(Arretium, res publica Singularity)

"Unfortunately, even though Scathach can work miracles with her runes, trying to heal people one by one is giving the enemy time to prepare another attack with an even higher bodycount," Gudako frowned. "Even if only we knew where the attack was coming from, they could move-" she paused as her counterpart raised a hand. An un-hoped for, but unfortunately expected signal.

"A number of missiles just phased in up above," Chloe sent to Gudao while drawing back her bowstring with an arrow-Caladbolg in tow. She had been waiting a little to the north of the town for several reasons, one of which was about to come due. "Take cover !"

With an Archer's famed eyesight, Chloe had spotted exactly the moment when the first small speck appeared in the sky, soon followed by a swarm of its fellows all materializing in quick succession as they broke one another apart en route to their target.

Getting an estimate of their speed and angle of attack, Chloe frowned, adjusting her aim downwards, much closer to the town than she would have liked. Although she had some idea about what to expect, the luminous barrier of Jeanne's banner had apparently thrown even her senses off somewhat. Now, it was clear she had only one shot to take.

The arrow was loosed, darting outwards while rising gracefully towards the flock of plummeting fragments. Moments later, it exploded, vaporizing whatever was nearest and scattering outwards those a little further away. Some of the second group would still hit the outer sections of Arretium, but there was not much to be done about that.

"I hope you got a look fix on that, come back now." Gudao sent in his usual unflappable manner. In a way, Chloe wondered if that was due to him actually "taking after" his mother; although it seemed unlikely since homunculi did not experience descent via the genetic pathway as humans did. Added to which, he had been dedicated to the Chaldea Project from the start.

Putting away her bow, the Servant rushed back to the open forum of Arretium, where a triage center had been set up. While it was of course out in the open, Jeanne's banner and some preparatory work by Scathach had been set as a second line of defense in case Gudao's strategy had failed. Fortunately, that had not been necessary. There.

The many as-yet-unattended wounded seemed to be coping well thanks to the assistance of Nero's lyre. Gudako had identified it as some sort of "bard-class healing," which she quickly amended to "idol-class healing" much to the Servant's joy. However, the healer of the day, Scathach, had stopped her ministrations in order to lay out a topographical map using detailed data from Chaldea, with the Masters looking on and tracing out the group's journey thus far.

"Think you can place our attacker?" Gudao asked without ceremony as she stepped up to them, already frowning with deeper thoughts on the subject.

"Is this to scale?" she asked in a perfunctory manner. Receiving a quick nod, Chloe looked at the small hill where she had been earlier, and eyed the various distances of the map, keeping in mind the angle and speed of the attack. "You need to expand this further north, much more past the Alps. Like about... here."

Moving her hand far off the northern edge of the map, she made a fist to indicate roughly where the attack would have come from. Scathach quickly began filling out the map in that area, much to Artoria's surprise.

"That area is roughly where Camelot was built in my time," the dark blue Princess Knight muttered unhappily. "There should be leylines around there that Merlin used every now and then."

"That is quite bad," Georgios observed. "Even if we burned magical energy to travel at top speed, it would be at least two weeks to ride there. And that's before any opposition."

"Would we be able to achieve victory before the Romans fell apart?" Jeanne seemed to have calculated the odds of failure from that avenue as greater than that of their attack.

"If you win, you will." Nero joined the conversation suddenly. For everyone else at least. "I see now. It's time for me to return to Roma and play the role the divine Founder has cast me for."

"You'll have to explain that for me," Gudako said, unsure what the pronouncement was supposed to signify. "Hannibal was likely never aimed at the city itself, that wouldn't work. Not for him."

"She means morale." Gudao turned his attention from the map to the flamboyant "Chaldean" Servant. "This early on, Roma itself is critical, while many other losses can be recovered from without harming the historical record."

"That's right." Nero nodded. "Though it would be an honor to fight Rome's enemies alongside you, it seems fate will part us here."

"Can we really cover this distance in two weeks?" Kojirou had to stretch a bit to trace out a straight line of Arretium to Camelot on the scaled map. "I can't see them not having set guards to, at least, delay us."

"Not like that," Chloe corrected him, slightly moving his hand to the side. "If we avoid the obvious straight-line route, anything short of Servants on defense will be far too late in catching up to us."

l

(At an oppidum in Britannia)

"Assassin reports that the Chaldeans seem to have defended Arretium from the second attack," Lancer announced in a neutral tone. "Given their movements, he suspects they may be headed here."

"Hm. It was worth a try," Berserker nodded in calm acknowledgment.

"It probably gave away our position," Boudica fumed, rapping gloved knuckled on an arrowslit. "If the Chaldean Servants are rushing here though... Assassin won't be able to buy time like I expected."

"The chance of being able to take down even a single Master was worth it," Lancer tried to soothe his leader. "And splitting the Servants from all the potential support the Romans might be able to offer is valuable as well."

"Unfortunately, Assassin is useless if the Romans just sit behind their walls. As are all of Archer's and Caster's efforts." Boudica was tallying up the balance of forces mentally. "Recall everyone. At least Assassin can get back here in time."

"If you would," Berserker broke in. "Assassin should go through any undefended places in Italy and rack up all the free kills he can."

"He's an Assassin, not a... Berserker," Lancer raised an eyebrow. "Unless the Romans come out to meet him, he ain't gonna scratch them."

She simply shook her head in mock disappointment, throwing mottled pink hair about. "A Servant doesn't need conceptual advantage to kill unarmed humans. But I'm thinking that Fabius will undoubtedly want everyone to hide behind in walled cities, so it is only necessary to provide them some incentive to crowd in as densely as they can go. Then..." she made a gesture like throwing an imaginary spear.

"You've made your case," Boudica nodded in approval at the image unfolding in her mind. "Recall everyone except Assassin. Have some of the druids place picket runes on the far side," she pointed out, southwards to where the coastline could just be seen. ""If the Chaldeans decide to start digging through the forts on the way here, I don't care; make sure Caster especially knows not to run off by himself."

"Are you thinking of fighting them on the other side?" Though obviously focused class-wise on his lance, it didn't mean that he had forgotten strategy.

"I intend to attack them as they're crossing, of course. Aren't you good with the water element?"

(Mediolanum)

"It's time for us to go," Robin Hood looked around at the patched-up fortifications. "Saber, it seems we will be racing the Chaldeans back to home."

"Are we just abandoning this?" The warrior seemed scornful at the prospect. "There has to be some trick involved here."

"Probably not. Our queen lady's bit of vengeance seems to have given them a bit of fear to haste their steps. In any case, if they are coming at us alone, then Assassin will be able to handle anything the Romans might send to retake this place - if they even dare to leave their walls."

"That's right," Hannibal Barca said with restrained confidence. "If you miss the chance to kill Roman cowards, I will make up the number for you."

"Their numbers are as inexhaustible as their degeneracy," Saber muttered. "Only when their so-called civilization is as dead as their honor will the number be sufficient."

"I wouldn't worry about that," Robin Hood peered out southwards, though simple geography would have stopped even a telescope from being able to lay sight of Roma. "That girl is going to massacre them if they pile into their cities to avoid dying helplessly outside the walls."

"It was certainly earlier than expected," Assassin mused to no one in particular. "But if the queen ordered it, then it really only is a matter of time until they are brought to collapse by strategic strikes. Better fortifications than they have wouldn't avail them."

"A proper Servant-to-Servant fight suits me well enough," Saber slapped his elegantly curved weapon in its sheath. Did you manage to identify any of them, though?"

"Well enough," Archer grinned. "Definitely the swordsman Sasaki Kojirou is there, as you'll be glad to know. And likely the one who shot us up would be the same Archer, Chloe, from their previous Holy Grail War."

"Jeanne d'Arc was there at Arretium with her banner," Assassin added. "A woman druid with runes, most likely the famous Scathach. A knight, and some other swordswoman in a dress. And informants spoke of Nero Claudius, though that one seems to be playing more of a supporting role. Apparently." He sounded doubtful about that last piece of intelligence.

"The queen of the Land of Shadows." One name in particular caught Saber's attention. "It can't be a coincidence that she's here."

"Likely not," Rohin Hood agreed easily. "We will be taking the direct route back up. Each fort along the way should be connected to Caster's runic communication network. Unless we slack, we will definitely reach before the Chaldeans do. Obviously the queen doesn't want us to engage with all six of them."

l

(About seventeen days later, on the way northwards)

(Gudako)

"Chloe, there's been something I've been wondering about," the fiery-haired Master asked her. "Or someone. That older version of you who was the Archer in the Fuyuki Singularity."

"What about her?" the younger Archer of the Fifth Holy Grail War asked.

"How is she older, if Servants don't age? There's also the fact that she seemed to have a lot more Noble Phantasms available to use than you. Aren't most Heroic Spirits summoned at their strongest or something?"

"Oh... well my Master might have messed up the ritual slightly, perhaps?" Chloe stuck out her tongue slightly, but took the question seriously despite the initial playful response. "It's probably because she was an actual Heroic Spirit. As in, the actual 'Chloe von Einzbern' Heroic Spirit on-the-Throne."

"So you're saying that when you became a magical girl, you took up the powers of your future self, then? Or perhaps an alternate future magical girl version of yourself?"

"The naming is odd, which is what is throwing you off. For example, Sasaki Kojirou is the name of the legend, or Heroic Spirit, but the human is, well, nameless; there's nothing else in his True Name, yeah?" Chloe paused, holding up two hands. "Ok, this rock here by my feet is your mother, Illya of this branch. This hand is me, Illya of another branch - magical girl. This other hand is someone else, Chloe von Einzbern, of yet another branch." She brought her hands together, then gestured at the rock.

"So that's why the two of you could be in the same branch at the same time?"

"Provided I didn't get too close to her, anyway. Which happened exactly once."

"Oh. Right." Gudako fell silent in thought.

"Is this about that corpse you've got hidden away?" Chloe asked in an off-hand manner. However, her partner was jolted by the question.

"Ah, that isn't a corpse, really. It's just a body. Though I guess you know all about it."

"No, not really. I just figured it was related since it seems you had Illya's corpse before she died. Somehow."

"It's the equivalent of a cloned body," Gudako clarified for her. "Despite properly growing - physically speaking - a number of those attempts never actually became alive. Uh, to be honest, we were hoping to..."

"Summon the Founder into a copy of her original body?" the Archer guessed.

"Bit too ambitious. Try to use variants of the Matou magecraft to transfer her from her failing body to a new one."

"I thought that the problem was her lifeforce or something was running out," Chloe frowned. "I do remember that once that goes, your soul starts rotting away or something like that."

"The clock seems to pause if you hide in Matou's, er Sakura's Imaginary Numbers space, but it tended to corrode one's body. According to her, transferring over is possible, but a risky all-or-nothing affair. We couldn't figure it out before... you know." At that point, Gudako fell silent.

"I see," in an understanding tone, Chloe patted the, at this point older than her, Master on the shoulder. "Why keep that a secret though? It's hardly anything evil."

"It's a bit embarrassing to say, but that body is in a rather high-spec stasis container," she answered simply.

"I don't get it."

"We have a number of the magi contracted with the Four Houses in stasis, due to their injuries, right?" Gudako ventured slowly.

"Yeah. But none of the wounded Chaldea homunculi were put into stasis."

"No, they all either 'made it' or died. Because there weren't enough stasis containers for all the humans who couldn't be triaged at that point."

"Oh." Chloe blinked, realizing that the hangup was over that one human who had been passed over for a body. "That must have been a tough call."

"I didn't make it."

"Ah."

The silence continued for a while. Chloe looked up at the slowly darkening sky as the sun began its daily descent. "I think it's time we got ready to cross over the water."

l

(Boudica's Oppidium)

"They're here!" Caster announced to the group of Servants with him, pointing at one of the walls in the direction of a warning rune that had been tripped. "Or at least a Servant-level signature." The blue runes recently dyed into his elegant druid clothes seemed to shimmer in excitement. Or perhaps it was simply the effect of the magical energy he had bound into each one.

Lancer already had his famous spear to hand and silvery armor, engraved with similar runic defenses, strapped in place. "Excellent. Let us go and contest their landing on our shores."

"Wait," Boudica said, her own sword to hand. "Berserker, stay here." Taking out an instantly recognizable golden cup, she handed it over to that shortest Servant of the group. "Put that in place, and wait for my order."

"Is that a good idea?" Robin Hood asked curiously. "I mean, it could be useful in the battle ahead, and she can fight as well. Berserker and all, you know."

"Chaldea is here for that Grail," the Avenger explained with the sort of cold patience of one watching prey, waiting for the right moment. "Bringing it to our first real engagement is asking to lose everything in a single stroke."

Lancer seemed to agree with this. "So Archer, Caster and I will be engaging from range together. When it comes time for the melee..."

"I'll pull back to provide support and cover any fallback to our defenses," Robin Hood said for him.

"Right. Saber and our queen have shields, so the four of us will pull back in good order if the fight isn't going cleanly. Is that about right?"

Boudica nodded.

l

(Chaldea's group, across the water)

"Hang on," Artoria said, lifting Gudao up to sit behind her on Llamrei. Georgios and Gudako were mounting up in a similar manner; while Servants could move with speed allowing feats similar to waterwalking, obviously their Masters could not. And carrying one while traveling fast enough meant inability to defend adequately while being an obvious target - not worth the risk.

"We're likely to get caught," Jeanne muttered with a slight hint of nervousness. "But the temptation to leave any prepared positions in order to do that catching..." The group was organized simply, with Chloe, Kojirou, Scathach in the front and Jeanne supporting the two riders as a possible bastion. It was slightly awkward that two very capable frontline Servants would have to ride relatively slowly with the Masters, but it was better than any other options to hand.

"Everyone ready?" Chloe had her bow and an arrow out. Obviously the Archer's senses would be critical to warning the group if, or when, they came under attack.

The location they had chosen was well west of Chloe's estimated location of the enemy base, but it was clear they would have been watched; making the crossing at dark was only really to complicate things for the enemy if they brought any human support, since there was certainly enough time to organize it.

The group set off in silence, besides for the sound of water being disturbed by their passage. Despite their armor and bearing two riders each, the horses had no difficulty keeping up a good pace, even if they couldn't keep up with a running Servant while swimming.

"Ah!" Chloe's exclamation, followed by an arrow being loosed caught everyone's attention. Moment later, a large explosion lit up the space in front of the Chaldeans - they had made it about halfway across by this point.

l

(Boudica)

She watched as Robin Hood's first shot of the day was intercepted with blinding results. Not long after that Caster let fly with a barrage of fire runes in order to test Chaldea's defenses.

As though it had been held back for exactly that, a similar number of runes, of an opposing type, flashed out. The two sets of magecrafts hit and to Boudica's surprise, seemed to simply fizzle out. "That's definitely Shishou's counter, yeah." Caster shrugged as Lancer levelled his weapon.

"This single blow has slain even fallen Divine Spirits! Taste its wrath!"

Though he was in the middle of preparing more runes, Caster chuckled as the water in front of them leapt up as though to join in the attack. "(Mac Au Luin) !"

A jet, no river, of magical energy-infused blasted its way towards the Chaldeans who had not slowed or swerved from the earlier two attempts on their formation. Somewhere ahead of it, the light seemed to abruptly fail, before an answering torrent of pitch black energy roared out from the rear, slamming into the offending water and blowing through it.

"Some sort of demonic sword?" Saber asked. No one knew. The dark energy stretched out before a set of brightly glowing runes dissipated the last bit, preventing it on reaching the shore.

"They seem to be appropriately countering our ranged attacks," Robin Hood pointed out. It was unclear if he was trying to shoot the Chaldeans and being intercepted, or if their Archer was shooting Boudica's group and being intercepted by him.

"Just keep blasting away at them," Boudica shrugged, turning despite herself to look off at the gloom to her left. A little closer to shore...

Unlike what she had hoped for, the enemy tightened their formation, advancing while defending themselves admirably from her group's attempts to stop them. They were drawing closer and closer, and at some point Robin Hood broke off headed east to help cover the likely fallback to the fortress.

Here it is ! she smiled slightly as something, made small by the distance but dark-colored enough to blend in to the dusk, abruptly materialized a little to the side of the Chaldeans. Soon it was joined by several of its brothers, all moving around the speed of sound. However, their appearance was completely silent due to not interacting with the atmosphere before their arrival.

l

A flash of light poured out over the Chaldeans, reaching out from Jeanne's banner to flick away the attacking volley of spears. A hollow sound like a gong being struck echoed from the brief supersonic shockwave formed between the missiles' materialization and annihilation.

"It really was her, huh?" Gudako commented from behind Georgios, seeing the splintered spears falling into the water and mostly disappearing. His fellow saint's banner was somewhat less effective while moving, necessitating a tight formation to keep everyone within its area of effect.

Next to them, Artoria was patting her Llamrei with one hand while the other kept Caliburn aimed forward, over its head, waiting for the next attack. Thankfully, controlling a horse that was part of one's Spirit Origin was much easier than any mortal mount, no matter how well trained.

"Unless I miss my guess, a certain student of mine is on the other side," Scathach said cheerfully while her wand deftly brought forth runes in a blinding array of types. "It is obvious that this contest cannot be decided by our knowledge of runic magecraft... but by our skills with a spear."

"I hope they have someone with skill in the sword," Kojirou muttered in turn. Though he was quite able to defend himself, it wasn't exactly tactically useful in the current situation.

"We'll find out soon," Georgios had his own sword Ascalon at the ready. "Artoria, move a bit closer to Jeanne!"

The two horses slowly moved towards one another, with Jeanne in the middle. Making sure to have a good grip on her banner, the Ruler nodded to the two Masters as they both circled her neck with their arms, getting off their horses and clinging to her back as she deflected another volley of iron spears.

The group thundered up out of the water in close formation. Though Artoria and Georgios were initially behind the frontline Servants, their horses quickly brought them into the fray first.

Artoria zeroed in on the spearman whose shots she had been countering. He flung himself to the ground, avoiding both a piercing ray from Caliburn and her attempt to cut him down on the charge. However, his attempt to spear her horse as it passed by him was foiled by her backwards cut.

Spotting a figure in black mail armor with an impressive helmet, Georgios put away his sword for his lance, charging what he thought might be the enemy warlord. However, she quickly moved over to his left, slashing with a jet-black sword that reminded him of Caliburn. However, by swerving to the right defensively, he was able to at least confirm that it didn't seem to have a similar ranged ability, since she only shot a number of small projectiles that didn't seem effective against his armor.

Kojirou found himself facing off against a tall opponent with a large two-handed sword to match, although the latter was initially distracted by the mounted Servants who were attacking people at the edge of his formation. He tried for a quick thrust to the hands, but the enemy's blade went scything in the defense, deflecting his own.

Sending runes out with a flourish, Scathach flung her wand after them, catching her enemy by surprise when he instinctively blocked it with his staff, resulting in an explosion as the wand's stored energy was released. However, his other defenses held, and it was only a moment later that the pair were facing off with spears, staves quickly put away in preparation for the coming moment.

"None of them seems to be Hannibal," Gudako commented after Jeanne let them down. Gudao had been scanning the battlefield with similar thoughts. Thus far, five of Chaldea's Servants were engaging five of the enemy's, with Jeanne largely defending the two of them against a sixth, who was increasingly likely to be Sasaku. Even though we couldn't summon her before, he grumbled to himself.