Fourth Night (1)

"I just had to go and open up my damn mouth, now didn't I? About what happened to the good old days. And now here we are, with the end of the world breathing down our necks and only my surly attitude to show for it."

Saber couldn't decide whether chuckle in amusement at Lancer's complaints or to roll her eyes at them, instead electing to spare her master a glance, the Magus standing with her mouth agape and expression distraught.

...Saber supposed she would have felt similarly, had her final moments during the Fourth War not consisted of fighting a lost battle against the King of Heroes, the sky leaking cursed mud and evil fire as men, women and children around them burned.

And here she was again, a near identical tear in reality releasing the cursed material onto Fuyuki once more. At least this time there only seemed to be dead ruins at ground zero, rather than tightly packed suburbs.

No doubt that would change as the burning mud continued to spread outwards.

"Lord save us...this isn't how this was supposed to go..."

The King of Knights turned her attention to Caren, the Exorcist staring at the rift with a stressed expression while Sakura and Assassin stood close by.

"Mommy, that stuff feels weird...and cold. We don't like the cold..."

Even as a hand reassuringly pet the Servant's scalp Arturia could see the plain bafflement and frustration on the older girl's features, Caren turning to her and again asking, "Can you sense what is happening? Any new bit of intent or purpose in the Grail?"

"None. It's like the rest of the Lesser Grail just...vanished. And the Greater is acting strange, as if it has a mind of its own, rather than set patterns of behavior."

A hand laid itself across her navel, brows furrowed in confusion.

"I have greater control over the fragments implanted within me...but only because they are no longer receiving instructions from the corrupted Greater grail, as if they were deemed no longer necessary."

Bazett huffed out a sigh and rubbed her eyes, dryly asking, "The corrupted Greater Grail? Don't tell me, let me guess. Another long story?"

"To be totally honest, Master, I don't get that one either."

Lancer and Bazett shared a brief look of mutual commiseration, Saber once more turning to Luvia as the young woman smacked her cheeks with her palms, quickly stating, "You, Church people. What do you know of this 'corruption'? And how do we stop it?"

Schooling her features into one of neutrality and peace Caren replied, "The corruption is caused by the spirit of a Servant that was not a...conventional one, summoned during the third war. And as for how to stop it..."

Concern once more dominated her attractive features.

"One plan had been to destroy or dismantle the Greater Grail but apparently that is no longer an option, as it has disappeared or moved locations...somehow."

Yellow eyes narrowed in vexation.

"And it seems a complication has entered the immediate vicinity..."

Following her gaze Saber openly glowered at the sight that before her, that of yet another golden aircraft lazily circling the void, seemingly unconcerned with its existence.

"Well fuck. Guess it was too much to hope for Rider and the Vampire to do him in, wasn't it?"

Saber tightened her grip on Excalibur, growling, "They bought us time to arrive in Fuyuki, that will have to be enough. Now we-"

The King of Knight's words were cut off as a haunting howl suddenly split the air, her enhanced hearing picking up the distant cry as it sent chills down her spine.

That frenzied scream...no, it couldn't be...

"Uhh, Saber? I'm not seeing things, am I? Because if I'm not your experience in the fourth war might have just become a whole lot more relevant and useful."

A sick feeling pooled in the King of Knight's gut even as the Humans within their group looked confused at what they were viewing, Assassin leaping onto Lancer's shoulder before looking outwards, a nervous expression on her tiny features.

"Nope, we see em' too, Spearguy. Mommy? We think we may be in trouble."

"What in the Root's name has you all so terrified?!"

Luvia's words barely reached Saber's ears, eyes unblinking as she stared at the figures that were slowly rising up out of the outer edges of the mud with graceful, malevolent smoothness.

A couple hundred strangers of all ages and genders, bodies gaunt and full of fire as they rose to their feet, eyes empty of anything save malevolence.

And then there were the familiar ones.

A man wielding spears of gold and red, towering giant atop a chariot pulled by massive oxen, insanely grinning madman holding a book of malicious magics, a hundred skull-masked men and women...and an indistinct figure of shadow, gleaming visor of crimson flaring cruelly as yet another bellow of primal rage shattered the sky.

"Lancer?"

"...No need to say it, Saber. Me and my big. Damn. Mouth."


Gilgamesh didn't bother hiding his sneer at the sight before his kingly visage, mood well and truly soured.

His garden most certainly had become infested and polluted beyond repair, if travesties such as this one could be permitted to exist.

All of the pretenders from the previous war, now rising from their shallow graves under the thrall of that tripe 'All of the World's Evils' or some such. A simple enough situation to understand, no wish had been imparted upon the Grail and none of the accumulated mana spent...including the souls of the pretenders within.

With the sudden disappearance of the foolish Magi's 'Greater Grail' Angra Mainyu had been freed to work its craft without restraint or shackles.

...

Even Iskandar, that endlessly fascinating fool, was now just a mindlessly boasting and hollering simpleton, corrupted eyes alight with promises of conquest as he loudly proclaimed his presence to all who would hear it...as he drove his chariot through the center of the city crushing vehicle and peasant alike, leaving pathways of twisted metal and red smears while laughing boisterously, a counterpoint to the terrified screams of the citizens as they fled in a panic.

Gone was the usurper who would have balked at such an action, who had afforded him the proper respect deserving of his station and proclaimed a desire to surpass him anyway, who had spoken of a path of kingship that, while Gilgamesh did not personally ascribe too, was by no means without merit.

His kingly gaze stared down at the destruction without emotion, of the burnt and flaming bodies of those that had perished during the height of the last war, bringing the living to the ground in flaming embraces as they screamed in scalding agony, offering more and more souls to fuel the corruption's spread.

Young, old, man, woman...the madness cared little.

The soldiers and protectors of this age, the 'police', made a respectable attempt at stemming the tide of destruction but mundane projectile weapons were scarcely enough to halt a tide such as this one...and they were even more helpless before the true enforcers of the consuming mud, the pretenders from the last war who's abilities were far beyond that of a mere Humans.

Crimson and gold spears flashed, skull masks slit throats, tentacled and disgusting monstrosities tore limbs from torsos while the mad dog took a more direct approach of simply smashing everything in its path to a pulp.

Gilgamesh let his head fall against the back of his throne, thoughts wandering to the Apostle's words.

He possessed introspection enough to know that, if Enkidu were present at this very moment, his one and only friend would have intervened, would have expected him to do the same.

Probably would have said something to the effect of, 'You are the rightful king of the world and all its peoples. Your word is law and they are to follow it, as is the natural order of things. It is thus your responsibility to be worthy of that unwavering loyalty and sacrifice. Simply existing as King Gilgamesh is not enough to be afforded the respect deserved of King Gilgamesh.'

For a glorified mud puppet that damnable friend of his could have the most vexing of outlooks on matters.

Why was he, King Gilgamesh, even having such wistful and scattered feelings on the matter in the first place? This was what he had desired, after all. The Grail had been a useful tool and means of ascertaining the worth of this world, in separating those who were worthy of his leadership and those who weren't. That very test was happening beneath his feet, he could simply open his eyes and twist his neck to verify the certainty of it.

Perhaps the screams and despairing cries of those not wise enough to understand why they were dying had something to do with it. It was one thing to face a man or woman, to watch them comprehend both the means and reason of their demise, as they met it with either fear or bravery...it was another to hear wholesale slaughter of confused and terrified fools that would never comprehend that their deaths were for the betterment of mankind.

The din of clashing swords and metal pulled Gilgamesh from his thoughts, a glance revealing none other than Saber and the feral dog of a Lancer and Assassin cutting their way through the corrupted marionettes, Masters and allies closely following as they no doubt imagined their efforts could stem the tide to any meaningful degree.

A humorless laugh escaped the King.

It was a measure of how apathetic he had become to the whole scenario that even Arturia's presence no longer piqued his interest, no longer drew his eye for more than a scant second, even as the maddened and twisted pretenders from the Grail converged on his once desired Queen and her companions.

They would fight and be victorious, or they would not. He cared little.

No, there remained only one unknown variable that held his interest to even the slightest degree. The Incarnation and his doll of a sister, their most recent actions upsetting his plan and unleashing the corruption, stealing the Greater Grail away from his grasp.

Honestly, he couldn't help but applaud the sibling's audacity.

Reclining in his throne and once more closing his eyes King Gilgamesh made his decision.

He would wait for the Incarnation's arrival...and he would let the boy decide the worth of Humanity. A battle to prove the value of this world's continued existence.

"I eagerly await your arrival, Illyasviel Emiya, Shirou Emiya...the King awaits you."


In the words of a franchise that recently attempted to simultaneously ape and destroy the past...'no one's ever really gone'.

And remember, Mad Enhancement (x2) Lancelot is part of a wholesome and nutritious massacre.