to a mess."
"Because humanity can pervert that knowledge?" Mash asked with the God of Light answering.
"Indeed." He said. "There are worlds where humanity or certain individuals learned the gift of resurrection. It normally doesn't end well, and can have consequences of sorts."
"Like that dungeon where souls cannot be permitted to move on." The God of Darkness says. "Or where some mutants nearly killed their concept of death by messing with the nature of rebirth."
"Not to mention those who mess with the formula and create a living blight." The God of Light also adds on. "Ultimately, those who wield the formula for resurrection and rebirth will undoubtedly find it destroying them if used improperly. Even attempting to create life is a sin in it's own way, as it trespasses on certain territory." The God of Light then looked at Mash. "Like you."
"Eh." Mash said with the God of Darkness scoffing.
"Don't think we couldn't tell. Your body has clearly been tampered with where biologically, you're destined for an early grave." The God of Darkness shakes his head. "Humans can die early, but at least they have the potential to live a long life. You, the tampering of your body messed with that and as a consequence, you'll die very soon."
Ritsuka flinched. She learned about that, about Mash and how she was born. How she wasa designer baby, and that while she gained great power the experiments done on her caused her lifespan to be cut short. Unless…
"Please," She then kneeled. "Is it...possible if maybe something can be done about that."
Before they left Babylon, the two Gods literally gave them immortality and magic. It was taken away of course, but Ritsuka saw this as an opportunity. It might fail, it might be rebutted, but she had to try. The others like Da Vinci and Romani watching in awe as they saw Ritsuka kneeling to the two living deities with Mash just as surprised.
"I'm not asking for immortality, or anything like that." Ritsuka said. "If possible...can you give Mash a normal life span?" To keep living with Mash, and see her by her side is what Ritsuka wants. For what was the point of saving the world if her own friend died along the way. The two gods looked at one another, then at Mash. Where the slightest bit of ponder came about them both, if they should even do this wish.
WRR! WRR! WRR!
Then the entire room turned red and flashed. Shaking was heard and rumbling all around occurred. The two Gods also then sensed it. A very great power.
"S-something's wrong!" One of the workers shouted. "We're no longer in the usual coordinates or place!" Loud noises could be heard as the ground shaked and twisted with pieces of the ceiling falling off.
"T-this can't be!" Another worker shouts. "These readings, they're not normal."
"Move!" Da Vinci says as she checks the console. "Let me take a look at this. Okay, applying the coordinates of the lock on our location, initiating back-up drives to the system...this can't be." DFa Vinci's eyes widened. "We're...we're not even in Antarctica. We're in-"
"Imaginary Space." Roman said, expression now serious while Mash picked Ritsuka up. Fou on her shoulder as everyone gasped. As for the Brothers, they looked around. Not in the room of course, but beyond that.
"To create an opening for a structure of this size and drag it into the void itself...Impressive." The God of Darkness says as he can feel the surge of energy that brought them here. But more importantly, another great source of power elsewhere. One that was across from Chaldea with numerous lifeforms...and one behind them?
"What?" This was all the God of Light could say as suddenly, a portal opened up right behind the two Brothers.
"Master!" Ushiwakamaru yells with the staff of Chaldea shocked as the two Gods then felt themselves being dragged inside it. Where they then passed through the portal and entered what was clearly the void itself with nothing in sight. No light, no nature, no water, no life, nothing. Just endless darkness except for the two of them, alongside a single voice.
"I will not have the Gods ruin my endless plan." Then like that the portal shut, stranding the Brothers away in the endlessness and leaving Chaldea to it's fate.