FATE/CATBOX FICTION

Chapter 15: Surprise Reunion

Connla's head felt heavy. As she slowly woke up, she realized her head was nestled against a familiar fur trim, and that someone was carrying her around. She stretched her arms and let out a large yawn before wiping her eyes and looking around.

"Finally up?" Cuchulainn asked.

"Hm? What's going on? Why are we back in the labyrinth?" she wondered. "And it's just the two of us?"

"We're in the next leg of our mission," he replied, then set her down and explained everything that transpired as they continued walking.

Connla became serious as she murmured, "The Shrine of Manoa…"

"We're already about halfway through the estimated path that Da Vinci provided us, although it's still a pain in the ass because it's not a perfect prediction."

The inventor's visage popped up on the transmitter as she objected, "Hey, on top of all the other work that's piling up, I barely had any time to analyze the maze."

"Don't worry about it, Ms. Da Vinci," Connla assured. "I'm sure Father and I can handle the rest easily. You should concentrate on keeping the other teams safe."

"Aw, what a good girl you are. I'm glad at least someone understands how hard it is to be a genius of my caliber!"

Cuchulainn rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Right, whatever. So if we keep on this course, it should take us about half a day to reach the shrine. At least, I damn well hope we get there soon – looking at nothing but stone walls and littered bones for hours on end is driving me nuts."

Connla frowned, then said, "I understand that we're in a hurry, but I kind of wanted to ask Mr. Earp something."

The cowboy's voice crackled in on the transceiver as he bellowed, "Hey there, missy. Ya doin' all right there?"

"Yes, I am. How about you?"

"I'm right as rain, 'specially since I gotta keep tabs on Master an' Mash 'ere."

"Are you sure? I think I heard you sniffling a bit while I was talking about Cliste's condition."

"Aw, pay it no mind. It sucks what 'appened to 'er, but I'm also 'appy t'know the truth. Come 'ell or 'igh water, I'm gonna put the lass t'rest if it's the last thing I do."

"If you say so…"

"So what is it ya wanna ask me? We still got some time t'kill b'fore we reach Tiahuanaco."

Connla sighed deeply, then murmured, "There's still something that I'm missing about Lancer of Akakor's history. I keep hearing that she was executed for some reason, but I don't actually know what it is. Did she do something that would warrant such a harsh punishment?"

"Ah," Earp's voice trailed forlornly. "Yer talkin' 'bout the Southern 'Emisphere Extinction that she triggered."

"Southern Hemisphere Extinction?"

"Remember 'ow I was tellin' ya 'bout the forbidden wish contained inside the 1866 Grail that we were fightin' over during the 1926 Grail War? Well, sad as it is t'say it, Lancer was the one who activated that wish."

Connla's chest tightened in dismay. "No way… Even though she was fighting for the Conservatives?"

"I think there was some kinda conspiracy brewin' in the background, an' Lancer was caught up in it without Saber or I noticin'. My gut's tellin' me that the Extremists were involved, though I couldn't tell ya 'ow. They were a crazier bunch than the Cowboys I was huntin' back when I was alive."

Cuchulainn narrowed his eyes and asked, "So what is this Southern Hemisphere Extinction anyway?"

Mash's voice could be faintly heard saying, "I don't think Senpai or I know anything about that either. Could you tell us as well, Earp?"

The cowboy clicked his tongue and said, "It ain't gonna be pretty, but when 'as life ever been pretty? Anyway, the Extinction is the wish that the victor of the 1866 Grail War made on that Grail b'fore Giselle Brugger killed 'im. Y'all know that the victor wanted t'convert all o'the 'uman race into energy fer 'im t'reach the Swirl o'the Root. Lancer wound up activatin' that wish at the end of the 1926 War, although its effects were only felt in the Southern 'Emisphere rather than the entire world. I 'ave no clue why it didn't affect the entire planet as originally intended, but losin' 'alf o'the world's population in a single night was no less devastatin'."

"I can imagine," Da Vinci agreed. "According to my records, the human population hit two billion by 1927 in our timeline, so cut that in half and we're down to one billion in this world. That would explain why the world population is not as large in this world 50 years later, and that nearly all of it is concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere."

"Yes, ma'am. 'Umanity managed t'recover well enough, but the existence o'magic could no longer be kept quiet from the populace. Y'could say that the Extremists got what they wanted – a world where Mages could practice their craft without fear o'stigma from common men, an' with an abundance o'magical energy t'play with thanks t'their fellow men bein' sacrificed. 'Course, most o'that energy wound up bein' diverted into the 'Oly Grail Terminal t'provide it with its first juice-up b'fore the Mages could begin siphoning more magical energy from parallel worlds. Not even killin' off the entire 'uman race could provide enough mana t'rival the Age o'Gods, after all."

"You're saying the Extinction was primarily the means of giving the Terminal enough energy to kick-start it, so to speak?"

"More or less. On top o'that, the survivors were lookin' fer someone t'blame for this catastrophe. The Family Tree Mages presented plenty of evidence to the courts that incriminated Lancer fer 'er role."

Connla bit her lip, but kept her emotions in check as she asked, "What sort of evidence are we talking about?"

"Mainly a grainy video showin' Lancer usin' the Grail."

"That's it? Just a video?"

"Well, the Mages hired by the courts performed other investigations, but that was the killin' blow fer Lancer. Even so, somethin' just bugs me 'bout the whole trial."

"Like what?"

"Prior t'the war startin', we Conservative Servants were shown that chamber with the Grail, and we were informed that there 'ad been multiple security cameras installed from every nook an' cranny y'could think of. Yet, the trial wound up showin' the feed from just one camera, which only captured Lancer on it."

"They didn't show anything from the other cameras?"

Earp grumbled bitterly, "The Mages fed the court some bull dung like 'ow the other feeds weren't workin'. I didn't buy it fer a second. I know Giselle Brugger well enough, an' she woulda made absolutely certain that she installed the latest an' greatest security in that room. 'Course I 'ave no evidence t'back me up, but I think the Extremists made sure t'destroy any cameras that woulda given 'em a severe disadvantage. They specific'ly picked just the camera that only showed Lancer doin' the deed so they could shove all the blame onto 'er."

Cuchulainn's expression turned sinister as he glowered, "So if there were any surviving videos of that moment taken from a different perspective, the Extremists' case would fall apart like a house of cards."

"I think so too. That's the main reason why I cut my ties with the Family Tree an' been goin' it solo all this time. I've been scourin' 'igh an' low t'see if I could find any other secret videos that some disgruntled Mage might've been holdin' on to, but no such luck. Only now 'ave I come back to investigate Akakor more thoroughly, but the Tradition Protection was gettin' in my way. The rest is, as they say, 'istory."

"…"

Connla noticed the severe glare in Cuchulainn's eyes and grew worried. It was obvious that he wasn't pleased to hear that Akakor Connla had been treated like a scapegoat and executed for such a terrible crime. He knew it wasn't in Connla's character to do something so horrible unless she had been forced to. If he hadn't been angry before, he was now positively livid.

They were distracted when Kiritsugu's voice spoke through the transceiver, "Let me ask you something, Archer. What happened to the people who were directly caught in the Extinction?"

"What d'ya mean?" Earp wondered. "I already said they were converted into raw mana."

"Yes, but what exactly did that process entail? Was it just their souls that were forcefully extracted out of their bodies, or were their physical bodies also affected?"

"Ah, right. Yer the one who investigated Manaus, weren't ya? Well, y'saw it fer yerself, didn't ya? Piles upon piles o'clothes just lyin' 'round everywhere?"

"Indeed, that was the scene I came upon. It looked like everyone in the city had just disappeared out of their garments."

"Well, there ya go. Anyone caught within the Extinction's radius 'ad their bodies an' souls wiped out. It ain't just Manaus that was affected – all of Australia an' New Zealand, the southern tip of Africa, everythin' from northern Brazil t'the southernmost tips o'Chile an' Ecuador, an' even Oceania were victims o'the Extinction. Can't say fer sure if anyone was explorin' Antarctica at the time, but they woulda been converted as well. I think the only ones who survived were the alchemists holin' up in the Atlas Institute in Egypt, but they already had their own barriers ready t'go."

Da Vinci's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you saying the Atlas Institute knew this was going to happen?"

"Sure they did," Earp muttered sourly. "The 'Oly Grail Terminal was their idea, after all."

"Well I'll be damned! This just opens up a whole new can of worms!"

Everyone heard Kiritsugu grumble in disapproval. A moment later, Irisviel wondered, "Say, Kiritsugu. If Atlas knew that the Extinction was going to be triggered, and that the Family Tree Extremists wanted to use the 1866 Grail… Do you think both organizations could have been collaborating with each other in some way?"

"It's entirely possible. Atlas Institute employs Mages who are capable of making predictions about what will happen in the future, and then develop ways to counter any potential disasters that could affect the world. If they were bold enough to work with the Extremists to use the 1866 Grail, it must mean that they made some sort of prediction that would warrant them going to such lengths."

"Even so, wiping out half of the world without batting an eye!? That's simply taking it too far! What if the disaster they were trying to prevent wasn't as deadly as this!? It's like cutting down an entire apple tree just because a single apple was rotten!"

"Hm… It's hard to say without knowing what their prediction was in the first place. Would you happen to know, Archer?"

Earp mumbled, "A little. Y'all 'ave to excuse me if my knowledge is a bit fuzzy though - all this Mage-y stuff goes way over my 'ead."

"I just want to hear what Atlas' prediction was."

"From what Saber of Akakor mentioned t'me, Atlas was sayin' stuff 'bout 'ow the planet was gonna die in 1976."

"Really?" Irisviel blurted in surprise. "The world is supposed to end this year?"

"Kinda weird sayin' that, since everythin' looks so stable from the outside. It's the month o'September, so we still got a few weeks left b'fore everythin' can potentially go t'shit."

"I see, I see," Da Vinci said. That ever-curious hint in her voice returned. "We're learning so much about what happened in 1926, yet we're still missing so many pieces of this puzzle. We literally went from wondering why Lancer of Akakor was executed to discussing the end of the world as we know it. A most menacing mystery, wouldn't you all agree?"

In the background, Roman was listening to everyone's input during the discussion. He closed his eyes and frowned hard, then became serious as he said, "Our primary goal is to disable the Tradition Protection, but I suppose finding clues to solving this mystery can be a secondary assignment for the three teams. If any of you find crucial evidence that could shed light on the truth behind the 1926 War, report it to me immediately. I want to know every potential detail so we can understand this looming threat that Cliste warned us about."

"To not let the 'cat' out of the 'box'," Connla whispered morosely. "That she will be the source of a Singularity here…"

Mash exclaimed, "Understood! I'll keep my eyes peeled for any clues that will be helpful to us!"

"I'll do the same," Irisviel added.

"Hey, Connla," Cuchulainn said to his despondent daughter. "I know things have been rough for you, but you need to chin up and focus. I'm gonna be busy killing our enemies, so I'll let you handle the information gathering."

"R-Right, of course," the child Lancer stuttered.

During the conversation, the Celts thought they heard some unusual sounds. They couldn't make it out at first, but as they delved deeper into the maze, they could gradually make out someone laughing in the distance. Cuchulainn blurted to the others, "Sorry to cut you guys off, but the kid and I need to check something out."

He cut the transmission, and the pair hurried through the halls to catch up to the source of the giddy chuckling. Infuriatingly, the path branched into two, and they couldn't tell from which direction the cacophony was coming from. They had no choice but to split up and investigate individually. Connla scoured around in her area for a few minutes until she turned the corner and happened upon a gruesome sight.

Lying on the ground were several men she didn't recognize, all with their throats slashed and their mutilated limbs strewn about the place. It was almost like she was walking in a gigantic soup comprised of blood and viscera as ingredients. She almost retched in revulsion, but had to keep her composure as she glared in shock at the only other living person besides herself. She couldn't make out any semblance of humanity from the man since he was garbed entirely in red and black clothing, and wore an ominous mask over his face-covering helmet. He extracted his stiletto sword out of his latest victim and turned to face her.

"Keh he he he he…" the killer chuckled. "You've finally come, Lancer of Chaldea."

Connla was stunned. "You know who I am?"

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am a Servant taking on the form of Antonio Salieri."

"Salieri… as in the musician who is said to be equal to Mr. Amadeus?"

Although his countenance turned bitter for a moment, he repressed his anger and retorted, "Your counterpart, Lancer of Akakor, has told me much about you."

"She has!? If you've spoken with Cliste, that must mean you've been to the Preservatorium!"

"Indeed, I have. But that is not what you should be worrying about now, is it? Look here."

Salieri pointed his blade towards the eviscerated bodies strewn throughout the halls. Blood dripped off of the thin rapier, and the musician murmured, "These men were once cowards who derived pleasure from the misery of others. Mages, serial killers, sexual predators, cultist maniacs, tyrannical nobility… All reduced to piles of blood-soaked meat for the maggots to feast upon."

Although the answer was painfully obvious, she still had to ask, "Did you do this?"

"So what if I did? I did the world a favor by disposing of such scum."

"The only kind of coward that's worse than a sadist is a murderer!"

"Oh my, such fire in your innocent eyes. If you believe that murder is the worst crime imaginable, then pray tell, how do you intend to punish me for this? I would very much like to see it."

Without answering him verbally, Connla leapt forth and clashed her spear with Salieri's sword. Although she couldn't see his face beneath his mask, she could tell he was flashing a most condescending smile. He pushed her off, and she flipped backwards in midair. As she landed, she noticed that he had summoned some grey-cloaked figures wielding rifles. She had to twist and contort her body while performing a handstand to dodge a flurry of bullets. When she looked up, she discovered Salieri leaping back to flee from the scene, his eerie chuckling still echoing within the ancient chambers.

She heard Cuchulainn running up behind her as he yelled, "What happened!? I thought I heard gunfire!"

"A Servant just escaped!" she cried out, then tried to take chase after Salieri.

"Wait a damn minute!" he bellowed and grabbed her shawl to stop her. "Don't go charging ahead without thinking, you idiot! Stay behind me at all times, got it!?"

"Oh, okay."

With that, she followed him through the labyrinth as they pursued Salieri. As they made their way through the nonsensical twists and turns of the maze, she was finding it rather strange that he left behind convenient blood splatters and the occasional dead victim for them to follow. Whatever path he was taking, it seemed as though he wanted them to take it as well. There was even one time where the Avenger actually waited for them to catch up before cackling and vanishing like a shadow once more.

"Something's not right," Connla finally said to Cuchulainn.

"You noticed it too? No pun intended, but the bastard's playing us like a fiddle."

"How far are we into the labyrinth?"

He glanced at his digital map that Da Vinci provided, then replied, "Strangely enough, we're making a huge amount of progress."

"No doubt about it – he's leading us somewhere. Could it be to the shrine?"

"I don't think so. Our path is deviating a bit."

They were being lured into a section of the maze that they had not intended to investigate. Once they made it to this foreign area however, they were starting to lose track of where Salieri was. He was no longer giving them any hints to his whereabouts, and they were practically lost since Da Vinci had not provided detailed maps for this region of the maze.

Cuchulainn cursed to himself and grumbled, "Well that's just bloody great. We're a lot closer to Manoa now, but I have no clue how to get back to our original route."

"Maybe there's an alternate path we can take," Connla suggested.

"I sure hope so. The next time I meet that masked maniac, I'm gonna shove Gae Bolg straight through his smug face."

"If you have the energy to be angry, then use it to walk."

"Tch," he grunted, but took her advice.

They meandered about for the next half hour, but they kept wandering into dead ends. They hoped to figure out the path that Salieri lured them through to return to familiar territory, but it was proving to be much harder than they anticipated. What baffled them the most was how Salieri could escape when he too was essentially trapped in the maze with them. Was there some kind of secret he was aware of? They certainly hoped they didn't have to mess around with finding hidden rooms or entrances like last time - even the ever-patient Connla was getting tired of such shenanigans.

Luckily for them, they didn't need to prowl around too much. As they were about to search through some new hallways, Cuchulainn stopped short and hissed, "Shh!"

Connla covered her mouth with her hands so as not to make a sound. The Berserker listened carefully for a minute. The confused Lancer tilted her head and murmured, "I don't hear anything. Maybe it was just your imagina-"

"Be quiet!"

"Uh…"

He gripped Gae Bolg tightly, then ran forward without warning. She wanted to object to his strange behavior but feared making him upset, so she just silently followed him. As they dashed further down the hall, she was finally starting to hear something unusual – the distinct sounds of metal clashing against metal. Clearly there was a battle being waged nearby, only accentuated when they heard a high-pitched male's voice screaming, "TEYAAA~AAAH!"

Once they reached a large circular chamber, the Celts finally found what they were looking for. Littered about like toys in a child's room were scraps of umber-colored metal that had been cleaved through with a sword. The nauseous smell of flammable fuel permeated their nostrils. Although there weren't as many human bodies lying around like when Connla met Salieri, there were at least three dead men sprawled about. Strangely though, on one end of the chamber was a doorway leading into what appeared to be another Mage's workshop, though the Celts couldn't really see what was inside.

Connla was most surprised when she found someone quite familiar hacking and slashing his way through some bizarre robots wielding flamethrowers. A black-haired samurai garbed in black clothes and brown hakama pants rolled aside when a robot engaged its rear thrusters and barged at him like a battering ram, but missed its target. With one powerful swing of his katana, the machine's head came sailing off and clattered to the ground. However, the incapacitated robot managed to turn around and sprayed one last burst of fire at the surprised young man before collapsing. Before the flames could reach him though, Connla erected a Shield Rune that protected him from the fiery onslaught.

"What the hell?" the swordsman blurted, then looked over to discover the Celts.

"Izo!" she yelped, recognizing the samurai. "What in the world is going on here!?"

"Get a clue, brat! I'm being attacked, that's what!"

Without replying to his retort, she pounced high over another Heroic Spirit Soldier and blasted an Ansuz Rune at its flamethrower, igniting the gasoline inside the weapon and causing it to explode. Another robot charged at her and extracted a sword out of its arm. It came dangerously close to slicing into her back, but Cuchulainn threw Gae Bolg and severed the blade-arm before it could hit her. He summoned the spear back into his hand, then jumped over an oncoming robot and forcefully jammed the blade into its head. A different Soldier tried to bash Connla into the ground with a steel club. She deftly slid beneath so that it only struck the ground, then she swung her spear in an arc at its neck, separating its head from the rest of its body.

While the Soldiers were indeed no match for full-fledged Servants, Izo had been experiencing trouble with fighting them due to their numbers. With the Celts joining in, they helped him thin the crowd enough that he could chop apart the remaining robots on his own. Izo went all out with countless katana stabs on the final robot, reducing it to scrap metal before it could even hit the floor. He made sure that all of their opponents were disabled, then tapped his sword on his shoulder and yelled, "That's what ya get fer messin' with a Man-Slayer!"

"Phew," Connla dusted her clothes, then murmured, "Quick victories are always the best."

"I'll say. Quite a strange place fer us to meet again, pipsqueak. Not that I was expectin' ya to save me or anythin'."

"I guess the adrenaline got to my head. I have a bad habit of blanking my mind while in the midst of battle. More than that though, I want to know what happened with you after we went our separate ways. I don't think it's just a coincidence that you wound up in the same area as us."

"That ain't any of yer concern. Yer better off just turnin' 'round and-"

Suddenly, Cuchulainn's hand snatched Izo's throat! Connla was so shocked by this turn of events that she shrieked. The Mad Hound of Ulster lifted his startled victim off the ground and squeezed his neck tightly while growling, "So you're the bastard who ambushed the kid!"

"Ugh… Gah… Wh-What are you-!?"

Connla desperately squealed, "Father, stop! Put him down!"

"Hell no! This piece of shit needs to pay for attacking you!" Cuchulainn roared.

"No… stop…" the terrified Izo coughed, feeling his life slipping away.

Before Cuchulainn could snap the samurai's spine, he felt a sharp prickling sensation poking against his own neck! An infuriated Connla shoved her spear against her father's throat, threatening to slice it as she snarled in her uncharacteristically mature voice, "I said, PUT. HIM. DOWN."

The tension between the three Servants was incredible. Cuchulainn glared in total shock at his daughter, surprised that she insisted on saving Izo's life. Her blade dug into his flesh enough that a tiny trace of blood trickled down. If she stabbed him just a few inches further, his carotid artery would be severed. He swallowed hard, then reluctantly set Izo down and freed him from his grip. Connla in turn carefully retracted her spear and gasped hard, reeling from having to discipline Cuchulainn so harshly.

Izo collapsed to his knees and coughed hard while gasping, "Sonuva… fuckin' bitch…"

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Ungh… ka-hah… W-Why did ya… save me?"

"I want to know what you're doing here. And no more of this 'one question only' nonsense like last time. I want to hear everything from you straight."

"Gh… Didn't I tell ya already? I'm lookin' fer yer counterpart to kill her."

"Yes, I'm well aware of that."

"But more importantly, I'm huntin' fer that demented sicko, Rider of Akakor."

Connla yelped in surprise, "Rider of Akakor!? You mean he's here!?"

Once Izo recovered enough, he stood up and muttered, "I dunno if he's here at the moment, but he's been givin' me shit left an' right. I'm tryin' to get him out of my way so I can continue my search in peace. Are you two here to steal my prey?"

"No, we're here for a different reason. But if Rider of Akakor is nearby, it may be imperative to stop him while we have this chance. Mr. Earp mentioned that Rider would give us the most problems, though he didn't explain why."

"Yeah, yer on the right track there. Rider's been kidnappin' people from all over the place an' draggin' them to this workshop. He was also braggin' 'bout how he knew where Lancer of Akakor was, so I'm tryin' to get any information I can out of him."

Cuchulainn folded his arms and muttered, "Rider wouldn't happen to be Antonio Salieri, would he? The kid and I were chasing him through these tunnels when we lost him."

Izo raised an eyebrow curiously. "Can't say I've heard of a Servant with that name. Rider is someone else entirely."

"Damn it. We've totally lost that nutcase's trail by now."

"Hmm…" Connla mumbled to herself. "This may just be a guess, but perhaps Mr. Salieri was actually trying to show us the way to Rider's workshop."

"Why would he do that?"

She shrugged. "No clue. I can't tell if he's trying to get in our way or help us."


Deep in a wholly different section of the labyrinth leading to Manoa, Salieri shifted from spirit form into Servant form and made his armored exoskeleton vanish so he was back in his regular composer's outfit. He smirked delightedly and murmured to himself, "There we go. Is that sufficient enough to complete your favor, Lancer?"

He wasn't expecting an answer since he didn't have any means of communicating with Cliste. He just clicked his shoes on the aged concrete ground and walked back to the secret entrance he used to get here from the Preservatorium.


Back in the chamber, Connla sternly said to Izo, "In any case, I want to know what you've been up to ever since our previous encounter."

"Yer kiddin', right? Why should I tell you anythin' when there's nothin' in it to gain fer me?" he retorted.

Cuchulainn bore his fanged teeth and snarled, "You owe the kid your life, asshole. You don't need any other reason than that."

"What did ya call me!?"

"I'm sorry, do I need to be more specific? I'm referring to that hole between your-"

"That's enough!" Connla shouted, forcing both men to calm down. "I don't mind if you're not inclined to pay any sort of debt back to me. Even so, there's no denying that we have the same goal. That means even if we were to separate again, we'd just wind up running into each other again. If it's that much of an inconvenience to you, why not save yourself the trouble and ally with us instead?"

"Well…" Izo murmured hesitantly. "Yer right that it's bloody annoyin' to bump into ya again, but I ain't the type who works well with others. Kind of a hard choice to make, y'see."

"Let me tell you right now; you're not going to make any semblance of progress unless you can disable the Tradition Protection that's preventing us from going to where Cliste is."

"Tradition Protection? Ya mean that barrier I ran into before?"

"You're saying you found it?"

"Yeah, I did. It ain't too far from here, but I couldn't break my way through no matter how hard I tried. With Rider gettin' on my case as well, I figured I'd cut two heads off with one strike by huntin' him down, finding his workshop, and findin' out anythin' I can to break that thing."

"That makes sense. Unfortunately, you wouldn't have been able to go any further than that – the barrier needs to be disabled from three separate points, all simultaneously. Fortunately, Father and I are on a mission to destroy the anchor at the Shrine of Manoa, and we already have two other teams on their way to handle the remaining shrines."

"Ya dun say. If it's gonna be that much of a pain in the ass to go 'bout this alone, I guess it would be smarter to suck it up an' go with ya guys. Might make killin' Rider fer good that much easier on me."

Cuchulainn's eyes widened slightly. "Killing Rider for good? What is that supposed to mean?"

Izo's frustration intensified as he cried out, "What else!? When a Man-Slayer slays his target, it should have the common decency to stay dead! But no matter how many times I kill Rider, he keeps poppin' back up in a fresh body! That guy's been nothin' but a goddamn nuisance fer me this whole time!"

"Wait a minute…" Connla murmured in realization. "Rider can jump between bodies? But that would make him a Pseudo-Servant, right?"

"Yeah, it would. He ain't quite qualified enough to be summoned as a full Servant, so he uses substitute vessels. Not only can he take over human bodies, he can hijack a Servant's Spirit Origin and dominate it through mental torture. That's the reason he's been chasin' me down – the goddamn freak wants to make me his next vessel."

"That shouldn't be possible! Pseudo-Servants have very, very few humans that they are compatible with! I've also never heard of a Servant who can take control of another Servant's body! Just who in the world is Rider of Akakor anyway!?"

"Hey, I'm just tellin' ya like it is. I haven't found out what the bastard's True Name is yet, but I've got a pretty good idea of the type of people he's able to possess," the samurai said, then pointed towards the entrance to the workshop. "He's been storin' his kidnapped victims in his workshop, and I was tryin' to kill 'em while he ain't home. Reduce the number of vessels he can use an' all that."

Connla cringed, then asked nervously, "Do you really need to kill them? Couldn't you just set them free?"

"Not happenin'. Some of those people are die-hard child molesters. If there's one thing I'll never forgive, it's a freak of nature who robs kids of their innocence. I dun even wanna go on 'bout the demented shit his other victims are capable of. 'Course, all of it pales in comparison to what goes on inside of Rider's rotten mind."

"…"

"Hey, big guy," Izo blurted to Cuchulainn. "Why don'tcha help me wreck this place? If anythin', it'll slow Rider down while we're busy tryin' to deal with the barrier."

The Berserker muttered, "Well, if you say that Rider is that much of a nuisance, then maybe I will. The kid and I can handle destroying the equipment, if you want to-"

"No, the kid's stayin' outside."

"Oh?"

"I took a gander before I was ambushed by Rider's sentries here," the Assassin said, pointing his sword toward the piles of destroyed Heroic Spirit Soldiers. "Trust me – ya dun want the kid to see what's in there."

"I see… Well Connla, you're on guard duty. If the punk says it's that bad, then absolutely do not come inside unless it's an emergency."

"Okay. Don't forget to record any information that Dr. Roman can use," she replied, then stepped back and watched as the two men ventured into the workshop. They locked the door behind them so she couldn't even sneak a peek. There was no denying that she was curious, but she didn't want to disobey Cuchulainn's order. For now, all she could do was lean her back against the opposite wall and wait for them.

Connla closed her eyes and listened to the hollow ambient noise echoing within the spacious corridors. Tiny drops of water trickled from the ceiling, so she assumed that it was raining incredibly hard right now. She preferred quiet times like this to chaotic battles and lengthy discussions about difficult subjects, but she was growing increasingly bored with nothing to keep her mind stimulated. She yawned and sat down, hoping to get a short nap in. In the back of her mind, she hoped this detour would not delay Chaldea's overall mission, but it wasn't her job to worry about such things.

As she slowly started to doze off, that was when she heard a new sound between the dripping water droplets. It sounded like a pair of heavy boots clicking upon the stone floor. The child Lancer became alert once more and gazed around to see where it was coming from. Gradually, another sound became more audible to her. It kind of resembled… scraping? Or dragging? Was something being pulled along the ground?

Connla stood up and ran into the center of the chamber to get a better look at the newcomer. From the shadows of the hallways, an elegant young woman emerged. She had long green hair and melancholic lavender eyes. Her attire was surprisingly simple, consisting of a brown jacket, green one-piece dress, and thigh-length black boots. She looked suitable for the runway at a posh fashion show, were it not for the unkempt blood splatters dirtying her coat and dress. Beneath one of the woman's arms was a football-shaped object wrapped in dirty cloth, while she languidly dragged an unconscious orange-haired youth firmly wrapped inside a body bag with her other hand. She clearly didn't care if his head smacked against the walls or floor, which contributed to the cuts and bruises on his face.

"Oh my," the lady murmured, as if surprised to see Connla. "What do we have here? Of any guest to be welcomed to my humble abode, I never would have expected you."

"Who might you be, miss?" the girl wondered.

"Me? Well now… It may be hard for you to understand if I explained everything in one sitting. Why don't you come inside my workshop, and we can talk all we want."

"This atelier belongs to you? Then does that mean you're…?"

"Eh he he."

The lady's chuckle seemed sweet on the surface, but there was a disturbing darkness lurking behind that gentle smile. Her saccharine grin could rot teeth as she confirmed Connla's suspicion with an alluring voice:

"That's right – I'm Rider of Akakor."