Hey, I'm back!

So I wanted to point this out in case anyone's wondering. Caster Artoria here is a mix of Artoria Caster and Artoria Avalon, leaning more to the latter. Mostly because I prefer that personality and it's more similar to OG Artoria's personality.

Of course I still love her cheerful form from the 1st and 2nd Ascension, but I just found myself leaning towards Artoria Avalon here.

sUbSoNiCSoundwave, Toa Solaric, you'll just have to wait and see who it is.

Torukeru, he is slowly drained of the mana/od. But I guess I didn't do a very good job in showing just how many mana prisms he's had in stock. I don't know the exact equivalents in canon, but in FGO a Servant can be equivalent to a few Mana prisms or a Rare prism.

So I used that as a reference, and summoning 7 of them would've taken around at least 70 Mana prisms. Using a Noble Phantasm would take around 3 mana prisms at least, and Shirou has more than that in stock.

And nah, Kiritsugu didn't explain to Shirou about Illya's situation. In canon he didn't even tell him about Illya, so it made sense to me that he wouldn't explain about her situation unless necessary.

Victorius 435, oh that'll be something I am definitely looking forward to write.

elkenn, Freedom41, LucasBlackCrown, Digitalreaper360, Guest, glad yall liked this, I'll try to deliver more.

Ryu wolf, we'll just have to find out when the extra Saber is revealed.

Kanon, Gil has Clairvoyance, whereby he can see things in the future and past, so let's just leave it at that. As for Emiya, he hates Shirou a lot, as in a lot. Or at least, to my understanding.

So he'll definitely change his views, but not at the moment.

As of now, Illya will get a happy ending, at least for what I have planned. But eh, plans can change anyway. Cough...

AccelBreaker, oh yeah he's really salty. F/SN Gilgamesh is one of my not so liked characters. FGO Gilgamesh, on the other hand, is awesome.

LoverOfArtemis, I won't confirm nor deny that. You'll have to read on XD.

XXX

Shirou dreamed.

He dreamed of a prophecy.

A sword in stone.

A king that had her destiny set in stone the moment she pulled the sword out. In a sense, she had exchanged freedom for power.

All he could do was watch, as the once and future king fulfilled her duty, her destiny in leading the country of her people.

With the sword in her hands, she rallied the divided men of the country. The king built her own circle of knights, in hopes that she would have comrades to confide herself with.

It lasted for quite a while, and it was pleasant while they were there, but the king couldn't find it in herself to trust them with her personal troubles.

That circle of knights trusted her too much, they had too much faith in her, and the king couldn't find it in herself to break that faith.

Then everything fell apart, everything fell to flames.

The last scene Shirou saw in that dream...

Was the flaming wasteland, swords stabbed into the ground, corpses laid everywhere, and a single blonde knelt on a hill of corpses, her hands weakly grabbing onto a very familiar sword.

Something inside of the young man resonated with that sword, and its name slowly revealed itself to him.

Ex...

But before it could fully do so, a strong gust of wind pushed against the young man. He grunted as he was pushed backwards, away from the battlefield.

Or rather, he was being pulled away.

In an instant, he found himself in another wasteland.

With one major difference.

He was the only one there.

Swords, spears and weapons of every kind were stabbed around him. But before he could look any further, a presence made itself known, looking at him.

It was something, or rather, someone that he couldn't see, couldn't recognize.

"I am the bone of my sword..."

A voice, a very familiar voice, layered with his own, spoke out, and the weapons all dislodged themselves from the ground, and everything turned white.

(Linebreak)

Shirou's eyes snapped open.

He sat up groggily, "Ughh..."

The redhead nursed his head, the dream still fresh on his mind.

No, not a dream. Memories.

Shirou was sure those weren't mere dreams. Despite the fact that they were quickly fading away, they were too vivid, too real.

And he knew exactly whose memories those were.

But what confused him was the last part of his dream. It wasn't a part of their memories, it was something else.

But Shirou couldn't figure out what it was.

The redhead shook his head as he stood up, and he remembered yesterday's promise. A small smile appeared on his face, "Alright, time to get to work."

He had time before he had to go to school, after all.

Shirou quickly went to take a shower, before entering the living room to see the seven blonde Servants.

Five of whom were seated calmly at the tatami table, while the other two were lazing on a side.

Lancer Artoria smiled softly, "Good morning, Master."

Archer Artoria waved, something mirrored by Caster Artoria. The young man smiled in return, "Good morning, everyone."

Rider Artoria looked at him, "What shall we be doing today?"

Shirou let out a breath as he went to the kitchen, "Not much, for now. I'll be a bit busy with making the buns for Berserker, and then I have school as well, so it'll be a chance to have a look at the Bounded Field."

The seven nodded, one more attentively than the others, and Saber Artoria asked, "Speaking of which, Master, out of curiosity, how are you holding up?"

Shirou blinked as he brought out a baking pan, "Hmm? What do you mean?"

The blonde knight thinned her lips, "Summoning the seven of us should've taken a lot of magical energy, and Berserker did use her Noble Phantasm last night."

Lancer Artoria smiled at her younger self, "What I think she means, Shirou, is how are you maintaining the seven of us. To my knowledge, you shouldn't have enough magical energy to keep us like this."

Shirou realized what they were curious about, "Ahh, that. This house is built on a decent Leyline, and Kiritsugu and I have been storing up magical energy through mana prisms underground."

Caster Artoria raised an eyebrow, "But it shouldn't last, should it?"

The redhead nodded as he checked the fridge, "Normally yeah, but thanks to Kiritsugu knowing the right people, we managed to make it so the house is always taking bits from the Leyline, storing mana prisms beneath us. And we also cashed in a lot of favors to link that reserve to his magic crests."

Archer Artoria blinked, "Magic crests? Kiritsugu had magic crests?"

Shirou nodded, "Yeah, and we managed to transfer them onto my body."

He pulled out two cartons of milk, "Anyway, we probably have over a few hundred mana prisms there, and even then the Leyline is still providing, so we should be fine for a while."

Shirou stopped rummaging through the fridge, "It was all to save my older sister from the Einzberns before... but well..."

The seven shared a look, or rather, the six of them did. X Alter was more occupied with looking at Shirou preparing.

Shirou let out a breath, "We'll deal with the Einzberns eventually."

The redhead frowned as he stood up, "Hmm, we don't have enough ingredients..."

He glanced at the bespectacled blonde, "Berserker, do you mind if I make 12 buns for now? I'll go buy more ingredients after school and make you the rest later tonight."

The Berserker fell silent, and for a brief moment, Heroine X and Rider Artoria were prepared to restrain the petite beast.

But to their relief, X Alter simply nodded, a small pout on her face, "...Okay, if there's no more ingredients, then it can't be helped..."

Shirou nodded as he got to work, preparing breakfast as he did, "Alright."

He glanced at the seven, "By the way, who wants breakfast?"

The hungry gleam in their eyes told him all that he needed to know, and Shirou chuckled, making a mental note to ask for more shifts tomorrow at work, "Got it, I'll get started then."

The young man started to prepare the food, until he felt a pulse, "What was that?"

Caster Artoria decided to answer, "That's the Bounded Field I set up before, I've set it up so that anything with malicious intent cannot enter. And even then, aside from the eight of us, people can only enter through the front gates."

The sound of a bike revving reached their ears, and Shirou cursed, "Shit, Fuji-nee's here!"

The Servants all got the hint, even X Alter, as they all turned to their spiritual forms, with the exception of Lancer and Saber.

Shirou blinked, "Wait, what are you two still doing here?!"

Saber Artoria put on a difficult expression, "Apologies, I can't exactly use my astral form, Master."

Lancer Artoria nodded, "Exactly."

She smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, I have an explanation ready, just follow on."

Shirou opened his mouth, but he was cut off by a loud voice.

"SHIROUUUUU! WE'RE HERE FOR BREAKFAST!"

The door slammed open, revealing Taiga and Sakura, and the purple haired girl spoke out with an apologetic smile, "I'm really sorry Senpai, I should've come over earlier to help, but I had a bit of stuff to deal with at home..."

She trailed off, and Taiga had a blank face when they saw both Lancer and Saber sitting at the tatami table.

The teacher's face blanked, and she immediately assumed the worst, turning robotically to her younger brother figure, "Shirou, who are these two lovely ladies?"

The redhead panicked at her blank tone, "Umm..."

Before he could make up an excuse, Lancer Artoria spoke up, "My name is Altria, I'm actually a friend of Kiritsugu from London."

The older blonde gestured to her younger counterpart, "This is my sister, Ayako."

Lancer Artoria smiled sadly, "We... heard of Kiritsugu's untimely passing. Unfortunately we couldn't make it to his funeral due to various reasons, nor could we contact Shirou."

Taiga blinked, "You knew Kiritsugu?"

The older blonde nodded, "Yes, my family used to be one of Kiritsugu's many clients. I met him when I was rather young."

The teacher nodded, "I see..."

She blinked at the younger blonde, "Wait, your name is Ayako?"

Saber nodded uncomfortably, "...Yes..."

Taiga folded her arms, "Ahh, well, this will be confusing."

The younger blonde blinked, "...May I ask why?"

The teacher smiled sheepishly, "Ah, well, we have a student in our school who's called Ayako as well."

Saber hummed, "I see..."

Taiga closed her eyes, "Well, people refer to her by her surname anyway, so probably not too big of an issue..."

She looked at the older blonde, "Anyway, I hope your trip here has been good so far."

Lancer Artoria nodded, "It's been a rather, shall we say, challenging task to have even located this residence. Shirou was kind enough to offer us a place to stay while we're here."

Sakura blinked, "Is that so?"

The older blonde smiled, "Yes, why, we had some business to take care of as well. It'll probably take a few months, so I'm very grateful for that."

Taiga smiled, but if Shirou saw it, he could immediately tell it was fake, "I see, I wasn't aware of that."

The woman looked at the teen she had come to see as her younger brother, "We will be having words about making decisions without consulting me, alright?"

Shirou gulped, "Uhh, sure."

Regardless of the training he'd done, Fujimura Taiga was a frightening woman when she wanted to be.

The teacher smiled, "Good, now breakfast please."

Sakura blinked, "Oh, right, I'll help you, Senpai."

She quickly put her bag down, and Shirou discreetly put on a glove to cover his left hand as they went to cook.

As they started cooking, Sakura glanced at the ingredients laid out already, "Senpai, isn't this a lot?"

Shirou smiled, "Ah, well, I was making for the five of us."

He felt a sudden pressure, as if there were a number of predatory and judging gazes from behind.

Something which the purple haired girl was blissfully unaware of, "Huh... But this is a bit much, isn't it?"

The young man smiled forcefully, "I-I'm also doing meal preps too, for lunches! It'll help with rationing my spendings."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "I see..."

Shirou nodded, "I can do them for you too if you want."

The girl smiled, "You don't need to do that."

The redhead felt the pressure double, and he smiled, "I-I see, if you say so."

Shirou tried to ignore the feeling of being stared by a number of hungry beasts, or in this case, hungry lionesses, and he went to cook.

Blissfully unaware of the redhead's blight, Taiga looked at Lancer and Saber, taking in their beauty, "So, Altria-san, was it?"

Lancer nodded, "Yes?"

The woman asked, "If you don't mind me asking, what business do you have here?"

The older blonde hummed, "I have a few... shall we say business partners that I will be dealing with here. We're meeting them at differing dates, so we will be in town for quite a while."

Taiga hummed, "I see, and what sort of business is it?"

Saber glanced at her older version, who skillfully responded, "We deal with antiques, relics with value that we bid off to buyers of interest."

The Tiger of Fuyuki raised an eyebrow, "Antiques? That's something you don't hear every day."

Lancer nodded, "I would imagine so."

The older blonde asked a question in exchange, "I assume you are Shirou's official guardian? I can't imagine Shirou having to live here alone."

Taiga smiled, "As matter of fact, yes I am."

The woman looked at the blonde, "Still, I'm surprised with how good your Japanese is, you said you were from London, was it?"

The older blonde chuckled, "I learned under Kiritsugu for some time, you see. He's a pretty good teacher."

Taiga smiled in nostalgia, "Indeed he was."

Soon, the two students brought the food over, and the five of them sat around the table.

Saber Artoria blinked in confusion when she felt a pressure, glares and gazea of hunger and jealousy from her counterparts, while Lancer Artoria simply smiled serenely as they began to eat.

The younger blonde Servant sighed mentally as she began to partake in the luxury that was Shirou's cooking. It would seem her older self was more devious than she let on.

(Linebreak)

A while later, Shirou walked with Sakura, Taiga having gone to school early.

The purple haired girl glanced down, and she noticed the glove on Shirou's left hand, "Senpai? Did anything happen to your hand?"

Shirou blinked, "Huh?"

Sakura pointed to the gloved hand, "Your left hand."

The redhead glanced down at it, and he smiled, "Ah, I just bruised it last night, I just have the glove on just in case."

The purple haired girl hummed, "I see..."

Shirou smiled, "Don't worry about it, it's nothing much."

Sakura nodded, "Okay, if you say so."

The two walked in silence, until they reached the school, and Caster Artoria's voice reached Shirou's ears silently, "Master, can we talk for a moment?"

Shirou nodded and he knelt down, pulling off his shoelaces, speaking softly, "What is it?"

Rider Artoria answered, "Caster sensed a disturbance. Magical energy is flowing through some of the buildings nearby."

Assassin nodded, "I tried to scout it out, but the magical energy there is very thick."

The redhead nodded, "We'll check it out after I deal with the Bounded Field."

But before they could continue, a silent mumble reached his ears, one that was growing louder and threatening by the second, and Shirou quickly apologized, whispering almost loudly, "I'm really sorry, I'll make it up to you later, I promise!"

The mumbling and pressure died off, following by a begrudging grunt, and Shirou sighed, much to the other Servants' amusement.

Shirou sighed, "Just... I'll call on you if I need any of you. Let's leave it at that."

The four blonde Servants nodded in their astral forms, until Shirou was pulled out from his musings by Sakura, "Senpai?"

The redhead blinked, "Yeah gimme a minute, my shoelaces came off."

The girl blinked, "Oh..."

Shirou quickly tied his shoelaces and got to his feet, ignoring the pulse he felt the moment he stepped through the gates, "You could've just went on ahead, ya know?"

Sakura smiled, "It's fine, I'd rather wait for you."

The young man nodded, "Thanks for that anyway."

The girl just smiled, until they reached the stairs, "I'll see you later then, Senpai."

Shirou just waved as he walked up the stairs, and as he did, he spotted Rin. The twin tailed brunette simply gave him a nod, which Shirou returned as they went to their respective classes.

As he walked, Caster Artoria's voice sounded in his mind, "Shirou, I sense various magical signatures in this building. There are some in the other buildings as well, but we'll have to get closer."

The redhead nodded slightly, muttering under his breath, "We'll look at it later."

Shirou walked into his class and sat down at the second last window seat, grabbing his textbooks from his bag.

"I AM..."

The door slammed open as Fujimura Taiga crashed right through the door in an impressive and well calculated slide.

"COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

The students all watched with a deadpan as Taiga stopped right in front of the teacher's desk.

The class president cleared his throat, "Good morning, Fujimura-sensei."

Taiga grinned, "GOOD MORNING!"

She nodded to herself, "My full point entrance aside, let's start with attendance."

(Linebreak)

Later, during recess, Shirou walked towards a shelf in the library, "So, is this one of them?"

Caster Artoria's voice sounded in his mind, "Yes, it should be the book, fourth from the right on the third highest shelf."

The young man scanned the book with Structural Grasp, noting the magic circle on it.

Shirou nodded, "I see it. How do I remove it?"

The twin tailed blonde hummed in her astral form, "Hmm, I'd say just destroy the book itself."

The redhead blinked, "Wait, what?"

Caster Artoria giggled, "I'll do it, its a bit complicated anyway."

The twin tailed blonde spoke, "Assassin, Rider, try to keep the place private."

The two calvary type servants nodded as they left to keep other students away, and Caster Artoria materialized beside her Master.

The blonde smiled as she took a look at the book, "Let's see."

Caster Artoria placed a palm over it, letting out a small pulse of prana that revealed the circle, "Alright, I got it."

She took a few steps back as her staff appeared in her hand, and she let her prana flow into her staff, pointing at the book.

In the blink of an eye, the circle shattered, and Shirou quickly felt the Bounded Field lift slightly.

The young man marveled at her work, and Caster Artoria smiled, "So, what do you think, Master?"

Shirou saw her expecting expression, and he chuckled, "Well done, Caster. Now we just need to find the rest."

The blonde nodded, a confident expression on her face, "Rest assured, Master. I may not look the part, but I'm actually pretty skilled burglary Magecraft."

Shirou smiled awkwardly, "That's... not something to be proud of, is it?"

Caster Artoria just smiled at him, before returning to her astral form, "Now, Master. Let's move on to the next circles."

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, Lancer and Saber Artoria sat in the living room of the Emiya residence.

Saber looked at her older counterpart, "You're not following Master?"

Lancer Artoria smiled, "He has five of us with him. He'll be fine. Besides, Shirou is much stronger here, albeit through means I am not fond of."

Saber Artoria looked at her counterpart, "You address him by name, something I've noticed our fellow selves have done occasionally."

The older blonde looked at her, "Does it bother you?"

The younger blonde shook her head, "No, I am simply curious. Kiritsugu told us to address him by name due to his plans in fighting the war. Master has not mentioned that."

Lancer Artoria chuckled, "Call it a habit, I suppose. Shirou is much different here than the one I remember."

Saber Artoria raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

The older blonde closed her eyes, "He's more... human, I suppose the word would be. He wished to be a hero of justice, I suppose that is something I have yet to hear him say, but I'd assume he has something similar in mind."

The younger blonde hummed, "I see."

Saber looked at her Lancer counterpart, "Lancer, what is your wish for the Grail?"

Lancer raised a delicate eyebrow, "My wish?"

The younger king nodded, "My wish should be obvious. But you have lived past the contract, you have taken up our spear. So what is your wish?"

The older king let out a breath, "For me, there is nothing that I can't achieve without the Grail. Except for one matter, that is."

Saber looked at her older counterpart, "That is?"

Lancer Artoria smiled, "To see Shirou. That is the one thing I couldn't do after I voided the contract with the World."

Her smile turned sad, "We vowed to see each other in Avalon, but I foolishly took up the spear..."

Saber Artoria studied her older self, before she asked, "Is Master so important to us?"

Lancer Artoria nodded, "For most of us, yes. Shirou has, one way or another, become someone important to us."

She looked at her younger self, "But that is something you'll have to find out yourself. All of us have different experiences, different pasts. In fact, Rider, Archer, you and myself are probably the only ones who share similar pasts. Assassin and Berserker are from an alternate universe, and Caster is from a pruned history."

Saber sighed, "So while we may share the same identity, the three of them are totally different, is that it?"

Lancer nodded, "In a sense, but Caster probably knows all of us better than anyone, perhaps even ourselves."

The younger blonde raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

The older blonde shook her head, "That is something you'll have to ask her."

Lancer stood up, and in a flash, her battle dress was replaced by a white dress, wearing a white hat as well.

Saber blinked, "What is that outfit?"

The older woman smiled as Rhongomyniad appeared in her hands in the form of an umbrella, "I'm going out for a walk. I believe Shirou will finish school soon."

(Linebreak)

A while later, Shirou nursed his neck as he walked towards the gates of the school.

Taking care of the magic circles laid around the school had been a hassle, but he managed to get it done.

He sighed, "Still, you're a life saver, Caster, the rest of you too."

Caster giggled in his mind, "You're welcome, Shirou."

The blonde mage had gone off to deal with the rest of the circles after Shirou had to go to class, and Rider, Assassin, Berserker and Archer had helped her locate them as well.

Even then they could only take down a number of them, and Shirou joined them to wrap up the whole task.

Archer smiled in her astral form, "Shirou, I hope I can get katsudon for lunch tomorrow, three servings if possible."

Caster, Assassin and Rider immediately spoke up, "Me too, Shirou."

Berserker yawned, "... Me too, with the buns... Hmm..."

Shirou smiled forcefully, "Yeah, that might be a challenge for now..."

He could literally feel the disappointment from the five, and the young man felt bad for that.

He scratched the back of his head, "Okay, okay, I promise... just, not today, okay?"

The five immediately brightened up, and Shirou made a mental note to look into his savings, and see if he needed to pull from his inheritance from Kiritsugu.

The redhead blinked when he heard many whispers from his peers.

"Ohh, they're so pretty!"

"They're tourists, right?"

"Where do you think they're from?"

"They look so elegant, I wanna take a photo with them!"

Shirou looked towards where the whispers were coming from, and he quickly felt a massive headache forming.

The reason was very simple.

Standing at the school gates were a pair of very familiar blondes, and he could quickly feel the amusement from Archer and Caster Artoria as he approached them.

The number of whispers grew when Shirou walked towards them, most of the students confused and curious why their resident mechanic and handy man would know those two beauties.

Lancer Artoria smiled as she held her umbrella, "Ah, there you are, Shirou."

Shirou sighed, "What are you two doing here, L-"

"Altria, I told you to use my name, didn't I?"

Lancer Artoria cut him off, prompting more whispers from their audience.

Shirou sighed, "Let's go, we can talk while we walk."

The older blonde simply smiled, while Saber shook her head in exasperation.

The three walked away from school, and Shirou sighed, "So, why did you do that?"

Lancer Artoria smiled innocently, "Did what, Shirou?"

The redhead furrowed his brows, "You're gonna make life at school hard for me, you know?"

The older blonde raised an amused eyebrow, "Is that so?"

Shirou narrowed his eyes, before he spoke, "I suppose I'll be making one less serving for dinner tonight. Servants don't need food for sustenance anyway."

The color drained from the Lancer Servant, and Shirou almost laughed at that reaction. Almost.

It was a trick that always worked on Taiga, and he had a suspicion that it would work on his Servants too.

Shirou was glad that he was proven right.

Lancer almost lost her composure, "You don't mean that, do you?"

Shirou chuckled, "I'll leave that to your imagination, Altria-san."

The redhead fastened his pace, while the older blonde's face fell, her grip on her umbrella slacking as it leaned on her shoulder.

Saber sighed, an exasperated smile on her face. But the younger blonde was wise enough to keep her mouth shut, lest she suffered the same fate as her older self.

As they walked, Shirou asked, "So, Caster, which were the buildings you mentioned this morning?"

The twin tailed blonde answered, "They're on the main streets of town, two office buildings in the center."

The redhead nodded, "Can you lead the way?"

Caster Artoria nodded, "Of course."

She added, "That was mean, by the way."

Shirou snorted, "King or no king, I'd rather not have to deal with so much trouble."

Not that he really planned on not giving her any food, that was just plain cruel. But watching the older, normally composed and mature blonde sulk was rather adorable.

(Linebreak)

Soon, the three reached the main street of the town, and Shirou stared at one of the buildings, with various police cars and firetrucks on the street.

The redhead hummed, "This will be a challenge."

Caster Artoria's voice sounded in his mind, "Shirou, there are multiple magical signatures in that building and the one next to it."

The young man nodded, "I see... Unfortunately I didn't bring any weapons, can I count on all of you to take care of them?"

Rider Artoria nodded, "Of course."

Shirou nodded, and he turned to look at the the building behind them, "I'll wait on the roof of this building. Assassin, Rider, Archer and Caster. Can the four of you handle this?"

Saber spoke up, "What about me?"

The redhead smiled, "You'll be with me. It's in the day, and with so many people here, it'll be a bit hard for you to get in."

The blonde nodded, "I see, that is true."

Shirou glanced at the older blonde, "And Lan-Altria-san is a bit preoccupied, and since Berserker fought before..."

The six Servants simply nodded, and Shirou entered the other building, heading for the roof, while his four Servants split up to enter the buildings.

With Assassin and Rider, the pair materialized inside the ground floor of the first building, one that had 10 floors in total.

Heroine X glanced at the maid, "So, how do we want to do this?"

Rider put on her maid outfit, brandishing her mop and pistol, "We split up and search every floor. I can sense some activity above us."

The self-proclaimed Saber snorted, "Not much of a plan. Normally I'd cut you down for that, but considering we're the same person, and you're technically not a Saber, I'll let it slide."

The maid snorted, "Says the Assassin."

Heroine X smirked, "Heh, are you looking for a fight?"

Rider chuckled, "No, just stating the obvious. Of course, I wouldn't mind if you wanted it to be a fight."

The ceiling rumbled, and the pair of Servants felt the magical signatures above them triple.

Assassin spoke out suggestively, "Most kills get the other's serving of dinner tonight?"

The maid smirked at her Assassin counterpart, "No backing out, okay?"

Heroine X returned that smirk, "Would never dream of it, especially when I can get more food!"

With that said, the pair vanished in a burst of speed, ascending to the first floor.

Heroine X drew her two swords as she spotted a dozen dragon tooth warriors. In a flash, they were all sliced to bits by the holy and cursed swords.

The Assassin turned when she heard footsteps behind her, and she spotted a dozen more of the dragon tooth warriors.

Only for a few gunshots to reach her ears, as a number of water bullets struck the dragon tooth warriors down.

Heroine X turned to see Rider's mocking smirk as the maid swung her Excali-mop at the other dragon tooth warriors, the mop unleashing bursts of energy as she wiped out the dragon tooth warriors.

The Assassin glared at her maid counterpart, and she vanished in a burst of speed, taking down more of the dragon tooth warriors.

In response, Rider simply fired Secace, striking down multiple dragon tooth warriors with each bullet while she took down more with her Excali-mop.

Soon, the floor was empty, and the two Artorias glared at each other, "NEXT!"

In a blur, they both vanished once more, reappearing on the next floor.

That same process repeated itself for the next few floors. None of the dragon tooth warriors stood a chance against the pair of kings, especially when they were fighting for Shirou's cooking.

In fact, let it be known, that there were few that were capable, and even less willing, to stand in the way of the lioness known as Artoria Pendragon when it came to Shirou's cooking.

Neither of them even needed to activate their Noble Phantasms as they slaughtered the dragon tooth warriors.

In a few minutes, the pair reached the top of the building, and both Assassin and Rider came face to face with a giant dragon tooth crocodile.

Heroine X glanced at her maid counterpart, "51."

Rider snorted, "Same here."

The Assassin adjusted her cap, "That will be our tiebreaker then."

The maid smirked, "Indeed."

Heroine X dashed forward, "I'll be taking your dinner then!"

"Oh you won't be getting away with that."

Outside the building, Shirou felt his reserves take a dip, and Assassin's eyes widened as the maid drew her antimaterial rifle, the combined form of her Excalibur Morgan and Secace.

That which traversed the water's surface is an infallible demonic bullet.

The maid took aim, her finger on the trigger, "Lock on!"

Heroine X increased her speed, "No!"

"Secace..."

The pressure from Rider Artoria's prana tripped, condensing in the barrel of the rifle.

"MORGAN!"

She pulled the trigger, and from the antimaterial rifle, came a giant beam of water and pure energy, instantly destroying the dragon tooth crocodile, leaving nothing of it.

Rider Artoria stood up, letting out a satisfied hum, "I win."

Heroine X gaped at the hole in the wall that lead outside the building, "You just used your Noble Phantasm on a skeleton!"

The maid smirked, "No, that is called efficient farming. And I believe I will be getting an extra serving of dinner tonight."

The Assassin could only wail in despair.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, as Assassin and Rider started their contest, Caster Artoria smiled, "They seem to having fun."

Archer chuckled, "It would seem so."

The twin tailed mage summoned Chastiefol in her hand, "I suppose I can let loose this time."

Archer Artoria summoned her water gun and Excalibur, "Let's not make it a contest."

The seemingly younger blonde giggled, "If you say so."

Six blue blades appeared floating around Caster Artoria as a number of dragon tooth warriors appeared.

Archer Artoria dashed forward, blasting her water gun at the skeleton warriors, taking down a number of them.

Not to be one to fall behind, Caster Artoria let her blades shoot out, striking down multiple dragon tooth warriors.

A dozen dragon tooth warriors crashed down from the ceiling behind Caster Artoria, attempting to catch her offguard.

But the twin tailed girl had sensed them coming, and she hit the bottom of her staff onto the ground firmly, as a pillar of energy shot out from around her, destroying all of the skeletal warriors.

The pair steadily made their way to the top floor, until they spotted a hooded woman standing before a man on the ground.

Caster Artoria's lips thinned when she saw the state of the man on the ground. He was essentially drained dry, zombified.

Archer too had a similar expression, and they focused on the hooded woman.

The woman chuckled, "To think you made it here already, I suppose you're not just any Servant, are you?"

Caster Artoria stared at the hooded woman, "Caster, so this is your work."

Caster chuckled, "Why yes, you like?"

The twin tailed girl frowned, "You do know that this is against the rules of the war."

The hooded woman let out a dramatic sigh, "Oh yes, I am aware. But unfortunately, I am not gifted with a magically talented Master. He is a good partner, but unfortunately he can't help with what I lack."

Archer frowned, "So you're taking from innocent people?"

Caster shook her head, "No, I don't take from innocent people."

She gestured to the men on the ground, "You see, these men have cheated, or at least, they have done many bad things to women. I'm simply giving them what they deserve."

Caster Artoria frowned, "And you believe it is your place to judge them?"

Caster laughed, "Why of course! Who better to judge them than someone from the Age of the Gods?"

Archer scowled and she readied her sword, but the hooded Caster simply raised a palm, "Now now, no need to be so hasty. I don't wish to fight you yet, and it's not ideal to fight in the day, yes?"

Even if the sun was setting, it wasn't considered night yet, the two Servants knew that much.

Caster smiled, "I'm sure your Master has something else on his mind, the little girl with the Berserker, yes?"

Archer narrowed her eyes dangerously, "What are you planning, Caster?"

The woman's smile widened, "I simply wish to not fight you, for now."

Caster Artoria snorted, "But unfortunately for you, we can't exactly stand by while you kill bystanders, innocent or not."

Caster's smile dropped, "Is that so?"

The hooded woman took a few steps back, "Then I suppose our conversation ends here. Out of courtesy, I will leave this area for tonight. But after tomorrow, everything shall be fair game."

Archer glared at her, "You won't get away!"

The champion of Water Blitz world dashed forward, shooting her water gun as she closed the distance between herself and Caster.

But to her surprise, the water bullets simply phased through the hooded woman, before the Caster faded away.

Caster Artoria's lips thinned, "So she ran away."

Archer Artoria frowned, "We should chase after her."

The mage shook her head, "No, not today. Caster's made it clear she won't fight us tonight."

The chosen one of the Staff of Selection smiled, "Besides, we should head back for dinner tonight."

That caught Archer's attention, and they smiled at each other.

"Hunger is the enemy."

(Linebreak)

Later that night, Shirou watched as the seven Servants devoured the food on the table.

It had been a good idea to put some aside for himself. The seven blondes had no sense of mercy on his wallet.

With Sakura and Taiga both having business, the former at home, and the latter with grading homework, the redhead had been left and thrown to the lions den.

Which meant he had to bake all of X Alter's buns and cook for the seven of them.

The redhead chuckled to himself as he waited for the buns to bake, watching as the seven Servants all had faces of pure bliss and joy.

The timer went off, and X Alter perked up, snapping her head at the kitchen, "Is it done?"

Shirou smiled in exasperation as he put on a pair of oven mitts, "Yes yes, but it's quite hot though, better finish what you have on the table first."

The Berserker nodded begrudgingly, aware that if she left her seat, her fellow Servants would leave nothing of the food on the table.

As Shirou took the buns from the oven, he felt a pulse from the Bounded Field, and he looked at the direction of the door, "Someone is outside."

Caster Artoria nodded, "It's just Archer. He doesn't seem hostile."

Shirou glanced at his seven Servants, who were all still happily inhaling the food.

He sighed, "I'll see what he wants. Berserker, make sure the buns have cooled down enough before you eat them, okay?"

The bespectacled Servant simply nodded as Shirou wiped his hands with a cloth, taking off his apron as he headed to the door.

As expected, he spotted the Servant in red waiting for him, the slight headache returning, "Emiya Shirou."

The redhead greeted, "Archer, did Tohsaka send you here?"

The man had an unreadable expression, "No, I came here on my own violation, though she did send me to do some scouting of the city."

Shirou raised an eyebrow, ignoring his slowly subsiding headache, "So, why did you come here then?"

Archer stared at him in the eye, "I came here to kill you, Emiya Shirou."

XXX

Done. So that's the 4th chapter of the story!

I'll try to get the next one out soon, so until then, read and review please!