Mordred Alter leapt out of the way of corrosive mist and acidic purble bile spewed by a tentacled atrocity. He carved the monster into pieces while he kept his back to the front gate of Dolorous Guard and the entrance to the Grail's cave. Mordred's king had entered the castle to complete its trial a little while ago, but she evidently wasn't done yet. In the meantime, the other forces fighting to stop the Grail were facing an army of demons that had been summoned by Gilles de Rais. The Grail was trying to weaken the forces of its enemy so they'd either die or be too exhausted to overcome Dolorous Guard's test. It wasn't just the eldritch beasts, but also the Alter Servants that were attacking. Mordred could feel their tainted magical energies at different points on the mountain, attacking different groups, though the area around the cave's entrance was only dealing with the octopus creatures. Gilles was likely not present anywhere on the mountain. He was holed up in the deepest chamber of the cave system where the Grail was so he'd be safe while his monsters did all the work.
Another creature was cleaved by the half-corrupted Excalibur Mordred wielded, as was another by Heracles' ax-sword. Mordred Alter was a part of the group tasked with infiltrating the cave as soon as Dolorous Guard was dealt with, along with the Lion King, Illya, Chloe, Heracles, Rin, and Assassin. They stood in front of the entranceway, waiting for the gate to disappear so they could dash in, all while they were swarmed by starfish-like demons that kept discharging black gas and acid. There was also a second group at the entrance, one dedicated to holding off the demons after the infiltration group entered the cave. If some of them didn't stay back to keep the monsters at bay, the grotesqueries could flood into the cave and there would be no place to run as the infiltration would already be busy with the Grail and whatever Alter Servants were acting as its bodyguards. How tenable such a defense would be against the sea demon hoards was questionable, but it was the best plan the alliance against the Grail had. The group meant to hold back the demons consisted of Sakura, Luviagelita, Henriikka, Leysritt, Sella, Taiga, Reines, Trimmau, Caren, and Kirei.
"Is the castle still not gone?" Sakura said as she threw a gem that turned into a bunch of icicles to skewer some tentacles.
"Not yet!" Rin fired a shotgun blast of gandr that riddled a squad of demons with holes.
"What's taking so long?" Chloe wrapped a hair around a demon and squeezed until the monster was sliced into chunks.
"Be patient and focus! We can't lose our composure now!" Kirei tossed three black keys which stabbed into a demon before lightning magecraft released from the blades and turned the monster into ash.
Both groups were surrounded on all sides and they couldn't use a Noble Phantasm to destroy a large number of the demons so they could have a breather since they had to save as much power as possible for the bigger threats. Every second that passed was energy that felt wasted. The worry that Artoria had already failed the trial and lost her life grew ever larger. Mordred worried for his king and parent, but he pushed down those concerns and had faith in the woman he admired more than anyone. There was nothing Artoria Pendragon couldn't do. If Lancelot could conquer that castle, then there was no way Artoria couldn't.
Mordred reignited his own passion and used a rising slash to cut a demon clean in two, followed by a downward swing with such might that it created an invisible blade of displaced air that carved through a dozen more monsters. The false King Arthur then thrust his sword forward while twisting it, creating a vortex of more displaced air that imitated the true King Arthur's Strike Air technique. Demons were turned into vivisected tentacles and broken teeth that were then launched at other demons. While Mordred was loath to use his imitation techniques and insult the true King Arthur, Mordred's prudence told him he had to put his reservations aside for the moment.
It didn't matter how long he had to keep terminating these grotesqueries, Mordred wasn't going to despair.
Distant trees rustled before breaking apart in the wake of someone barreling through them. A blur rushed right up to Heracles, tentacle monsters splattering from being trampled. Archer blocked the red spear of the surprise enemy, the giant being pushed back slightly. Heracles pushed back, knocking away the enemy who landed on their feet, spear poised to thrust again. The two engaged in an exchange of slices and stabs that never hit their mark due to each fighter's exceptional ability to defend. The duel was so intense that there was no way to jump in to help Heracles without getting broken in two. The entire mountain rumbled and fissures stretched out from below the two fighters' feet. One time that Heracles and the attacker's weapons clashed created enough friction to ignite the hydrogen in the air and generate an explosion that both fighters jumped back from, pausing their fight long enough for everyone to actually see what the enemy looked like.
The spearman had a grin made up of sharp teeth. Her hair was long and dark while her eyes were red. This woman had the exact same face as one of the newest members of the alliance against the Grail.
"Scáthach." the giant said.
"It's nice to face you again in combat." Scáthach Alter sounded cheerful.
"I wish I could say the same."
The blackened Scáthach wore dark armor on her legs, arms, and most of her torso, with the front having a plunging neckline that revealed sanguine tattoos. She had similar tattoos below her eyes and eyeshadow that was a matching red. The back of Scáthach's shoulders had crimson fur and from her lower back protruded a long spiked tail that complemented the suit's draconic feet.
"I'm so glad the Grail took me." Scáthach ran a hand through her hair. "Now I get to fight so many strong opponents at once."
"It's sad to see how you've changed." Heracles grimaced.
"I haven't really changed. My personality and desires are the same, it is simply that my inhibitions have been peeled back."
"Your desires are the same? Then what about Bazett? You loved her, didn't you?" Rin palm striked a tentacle demon, ice magecraft freezing the monster.
"She was a passing fancy I used to amuse myself with when I was still refusing my urge for violence." The corrupted queen summoned copies of her spear which floated behind her. "My true love is battle."
Mordred felt bad on Bazett's behalf. It was a good thing she wasn't here to hear such a dismissal of her love, though she would eventually if everything went according to plan.
"You think mere brutality is worth more than love?" The wind around Heracles whipped up.
"I do." Scáthach's grin stretched wider.
"I understand. I also understand that you only act this way because of the Grail's pollutants. That is why I must apologize, for I am about to release my fury upon you."
Space itself warped as the giant took only a single step that closed the distance between himself and Scáthach. His arm and the great ax he wielded vanished from sight for an instant as it reached top speed instantly. The mass of stone was blocked by the queen's spear, but the force of the blow launched her off the ground and towards the stars above. Heracles summoned his bow and fired off so many arrows they resembled a river. Scáthach's Gáe Bolg was engulfed in red energy as she fired off the extra spears she conjured earlier at the giant. Heracles batted away the polearms while Scáthach did the same to the arrows. A kick was all that was needed for Scáthach to shoot through the air back down to the greatest Greek hero. When Scáthach was in striking range, Heracles dropped his armaments and held his arms out to grapple. The queen stabbed at the giant, but Mordred jumped in and parried the thrust. The Archer grabbed and slammed Scáthach into the ground. Dirt flew upward as the giant restricted all of Scáthach's limbs. It wasn't a hold that could be maintained forever, but it didn't have to be.
On the sidelines, Luviagelita manifested a green rune that floated above her pointer finger's tip. While the others protected her, the Edelfelt aimed her finger like a gun at the pinned Scáthach. This was the linchpin to the alliance's entire strategy.
Clown, the now deceased butler of the Edelfelt family, was a Bounded Field specialist, and in particular, Bounded Fields that swapped spaces between each other for teleportation. Spatial magecraft of any kind was rare and required much training, but thanks to the efforts of Clown's ancestors which were sublimated into his Magic Crest, he could achieve magecraft akin to a miracle. Clown's teleportation required that he prepared waypoints ahead of time and he had left several dozen all over Fuyuki and its surrounding landscapes before his death. Those waypoints still existed as the magical energy put into them gradually faded rather than suddenly dispersing all at once. The living Scáthach was able to link the waypoints to different runes that she handed out to everyone who possessed magecraft knowledge. Those runes would, once they struck someone, teleport that person to a specific waypoint depending on the rune fired.
The alliance's plan was for all of them to arrive at the mountain in order to make it look like they were straightforwardly assaulting the Grail's domain. This would cause them to inevitably to fall into the Grail's trap and be swarmed by the enemy Servants. The Alters would assume that they held the advantage, only for each of them to get teleported away by the runes to different isolated places around Fuyuki. It was too dangerous to leave them be as they could quickly return to the mountain, so after the enemy Servants were teleported away, specific members of the alliance would teleport themselves away to face specific enemy Servants. The matchups were decided ahead of time based on numerous factors and the battlefields have been set up to give an advantage to the members of the alliance. It would go from a battle on the Grail's terms to one on the alliance's terms, one that would leave many of the alliance members free to infiltrate the cave and destroy the Grail.
Luviagelita fired the rune and it hit Scáthach, her body warping away in a flash of green.
"Everything's working as intended." Kirei said as he stabbed another demon. "I'll telepathically tell the team meant to face Scáthach Alter that she's in position and they can teleport themselves off the mountain."
"Archer, are you okay? Mentally I mean. I was surprised you got so angry at Scáthach." Chloe made two birds out of her hair that fired magical energy blasts at the demons.
"I just can't stand those who don't appreciate how blessed they are to have people who love them and that they can love in return." Heracles stood up and grabbed a demon, crushing it in his fist. The acidic fluids that coated the hero's arm couldn't even burn the outermost layer of his skin.
"Are we sure the king's not dead? We'll need to send someone else if she's gone." Caren's fists and elbows, enhanced by magecraft from the Gorgon Sisters, drilled into a demon and made it implode.
"If she were gone, I'd know it." Illya pierced through a monster's core with her Origin Sword.
"But she's still taking a while." Taiga was chopping away at the monsters. "You guys can't waste too much time here. You've gotta deal with the real monsters."
It was then that Mordred felt a surge of magical energy at his back. He turned his head to see the gate dissipate into mana that flowed out of the cave.
"The cave's open!" Mordred alerted everyone.
Rin met eyes with Sakura and Kirei, Chloe met eyes with Sella and Leysritt, and Assassin met eyes with Taiga. They were all looking at people who were important to them who they might not see again. It was a wordless goodbye, an assurance of trust, and an expression of affection.
The infiltration group ran into the system of caverns, with Mordred, the Lion King, and Heracles at the front, Illya, Rin, and Assassin at the back, and Chloe at the center. The group followed the putrid mana that had been disseminated throughout the mountain towards its source. If Mordred weren't an Alter Servant, he'd be getting nauseous from the curses in the atmosphere.
Mordred was thinking of how proud he was of his king's victory over the Guinevere lookalike, but the thought was interrupted when Artoria came into view, her arm gone along with her armor. She did not look triumphant, she looked worried as Gilgamesh approached her, one hand carrying Excalibur and the other holding a goblet overflowing with mud. He was going to try and corrupt her.
"No!" Mordred rushed to save his king, his Excalibur powered by gold and black lightning. Gilgamesh didn't even look away from Artoria as Mordred approached. A golden portal opened up and from it a dome shaped shield dropped around the golden man and Artoria. The dual colored Excalibur struck the partition, but its lightning could not leave even a scratch or scorch mark on the barrier. "No! He's going to ruin her!"
They had seconds at best before Gilgamesh forced the Grail's mud down Artoria's throat, and that was if the arrogant monarch was in the mood for some verbal foreplay with the King of Knights.
"Mordred, move!" The Lion King's command made Mordred jump to the side before he could even question her. The goddess ran at the dome and thrust her spear into it. Despite not releasing enough of the weapon's restraints to call its True Name, Rhongomyniad was able to stab right into the shield. Cracks spread through the barrier until it fell apart. Gilgamesh and Artoria could be seen again, the cup of curses inches from the King of Knights' lips. A laser shot from Rhongomyniad's tip and vaporized the goblet of mud in a single shot, Gilgamesh wrenching his hand back before it could be destroyed as well. The golden man bared his teeth as he saw how his glove had been burned.
Before the Lion King could follow up, Noble Phantasms fired out of ripples in space. The goddess destroyed the weapons with a swing of Rhongomyniad, but more kept coming from all around her which pinned her down as she kept defending herself. Mordred tried to grab Artoria and pull her away from Gilgamesh, but more weapons appeared that he had to stop and knock out of his way. Those Noble Phantasms failed to stop the arrows of a certain giant, Heracles' bolts ramming into the weapons and causing mutual destruction. This created the opening Mordred needed to reach over and get ahold of Artoria.
"Let go of my bride." Gilgamesh summoned chains that tried to capture Mordred and Artoria, but Heracles fired arrows to knock the chains away. A few of the fetters evaded the hero's shots so it was up to Assassin to launch some weapons of his own to hit the chains while Mordred carried Artoria away.
"Hold Gilgamesh down. I need time to prepare." Assassin said telepathically. "Illya, Rin, get ready."
"Your efforts perniciously scratch at my patience." Gilgamesh opened up far more gates than before, but as soon as the weapons started coming out of the portals, the Lion King destroyed them with a wide ray of light. The blast also destroyed the continuous flow of Noble Phantasms that were holding the goddess in place like a cage. While Gilgamesh kept firing more Noble Phantasms, the Lion King and Heracles kept countering the weapons with beams of light and poisoned arrows
"I am the bone of my sword"
More ripples appeared behind Mordred and company. The false King Arthur let go of the genuine article and began deflecting the new wave of armaments. He couldn't stop all of them with just one sword, even if he used Mana Burst, so he focused on hitting some weapons into other ones in order to cause a chain reaction that would cause all the Noble Phantasms to destroy each other. It was somewhat effective, though there were still weapons that got past Mordred, the Lion King having to multitask and send waves of wind with her Invisible Air to blow the remaining Noble Phantasms from each wave away. Chloe tried to help by firing off swords made of her hair, but they simply could compare to Gilgamesh's high rank Noble Phantasms. Rin and Illya also tried to help, but they couldn't afford to waste much of their magical energy yet, so their assistance was negligible.
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood"
I have created over a thousand blades"
"Avalon!" Mordred couldn't let everyone waste energy helping him, so he activated his sheath so he could act as a human shield that could tackle into and stop any Noble Phantasms that he couldn't destroy in time. The knight could feel their magical energy drain as he hurried around to deal with the unrelenting series of weapons. He couldn't do this forever, and he needed to conserve his strength to face anyone else who could be guarding the Grail.
"Unknown to Death,
Nor known to Life."
Assassin stood ready to run, Illya and Rin following suit. They burst towards Gilgamesh who launched more Noble Phantasms at them, but the Lion King and Heracles protected them with more attacks of their own.
"Have withstood pain to create many weapons
Yet, those hands will never hold anything"
Assassin, Illya, and Rin all got right up to Gilgamesh who sneered and swung at them with Excalibur. The trio all summoned their blades, the black and white Kanshou and Bakuya, the elegant Origin Sword, and the mysterious Azoth Sword. The swords came together to block the stolen Holy Sword right as Assassin finished his chant.
"So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."
Flames formed a ring around the trio and Gilgamesh, consuming them and the space where they stood as reality was rewritten by Assassin's will. By the time the blaze disappeared, Assassin, Illya, Rin, and Gilgamesh were gone, now inside a Reality Marble.
Mordred deactivated Avalon and put a hand on his solar plexus as he steadied his breathing. Everyone else took a moment to recuperate as well. Artoria dropped onto her buttocks, Mordred running over to her.
"Are you okay?"
"I'd like to say yes, but one look at me is all that is necessary to debunk such a claim." Artoria smiled. "I'm stable and I can move, that's all that matters."
"I'm sorry we couldn't retrieve Excalibur." Mordred Alter bowed his head before Artoria. "Hopefully Illya and the others can take it back from Gilgamesh."
"Don't worry. If worst comes to worst, I might be able to gather Invisible Air back together and use it on its own."
"Like for wind blasts and the like? It doesn't seem like your style of combat."
"It normally isn't, but beggars can't be choosers and I care little about fighting like a knight at this point." Artoria tried to stand up, Mordred helping her get onto her feet.
"I'll teleport you somewhere safe." A rune floated over Chloe's palm.
"I'm sorry, but I need to stay. I need to see Iri."
"That's a really stupid idea."
"I know. I don't care."
"We won't be able to protect you very well." the Lion King said.
"I'll protect myself. I refuse to not be there for Iri." Artoria was in such a fragile state and yet Mordred felt like she could destroy anything in the way of her seeing Iri.
"Fair enough." the Lion King turned around. "Let's move then."
Artoria nodded. Mordred was worried if she could really handle herself in her condition.
That worry was interrupted when a new Servant raged down the tunnel towards the group.
"Saber!" A man crying blood ran in carrying a spear and a sword.
"Lancer." Artoria spoke softly as she frowned.
The Lion King and Heracles fired attacks at the weeping Berserker, but he jumped around the cave to avoid them, his eyes trained on Artoria alone.
"You! You are the one! You are the King Arthur who betrayed me!" The weeping man shot towards Artoria, but Mordred got in the way and blocked his spear. The man followed up with his sword, but Mordred slashed as well and their weapons clanged together.
"All of you run! You can't waste time! I can handle this!" Mordred stomped the Berserker's foot to hold him in place for a moment while the others escaped deeper into the cave. Heracles grabbed both Artoria and Chloe to carry them while he and the Lion King moved at top speed.
"Get back here, Saber!" The Berserker slipped his foot out from under Mordred's and knocked the ex-king away with his red blade. The weeping man was about to run after the object of his wrath, but Mordred grabbed him by the shoulder and thrust his sword towards the madman's back. The Berserker jumped and did a flip midair to dodge and free himself of Mordred's grasp. As he did, Mordred ran over to an area ahead in the cave that was tight, a bottleneck that the false King Arthur blocked to make sure the Berserker couldn't get through and reach Artoria.
"You won't hurt Artoria as long as I'm alive."
"Then I'll kill you!" The Berserker named Diarmuid rushed Mordred and they engaged in combat.
Last time they fought, Diarmuid got past Mordred and ended up severely wounding the Lion King. If it weren't for that failure, then the Lion King's Spirit Core wouldn't have been permanently damaged and this whole operation would have been a lot easier. Mordred Alter wasn't going to fail again.