A/N: Thanks to Greatratking88 for his work on the chapter and the touch ups.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the previous chapters and I hope I had answered and responded to all of your reviews.

Originally I was going to do one huge chapter, but I decided to spilt it into two for the time being. I'll likely post chapter five once Greatratking88 finishes with it.

Now for the review I couldn't respond to.

Guest: True, but I only went with male Ritsuka because he has been appearing in the animated OVAs and series.

PerhapsGeass: Too and that is a oversight on my part, but I was trying to play true to one of Lelouch's tendencies in Chess, or what Rivalz has implied he tends to do…which technically moving with the king first shouldn't be possible anyway. But yeah you're point stands.

Guest: I see no harm in revealing Olga shall live.

Anyway without further ado and I hope this chapter turns out well because I was nervous about some of the fights in this chapter.

Chapter 4

The Shadow Berserker

Ritsuka, Hakuno, and Mash walked through the ruins of Fuyuki City. After they were brought up to date on what happened, the group had headed in the direction where Lelouch and the Director were supposed to be. Fou was with them, sitting on Mash's shoulder. Although they had been warned of a hostile presence in the city, the group hadn't ran into any enemies yet.

"What do you think happened here?" Hakuno asked. Like Lelouch before her, the young girl saw no trace of life in the city.

"I can't even begin to guess, but… this never happened, right?"

"That's right, senpai. This disaster never happened in recorded history. Yet someone or something is trying to change it with this Singularity," Mash replied.

"Is changing the past possible?" Ritsuka asked.

"Normally it isn't, at least for historic events already set in stone. Our planet has ways to protect against such tampering. To invoke a massive change to history, it would take power impossible for humans to manage alone," Mash explained.

"But Chaldea takes care of singularities, abnormal events that attempt to alter the past to threaten the future of humanity, right?" Hakuno asked, earning a nod from Mash.

"That is true. Since our future hasn't been written, we can still affect the outcome."

"Then why would anyone cause this kind of horror?" Hakuno asked, looking to her left where an apartment was burning.

"I don't know, but these fires aren't natural, are they? Ever since we got here, they haven't diminished in the least," Ritsuka commented.

"I am not sure, senpai, but I agree it's not natural for these flames to continue burning like this. What caused them is another question I don't think we'll truly know," Mash replied. Then, something caused her to snap to full alertness.

"Hey Ritsuka, do you feel that?" Hakuno asked. The ground was shaking.

"Is that an Earthquake?"

"No, it's not an Earthquake," Mash warned as she steeled herself for what was coming. "Something or someone large is coming right for us!"

With a loud bestial roar, a wrecked public bus was knocked aside. A gigantic man standing a towering eight feet tall marched forward like it was nothing. He was unnaturally large, bulging muscles spread under every inch of his dark brown skin. He wore what appeared to be an armored skirt, and he had long black hair and blazing red eyes with shadow-like flames surrounding his body like a fog. The giant of a man was armed with what looked like a hybrid between a sword and a stone club.

"Enemy Servant confirmed," Mash said sharply, readying her shield.

"That's a servant?!" Hakuno said, stepping back, feeling intimated by both the size of the servant and the bloodlust-filled aura he gave off.

Upon seeing Mash, the rampaging giant charged at the young woman. She held her ground, ready with her shield. The towering monster raised its weapon before bringing it down upon Mash's shield. The impact released a thundering shockwave, and Mash's feet sank into the ground as much of the concrete around her broke apart from the impact of the blow, but the young girl's arms endured the blow.

How could she have withstood such a blow? Thought Hakuno.

Both Hakuno and Ritsuka were knocked to the ground by the shockwave the blow had unleashed, the ground below their feet trembling.

Mash was defending against the giant's godly might, but despite her best efforts she lacked the strength to push him back. Her situation was dire; it was only a matter of time before her arms gave out if she couldn't push back the giant's weapon. Suddenly, a fireball struck the face of the giant Berserker, causing him to recoil in pain. He dropped his weapon to clutch his face, trying to put out the flames that had engulfed it.

"You are a brave girl, but you can play defense against a monster like Hercules," a voice came.

"Who's that?" Hakuno asked. As she spoke, a man wearing blue and white robes leapt down from one of the ruined apartment buildings to join them. He pulled down his hood to reveal mullet-style long blue hair, a fair skin complexion and red eyes. He held a wooden staff in one hand.

"He's a servant, right?" Ritsuka asked.

"That's right. Are you the girl's master?"

"Yes, but who are you?"

"I am a Caster-class servant," the blue-haired man replied. "My True Name is Cú Chulainn."

"Cú Chulainn?" Hakuno said, but neither she or Ritsuka recognized the name.

"So none of you heard of me," Cú Chulainn said with mild annoyance, before turning his attention back at Hercules. "Girl, move quickly and smash his skull in with your shield before he recovers completely!"

"Right," Mash said, hurrying to the recovering Hercules as the last of the flames were dying out. Now recognizing the serious threat the Berserker represented, Mash didn't waste a second. But as she approached, Hercules recovered and tried to throw a punch at her. She narrowly dodged it, running up his arm and putting all of her strength into her attack. The blow was strong enough to flatten a car, shattering the Berserker's skull. His lower jaw and parts of the skull remained, but the damage was more than enough to take down the Berserker. But his body wasn't disappearing like a defeated servant's body should.

"Good job, but we need to grab these people and run for it!" Cù Chulainn exclaimed.

"Why," Ritsuka asked.

"Your servant has technically killed Hercules, but his Noble Phantasm, possessed by a reanimated shadow, is already reviving him. He will then become immune to whatever had killed him, so we need to make a hasty retreat before he recovers," the caster answered, a sense of urgency in his voice. Before the group could make a decision, Cú quickly began using runic magecraft to create circle of nine runic symbols around the fallen Hercules. Once the spell finished, a transparent blue dome of magic appeared around the berserker, covered in runic symbols.

"Okay, that should buy us some time. Quick, grab your master and follow me. I'll grab the girl," Cú said, rushing to scoop up Hakuno while Mash picked up Ritsuka. The group quickly fled the area, using whatever superhuman speed they could muster, trying to put as much distance between them and Hercules as possible. They ran for what seemed like ages, but eventrually Cú led them to an old house, which to the surprise of the group was still intact. He rushed them inside, and once the door was closed a rune placed upon the door was activated.

"Alright, we should be safe in here for a little while," Cú said, putting Hakuno down, Mash doing the same for Ritsuka. "The runes I have placed around the grounds should conceal us, making it harder for Hercules to find us."

"Okay, so you said that Servant is Hercules. As in the demi-god son of Zeus?!" Ritsuka began.

"Of course they have heard of him," Cú Chulainn grumbled, mild annoyance in his voice. "But that aside, the servant you fought was Hercules. After Saber killed him, she raised the corpse as a Shadow Servant to act as her personal attack dog. Still, that Shadow Servant possesses all of his strength and the Noble Phantasm that allows him to come back after he has been killed, up to nine times."

"Couldn't we have killed him a few more times while he was down?"

"Sorry, young lady," the Caster said, shaking his head at Hakuno. "But I have managed to kill him a few times. The problem is I ran out of ways to put that beast down."

"So how many times have you killed him?" Mash inquired as she rested against a wall in the main hall.

"Three times. Since this young lady killed him once, that leaves him with five lives left."

"Okay, but why help us?" asked Hakuno.

"Good question," Cú replied with a smile. "My goal is to win the Holy Grail War, so I need to take down Saber. Unfortunately, some kind of corrupting power changed her, and soon after she murdered the other servants, minus myself and Lancer. Lancer sided with Saber while she raised the slain servants as Shadow Servants, before using whatever corrupted Saber on Lancer, changing her as well."

"And you managed to survive all this time?" Hakuno asked.

"Yes, mostly through a combination of being lucky and quick on my feet. I have managed to eliminate the Rider and Archer Shadow Servants, but as you already know, the Berserker has been a lot more difficult to take down."

"So you're helping us so you can win against Saber?" Mash asked. Cù nodded.

"Whatever you seek to accomplish, with her and her attack dog around it would be in your interest to take them down. So, we're really just helping each other," Cú Chulainn replied with a smile. "That being said, I would like to form a temporary contract with you."

"A temporary contact?" Ritsuka asked.

"Yes. That way I can fight as your servant alongside the beautiful girl at your side," Cú replied jokingly, a grin on his face. Mash blushed, already aware of how revealing her outfit. Hakuno merely looked at the caster with annoyance.

"So how do we do that?" Ritsuka asked reluctantly.

"I guess this means both of you are rookies, then," Cú Chulainn said with a disappointed sigh. "Don't worry, we can still make this work. Once we're done, I have something in mind for the young lady too."

"Me?" Hakuno asked, realizing Cú Chulainn was looking at her.

"Have you summoned a servant before?"

"No, I haven't," Hakuno replied. Cú Chulainn didn't seem surprised by the response.

"Just checking. I guess I am going to give you a crash course in summoning a Heroic Spirit," Cú replied.

Meanwhile, across town, Lelouch was sitting behind a desk. He was going over some books, but he had grown increasingly doubtful that he would find anything useful. As he went over the books, Genghis Khan kept a watchful eye out for any further attacking enemies. However, the servant noticed his master's growing annoyance with the lack of clues.

"Nothing yet, master?"

"Not so far, no," Lelouch muttered, reclining in his chair. "I've skimmed through a dozen books already, but I've found nothing even remotely useful."

"Do not despair. A warrior must never underestimate the value of knowledge. A lord without an appreciation for culture is a poor ruler indeed."

"…huh."

"You seem surprised, master."

"Forgive me," Lelouch said, shaking his head, "I suppose I didn't expect the butcher of empires to have such an appreciation of books."

"Not books, perhaps, not like these," said the Khan, giving a carefree flip-through of a book Lelouch had placed on the desk, "but my people had writing of a kind. The great history of our people was kept by your shamans, written down on parchments of the highest quality. Every member of the tribe was expected to know it. The stories they told inspired me from when I was a young boy. The khans of old and the vengeance they wrought led the way when I started my path to power. It may not be knowledge as you know it, but the Mongols knew how to write down what mattered."

"I see," said Lelouch ponderously. "I apologize if I came across as…"

"Think nothing of it. The whole world always thought of us as savage, ignorant barbarians, until we proved them wrong. We were sophisticated savage barbarians."

The Khan grinned, and Lelouch chuckled. He hadn't seen Genghis crack a joke yet.

"Does this whole thing grate at you? You were the most powerful man in the world, and now you're brought back to be somebody else's servant. I would expect that to be a hard pill to swallow."

The Khan gave him a ponderous look.

"It is true that I have been summoned to serve a young pup, clever but far too unaccomplished to be giving me orders. But on the other hand, I was dead and now I am not. Once more, I feel the wind on my face and the joy of running my blade through my enemies. I face challenges, and through my own power I overcome them. Life has always been a great struggle, and I always excelled at it. To live well is better than to be dead, certainly. It is something of an indignity, but you have been respectful enough. Would I rather be leading a throng of riders in the search of conquest? Perhaps. But this is not so bad."

"Is there anything I can do? Could I address you with some title, maybe? I know you were once called Temujin, but I doubt you would accept that."

"Temujin?" said the Khan, slowly shaking his head, "No, Temujin died a long time ago. If you wish to address me respectfully…"

The Khan trailed off, staring into the distance. There was a pregnant pause, before he finally replied.

"I have carried many titles, but there is one I valued more than any other. Khagan. Khan of Khans. When I did what nobody had before, and united all the clans under one banner to take the world, I never felt my heart soar quite like that again. The first ruler of my people, united."

"Khagan," said Lelouch, tasting the word. "That works. It's got quite a ring to it."

"You are not required to. But if you wish it…"

"I want us to have a partnership," said Lelouch, "master and servant, yes, but respectful. If khagan is a step towards that, then I will be glad to use it."

The Khan nodded approvingly. Then, as they finished speaking, Olga entered with a map and a book she had apparently found.

"Alright, I think I know what might've happened here," she said, laying out the map on the desk.

At first glance the map displayed a complete layout of Fuyuki City, but upon closer inspection there was something odd about it.

"This is the map of the leylines running throughout Fuyuki City," Lelouch deduced, having seen similar maps before when Dr. Romani gave his lessons.

"That's right, and looking at this book," Olga answered, putting the book down on the corner of the table, "I know what happened to everyone. I am not certain of the details of how they did it, but everything we have seen would match making it the most likely conclusion."

"Could you elaborate?"

"As you may or may not know, the Fuyuki Holy Grail War never actually had a Holy Grail. It was a clever imitation at best, but it was still a powerful object fueled by magical energy. It could grant a user a wish, although there were some limitations depending on the amount of power fueling it," Olga explained. "So, in order for the Fuyuki Holy Grail to function to grant the winner their wish, the servants slain during the Holy Grail war were fed into the Holy Grail to serve as fuel."

"Using the Leylines and the containers they were summoned into as the means?"

Olga nodded. "More or less. But what happened here was a large scale harvest of the energy of everyone in Fuyuki."

Realization dawned on Lelouch, "You mean everyone in the city was killed so their energy could be used to fuel the Fuyuki Grail?"

"Just as servants can consume human souls to replenish their energy, the same can be applied with ordinary humans for the Holy Grail. Although a single servant whose energy is collected by the Grail can offer much more than a single human…" Olga explained, and Lelouch realized where this was going.

"A city full of humans could provide plenty of energy."

"Exactly. I just don't know how they killed everyone in this city all at once. But for the collection to work, humans had to be killed. This disaster was caused just so their souls could be harvested as energy."

"Then maybe the core of the Fuyuki Holy Grail system could be the source of the Singularity," Lelouch said.

"Exactly. It will be our next destination once the others get here."

"So you know where it is?"

"Not quite, but I have narrowed down its general location using this leyline map. We just need to find it."

Back at the other mansion, Ritsuka, Hakuno, Mash, and Cú Chulainn were taking a breather. The group had relocated to a basement, where they had found shelves and tables filled with various instruments and tools commonly used for magecraft.

"This is what we'll use," the Caster said, showing the group a magic circle carved into the ground near the back of the basement. "It's a summoning circle. Normally it would've been used to summon a Heroic Spirt, but the master who lived here didn't have a chance to use it. At least as far as I can tell."

"How can you be so sure?" Mash inquired.

"I was summoned without a master. I think it's safe to assume the other servants didn't have one either."

"So, we're going to use this circle to summon a Heroic Spirit for Hakuno?" Ritsuka inquired, kneeling down to examine it.

"If I summon one, what then?" Hakuno asked.

"Relax," Sion's voice chimed in from the communicator on Hakuno's wrist. "I'll walk you through the incarnation required, and once you do summon a servant, we'll support you. Chaldea has support systems, so you don't need to provide energy for your servant. Chaldea will handle that."

"Okay," Hakuno said, feeling reassured. Unfortunately, there was a problem approaching them.

The basement trembled faintly. Although it could have been nothing, Cú Chulainn knew better.

"Damn it, Hercules is nearby. I don't know if he has been tracking us or if it's just pure misfortune that he has been moving in this direction," Cú cautioned. "We better get to the top floor, just in case he does notice we're here."

"I thought your spell was supposed to shield us?" Ritsuka inquired.

"It makes detecting us harder. He could still find us the old fashioned way if he tears up enough of this area."

"There is something else, is there?" Hakuno asked.

Cú hesitated to answer, but he relented. "When you begin the summoning, should it work, the surge of magical energy will likely act as a beacon to draw him to us."

"Even if we weren't hiding here, we would've been hunted by Hercules?" Ritsuka asked

"Yes," the Caster acknowledged. "So if we want to have any hope of defeating Saber without worrying about his interference, we'll need to take out Hercules."

"Then maybe we should get to work while the rest of you get ready to defend this place. I'll ask Da Vinci or Roman to send word to Lelouch and Olga," Sion said.

"We'll hold down the fort," Ritsuka said before he, Mash, and Cú hurried up the stairs. Once they were gone, Hakuno sighed.

"No pressure Hakuno, you got this," Sion offered encouragingly.

"Pressure?" Hakuno asked raising an eyebrow and a annoyed expression. "We've got a rampaging Hercules on our heels, and I am expected to summon a servant we hope can give us a fighting chance? I never summoned a servant before. How can I not feel pressure right now?"

"I guess you have a point," Sion admitted with a nervous laugh, before adopting a serious expression. "Regardless, we have to forge ahead. Now let's go over the incantation before you make the attempt."

"Right."

Meanwhile, upstairs, Mash, Ritsuka and Cú were preparing to fend off an attack from Hercules. Hopefully he wouldn't find them, but should Hakuno succeed, the magical energy from the summoning would draw Hercules to them like a moth to the flame. They could only hope the berserker would have moved on by then. The best case scenario would be him leaving the area altogether, allowing them time to escape before he could return. Regrettably, Ritsuka had a feeling that would be doubtful.

"Good news is that he hasn't found our location," Cú said, looking out a window carefully.

"What's the bad news?" Ritsuka asked.

"I don't think he's leaving, so we better brace ourselves for a fight. Let's hope the other girl downstairs can summon us a real winner of a servant."

"Okay, so what should we do?" Ritsuka asked, but glancing over his shoulder he saw Mash was worried.

"Even if he realizes we're here, Hercules doesn't know exactly where. That gives us some options," Cú explained. "If we had another servant that could deliver a killing blow then we would be in a ideal position to ambush him."

"But we don't."

"Maybe not quite," the Caster said before turning to Mash. "Young lady, do you know how to activate your Noble Phantasm?"

"My Noble Phantasm?" Mash asked, confused.

"You know what that is, right?"

"Of course. A Noble Phantasm are crystallized mysteries said to embody a Heroic Spirit's ultimate mystery as a hero and their existence through historical fact or anecdotes. They can be powerful armaments that can appear in a wide range of different forms and functions," Mash replied.

"That's about right, yes. A Noble Phantasm is unique to each Heroic Spirit," Cú said with a nod, before giving Mash a concerned look. "However, you don't know what kind of Noble Phantasm you have, do you?"

Mash hung her head down in shame. "I don't."

"This is quite the predicament, but I might have an idea to draw it out. However, I should warn you, it's fifty-fifty at best."

Below them in the basement, Hakuno had just failed her second attempt to summon a servant. Worry and frustration began to grow within her, but Sion had an idea.

"Okay, we need some magical energy to kickstart the summoning," Sion said, entering some commands into her terminal.

"Then should I go and get Caster?"

"No need," Sion replied before explaining. "If this place belongs to the Tohsaka Family, then there might be a gemstone infused with magic in that workshop."

"A gemstone?"

"The Tohsaka Family specializes in using gemstones for their Magecraft, so there might be some gemstones filled with magical energy we could use," Sion suggested.

"Oh, I get it now," Hakuno said. An external power source would be quite helpful.

Deciding to begin with the most likely location where gemstones might be kept, Hakuno began searching a nearby desk. Shuffling through papers and a few notebooks she came across, Hakuno almost considered emptying the drawers of their contents. However, there would be no need for that, because Hakuno found a large red gemstone in a pendant hidden under a notebook.

"Is this what I am looking for?" said Hakuno, holding the pendant up.

Sion examined the gem from a distance, using the scanner to examine it.

"Yup, that's exactly what we need. It's got a lot of magical energy stored within it, so it should be enough for our purposes," Sion said.

I really hope this works, because I really don't want to die in a place like this, thought Hakuno.

"Let silver and steel be the essence," she began, reciting the summoning incantation from memory. "Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let ascend a wall against the wind that shall collapse!"

At first nothing happened, but soon the gemstone began to glow, as did the summoning circle.

"It's working, keep going!" Sion said encouragingly.

"Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate. Let it be declared now; your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail."

An indoor wind began to pick up as the circle began drawing energy from the gemstone Hakuno was holding.

"I bid thee, accept my beckoning as a defender of humanity's future hero of the past," Hakuno cried as the energy in the room continued to build. She planted herself determined to finish the summoning, "Answer if you would submit to this will and this truth."

"You're almost there, don't stop now!"

"An oath shall be sworn here," Hakuno said, ignoring Sion to focus," I shall achieve all virtues of all of Heaven; I shall have dominance over all evils of all of Hell!"

Now the wind that had been building up within the basement sent papers and other small objects flying. Hakuno was forced to close her eyes, but she pressed on.

"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power!" Hakuno said as three red marks began to appear on top of her hand. "Come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!"

The summoning was completed. An explosion of magical energy knocked Hakuno off her feet, and the room was filled with smoke. She began trying to shoo away all of the smoke around her, coughing.

"Did…did it work?"

"I would say it did," a new voice answered.

As more of the smoke started to vanish, Hakuno saw a hand offered to her.

"I am your Archer-class servant. I hope I can be of service to you."

Hakuno accepted the hand as he pulled her to his feet. Once the last of the smoke was gone, Hakuno got a good look at her new servant.

He was Japanese, but his attire was surprisingly modern. He wore black pants with belts and boots, a red coat with black and gray trimmed armor. His skin was brown, and his hair was grayish-white, and he had amber eyes.

"You're an Archer-class servant?" Hakuno asked.

"Yes, I am. I take it you are new at this then?"

"That's one way to put it," Hakuno replied.

"Worry not, I can assist you. I was quite inexperienced in my days as a Master myself, so you are in good hands."

Suddenly the entire structure shook violently.

"An enemy attack already?" Archer remarked.

"Right, I guess Hercules found us!" Hakuno said. The summoning had given their location away, just like they had expected.

"Hercules," Archer said, recognizing the name. "He has been summoned as a Berserker, hasn't he?"

"You know him?"

"I do. Tell me, how many lives does he still have?"

Above ground, Hercules was advancing. Smashing his way through the front of the Tohsaka House, the berserker was shocked to find himself suddenly repelled. As the front of the house crumbled away, Mash was stood there with her shield raised. However, unlike the previous times she had tried to block a blow from Hercules, the shield was glowing with magical energy. Soon, the energy grew and expanded outward, creating a large magical circle with runes, forming a magical barrier. The power Hercules poured into his attack was rebounded back against him, which sent the shadow servant flying backward.

Hercules kept going until he crashed into a ruined apartment complex,. Already damaged, the structure crumbled. What was left of it collapsed over Hercules, burying him in the rubble.

"If we're lucky, maybe that will take another one of his lives." Cú commented, clearly impressed. "Still, even though that wasn't a full manifestation of your Noble Phantasm, it wasn't bad either."

"That wasn't it?" Ritsuka asked.

The Caster shook his head, "No, until she remembers the True Name of the Heroic Spirit bound to her, she'll be unable to manifest it fully."

"So we have Ireland's Child of Light helping us as a Caster," Archer replied, joining the group with Hakuno following him.

"You recognize me?" Cú said, eyeing the newly summoned servant. "You don't like anyone I would've known in life."

"I didn't, but I was involved in a few Holy Grail Wars as a master myself," Archer replied before he adopted a more serious expression. "However, one of them did involve Hercules, so I am quite familiar with him. I am told you have managed to claim some of his lives already."

"Yes, we have. Do you have anything to eliminate the last five or four lives he's got left?"

"I do," Archer replied, manifesting a black western-style straight bow in one hand.

In his other hand, a strange sword with a drill-like blade manifested before it grew thinner and smaller in size, akin to the shape of an arrow.

At that moment, Hercules emerged from the collapsed apartment with an infuriated roar, but Archer was ready for him. He had already drawn his bow and charged the arrow with energy, letting it fly. No sooner had Hercules emerged from the rubble than the arrow struck the Shadow servant in the face. The impact set off an enormous explosion. As the smoke cleared, Hercules' head was gone, along with most of his torso.

"How can he come back from that?" Ritsuka exclaimed.

"He can, trust me," Archer cautioned, this time dismissing his bow to summon a pair of curved swords, one with a white blade, one black. "Hopefully, that should have taken more than one life."

"If not?" Cú Chulainn asked.

"I got a few more tricks up my sleeve that will let me take six of his lives."

Archer took to the air before hurling the twin blades Archer had conjured. Each one embedded itself into Hercules' regenerating shoulders. Extending his hands, Archer began conjuring another weapon. This time it was a sword with a polished yet a nearly colorless blade, one that was familiar to Cú.

That looks almost like the sword Saber had before it was corrupted…who is this Archer?

Golden magical energy began gathering along the length of the blade as Archer was preparing to unleash another attack. Still, during this time, Hercules had already finished recovering. Roaring again, Hercules was stood up to meet Archer's charge. But then, with an unseen gesture, the swords embedded into Hercules exploded, decapitating the Shadow Servant again.

That's two lives already, Mash thought in astonishment.

As Hercules was forced to regenerate again, Archer had finished readying his attack, and the sword he conjured was glowing with magical power. Unlike the last time, Hercules recovered faster before he was on his feet again, but Archer was ready.

"So without a master and being a shadow of your former self, you lost all sense of reason. I think your master would've been saddened to see what you have been reduced to," Archer said, raising the sword. As he swung it, he called out. "Excalibur Image!"

A blinding golden light was unleashed from the sword Archer had conjured as the destructive beam of energy tore through everything in its path, Hercules included. The berserker had suffered a direct hit, but it wasn't enough to put him down. The sword Archer used disintegrate after usage, replicating Excalibur was impossible for Archer, however Archer would still come close by creating a diminished replica of it.

Even so the fake blade proved it was capable of packing a punch.

"Three lives down," Archer said, as a magical energy began to gather about him. "I am the bone of my sword, steel is my body, and fire is my blood."

As he finished his chant, magical runes and lines appeared at his feet.

"I have created over a thousand blades," Archer continued. "Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life. Have withstood pain to create many weapons. Yet, those hands will never hold anything."

Hercules rose up once more, attacking with a leap, trying to strike him down. But Archer raised his hand and a flower-like barrier appeared, deflecting Hercules's attack.

"So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."

In a flash, Ritsuka, Mash, Cú Chulainn, Hakuno, and Hercules were transported into a different world. The ruined city was gone, but instead, they were inside a desolate landscape littered with hundreds, if not thousands, of swords and various weapons. The clouds above them were in perpetual dusk, rotating gears seen within the clouds.

"A reality marble," Mash said in awe.

"A reality marble?" Ritsuka asked.

"It's the materialization and projection of one's inner world onto reality," Mash explained. "I don't fully understand the mechanics, but this something only the greatest of magi can accomplish after years of work. To create and impose their own inner world upon reality within an enclosed space."

"So that's how he fights, then," Cú remarked. "This inner world is the Archer's Noble Phantasm. All of those weapons we have seen him using are produced within this space.'

"Produced?" Mash inquired.

"Yes. Think of it like bullets for a gun. As long as Archer has magical energy, he can produce an endless amount of swords and similar weapons within this space to use. Right now, he has a big home-field advantage."

"How so?" Hakuno asked.

"Best if you just watch, but I won't be just sitting around warming the bench."

Hercules recovered, rushing at Archer intent on killing him, but suddenly the swords embedded into the ground around them began rising into the air. Acting under Archer's control, the blades, numbering by the dozens and growing, began to rain down upon Hercules. Each blade pierced Hercules's body; two of them impaled him through the neck while he was attempting to swat the swords away.

Recovering again, and now with two lives remaining, Hercules made a desperate charge to attack the Archer. However, roots erupted from the ground, seizing the rampaging Berserker, stopping him in his tracks.

"Trace on," Archer said as a replica of Hercules' sword was conjured in Archer's hand.

The other swords raining down Hercules began to detonate upon contact, causing even more damage to the Berserker. Still, it fought to inch closer and closer to the Archer. The red-coat servant levitated Hercules's sword with the other large blades he conjured out of thin air, before he let them fly. The replica of Hercules's own sword impaled his head, splitting it into two.

This time Hercules didn't get up, his body beginning to vanish.

"He did it," Ritsuka said as Hercules disappeared. "You really picked the best servant we could ask for in this situation."

"Thanks, but I was just lucky," Hakuno replied.

"Nonsense, sometimes luck is part of being a Master. Having some is always good," Cú said.

"Too true," Archer replied, as the magical reality began to vanish around them.

"So, what's your name?" Hakuno inquired.

"You can call me Archer if you want, but I suppose for the sake of convenience, you can just call me Emiya," the Archer offered.

"Emiya, huh?" Ritsuka said, but no person with that name came to mind.

"I am really just a Nameless Hero of Justice. Compared to other Heroic Spirits, I am fairly young," Emiya clarified. "You won't find any mention of me in any movies or a history book."

"Those weapons you used, they were all replicas of Noble Phantasms used by other Heroic Spirits?" Cú said. "I recognized one of them. It was owned by a comrade of mine."

"That's right. Although they are not as potent as the real thing, I still come very close to reproducing them, so they are still potent weapons," Emiya replied.

Hercules, you felt weaker than I remember, the Archer thought. Maybe you were a pale imitation too, made from the real thing.

Suddenly the sound of galloping hooves drew their attention as Lelouch, Olga, and the Khan, accompanied by his soldiers, arrived on the scene.

"Are you guys alright?" Lelouch asked from atop the horse he was riding alongside his servant.

"It seems they summoned the right servant and got the situation under control," The Khan observed.

Olga breathed a sigh of relief but adopted a serious expression.

"The situation is improving, but we still need to confront the source of this singularity," Olga said before explaining. "We may have identified a likely location of the source. It's under Mount Enzou."

"Below Ryuudou Temple, to be more exact," Cú said. "I know the location you speak of. It's where Saber has made her lair."

"Then that confirms what we are looking for is there," Lelouch said.

"You must be the Caster allied with Ritsuka, then?" Olga inquired, and Cú replied with a nod. "Then you must be the new servant Hakuno has summoned?"

"I am Emiya, an Archer-class servant." Replied the Archer.

"I take it all of you took down the Berserker-class servant then?" Lelouch asked.

"We did, thanks to the efforts of Mash, Emiya, and Cú Chulainn," Ritsuka replied.

"I am glad to hear that. We heard Hercules was hounding you, so we decided to come to back you all up. I guess it was unnecessary," Lelouch mused with a relieved smile. He was glad to see Mash was alright. "How have you been holding up, Mash?"

"I have been fine, all things considered," Mash replied with a smile.

"I have summoned some more horses and riders for each of you. We ride for Mount Enzou," The Khan said, gesturing to five horses with riders on them.

Once everyone had mounted up, they made for Mount Enzou. Along the way, the two groups brought each other up to speed. Of course, proper introductions were also taken care of between Lelouch, Ritsuka, and Hakuno. Except for Saber, there was no other opposition along the way.

They encountered some skeletons and zombies roaming the ruins. Still, they were quickly dispatched by the Heroic Spirits in their company.

"So King Arthur awaits us inside that cavern," Lelouch said. Cú had brought them up to speed on the way, filling in some key details.

"That's right. Something corrupted her, so she is a lot more dangerous than she used to be. She killed Berserker easily with her new power before raising him again," Cú explained.

"She did the same thing to all of the servants, or at least those who didn't join her," Lelouch said, thinking of the Lancer he and the Khan had encountered.

"The King of Knights will not be an easy foe to beat," Emiya warned.

"It sounds like you know him," Hakuno asked.

"Actually, King Arthur is a she. Her real name is Artoria Pendragon," Emiya said. "Secretly, she ruled as a woman during her time as Camelot's king."

"How did you know that?" Ritsuka inquired.

"I had my own encounters with the Heroic Spirits I mentioned when I was alive," Emiya said, but Lelouch was suspicious.

Why do I feel there is more to than he is willing to tell us?

"Were you a master when you were alive?" Hakuno inquired.

"I was, although it happened when I was around your age. I was absolutely terrible as a magus back then, so if you have any questions about being a master, I'll gladly help you," Emiya answered.

"We have the advantage of numbers, at least," Olga said confidently, but the Khan shook his head.

"My enemies often outnumbered me, and I defeated them all the same. This Saber cannot be underestimated. She defeated almost all of the other servants in the Holy Grail War on her own, and one of them was a demi-god, Hercules. We should not recklessly charge in."

"I concur," Emiya said. "We need a plan."

"There is a small clearing near the cavern that leads to where Saber is," Cú Chulainn suggested. "We can plan our next move from there."

"Agreed," Olga said. The air was thick with tension as they headed toward their destination.

A/N: there you have it. I decided to end it here, but the next chapter is already done I am just waiting for the work upon it be done.

I hope the battle with Saber makes up for how I felt the quality of the fights in this chapter felt.

Anyway, thank you all for reading the chapter.