AN- Welp. Another day, another chapter. Let's see what happens now…

Chapter 7

Well then. A plan had been decided. It was time for us to reduce the number of competitors taking part in this Holy Grail War- in other words, I'd decided to put the Grey Team on the offensive.

Step 1: Moar Reconnaissance. It's all well and good deciding to attack someone, but it's kind of silly unless you know WHERE they are gonna be. I had left this in the capable hands of my Saber- they'd once been a spy, so I figured sneaking into Homuhara Academy and sneaking out the personal addresses of Matou, Emiya and Tohsaka would be child's play.

Step 2: Personal Preparation. Due to the rules of the War, secrecy must be retained. Therefore, night time battles were our only real option for not pulling aside the Masquerade and making this situation even more explosive. This left me with a full afternoon of time that I refused to waste. Time to visit the library, and perhaps even try out this whole 'Magus' thing a little more. Kotomine had left two tomes for me, and I'd hardly learnt everything from within them…

XXXXXXXXXX

["What are you looking for?"] Rider asked mentally, all the while hidden in her Astral form beside me. I'd been looking through the shelves for some time now but hadn't had much luck. I didn't really want to bother a librarian though, because that left traces of my presence here, and I didn't want to leave any hints for any other Masters that could ask after me. It would be an easy plot to conceive- naturally a Master would wish to learn more about the Servant they summon, so why not check the libraries? Not like the internet was a thing here yet.

["History books. About you and the others, actually."] I replied. ["I feel kinda guilty that out of the three of you, I'm only familiar with Medea's legend. I want to read up on you too… but no offense, I'm having difficulty finding you."]

["Awwww. I'm glad you want to learn about little old me. If you ARE looking for me though, then you're looking in the wrong time period. The sixth century is too late. Check out the first."]

XXXXXXXXXX

"You call that a circle!? Look at it! That's more of an oval than anything! And don't even get me started on those symbols!" Medea chided, sternly waggling her finger at me while I floundered.

"Come on!" I begged, desperation in my eyes and tone. "Give me a break! I'm a newbie after all! I've been doing this for hours, and my hands are one gesture from snapping off! It's just a basic containment circle; it's not like it's going to explode if my symbols are a few inches off!"

"Exactly!" She screeched like the banshee of Irish mythos. "It's so basic that you have no excuses for failing at it so miserably!"

Every word was an arrow through my heart, ever exclamation just one more stomp upon my already bruised and broken ego. "M-mercy!" I begged.

"No mercy!" By now, she had grabbed my shirt and was shaking me backwards and forwards with every word. "To be a Magus is to walk with death! Now read the page a bit closer and try again!" With a wave of her hands, my chalk circle evaporated, leaving me back at square one.

I shuddered as I turned my attention back to the book. Perhaps it was time for a break and to move away from basic Formalcraft? "Geez. I think I've finally found the only thing that scares me more than Older!Medea… Sensei!Medea."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Well you aren't completely useless." Medea concluded, with a teeny little nod of satisfaction.

I could only look incredulously at her. "Thanks. I guess. I mean, it's not like I only started this magic business a day ago and that it's a miracle enough that I haven't accidentally exploded myself yet, or something."

"Don't be silly. This Magecraft you have been casting is so pathetic that the only way you could have possibly hurt yourself would have been misusing your Magic Core and giving yourself a stroke."

"What have I said about positive reinforcement?" Warned Boudica, finally deciding to butt in. Lily had been busy all day tracking down the information I wanted and double-checking things for me, while Medea had taken point in trying to teach me Magecraft for Dummies. This left Boudica with little to do but lounge about and try to play mediator/Big-Sis between us.

"I'm tryyinnng." Moaned the Caster. "It's not my fault that Magi today are useless."

The redhead raised an eyebrow and pointed knowingly at her. "Yes, but not everyone is a Magus from the Age of the Gods and was personally taught by Hecate."

"Yeah!" I agreed, finally happy that someone was in my corner. "Your standards are too high, lady!"

She crossed her arms angrily and huffed. "Fine. I suppose I can forgive you for your shoddy work."

At this, I frowned. "As I said, it's a miracle almost on the level of Heavens Feel that I can cast anything at all."

"Finally managing to perceive your Servants stats in a form you can recognise is not a valid achievement- it's the absolute minimum a Master should be capable of."

"I repeat. You have really high standards."

"Yes! I do! And damn it, if I'm going to have to sit here and watch you blunder through Magecraft, then it's the least I can do to ensure that you do it right!" She huffed.

"Awww!" Cooed Boudica, tugging at Medea's cheeks while she struggled futilely against the gesture. "Isn't she adorable!? She just wants to help!"

"The Japanese call this thing, a 'Tsundere'." I informed her, using the fabled air quotations.

"I am not a Tsundere! Whatever one of them is!" She insisted.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

I turned to the door, sensing a magical connection between the one on the other side of the door.

"You don't need to knock, Saber. Hell, you're a phantasmal existence! You don't even need to use the door and can just phase through it!"

Saber did as I instructed, opening the door and falling to one knee in her customary greeting. "I am a Knight, and I have agreed to serve. Ergo, I must be respectful."

It was kind of scary how much exercise my eyebrows were getting from rolling, these days. Someday soon those brows of mine would be strong enough to lift weights, at this rate. "Anyway, did you get it done?"

"Yes. I obtained all the addresses." Lily informed me. "I was also able to follow the one you instructed, though with great difficulty. Unfortunately, since I wasn't summoned as an Assassin, I lacked the Presence Concealment Skill, so there was only so much I could do. I had to follow at a great distance, but I can conclusively say that the target has entered their home and was still there last thing I checked."

I rubbed my hands together. "Excellent… its sunset, so now we can finally move. Saber, Caster, Rider… it's time for us to kill the Rider of Blue."

XXXXXXXXXX

This time, there was no deceit involved. We weren't going to be subtle about this. Our target was Rider of Blue, Medusa the Gorgon, and dang it, we were going to get her, and her damned Worm too!

Okay- quote fell apart. But yeah. I'm a gonna try and kill two birds with one stone here. Makiri Zolgen, or Matou Zouken as he is now called, is a guy that has gotta die. One way, or another. Meanwhile, Sakura was a girl liable to ally with troublesome people- Medusa working with either Saber or Archer of Blue would be a bad outcome for me.

["Now!"] I commanded mentally, standing away from the house as I directed my Servants into battle.

At once, they moved. And the peace of the night was broken as suddenly as we had arrived.

"Machia Hecatia Graea!"Cried out Medea as she cast her signature Rain of Light spell. Behind her, a hundred magic circles manifested in the sky, glowing a bright purple. Then, I felt a sharp tug on my reserves as each circle released a massive beam of light straight into the Matou Mansion. Not necessarily deliberating, but the loss was noticeable. Each beam was A Ranked in terms of their power- Medea was lucky that I had so much energy to supply her.

Then, as the dust cleared to reveal the thoroughly trashed house, my Rider called upon her Noble Phantasm: "Just leave it to me! Chariot of Boudica!". This time, she manifested her glorious chariot in all its splendour. She and Saber mounted it, then drove straight into the ruins.

From the rubble, a figure emerged. Rider was pissed and had her Master in her arms. Clearly, she had protected Sakura from the falling debris and the rain of spells. That was fine- I wasn't here for Sakura. I didn't want to have to kill her.

"Rider, let her put her Master down!" I ordered. "Then, you and Saber will hold her off. Oh yes! Before I forget: Saber, do not look Rider of Blue in the eyes." I had already warned them beforehand of looking into their eyes, and I was sure Boudica would manage to do this since she was largely the defensive support and could use her chariot to escape out range if necessary. Saber, meanwhile, was going to have to get up close and personal to fight, so I decided that I could spare one of my many Command Seals just to cut out the possibility of her getting effected by Medusa's Mystic Eyes.

And then, I spoke to Caster in my mind. ["Caster, you're with me. Let's deworm the place."]

I left my two Servants to it, and instead ran after my Caster who quickly used her magic to fly down into the broken house. The basement had to be here somewhere, and I wanted Medea to burn each and every worm we found.

"Found it!" Medea cried, then with a quick chant she banished the rubble blocking the route down. Several more chants were required to demolish the Mysteries that protected the room, but after that it was easy to make out way downwards into the earth. The basement itself was already halfway caved in- the mansion clearly not designed to endure a bombardment from a Magus that was born in the Age of the Gods.

"Ladies first," and then I gestured for her to enter.

Already, many of the worms had scattered, as the room wasn't waist deep in slimy familiars. Only knee deep now- though it was still sickening to look at. Zouken was a coward, and I assumed that I wouldn't be able to kill him now- but I did want to bloody his nose and remove a lot of his firepower.

Plus, I'd also felt rather sympathetic to Sakura's circumstances. She'd gone through hell, and damn it, this was the least that Zouken deserved.

Speaking of which… "Caster, burn them."

She looked at the creatures with distaste and nodded her head in certainty. "énkavma!". And then, fire erupted her from her staff in great bouts. Even from several meters away, I could feel myself sweat as I saw the orange inferno sweep down the steps and into the mass of worms' present. I could smell nothing but ash now, and it was hard to see where the fire was not. Medea walked down the steps, slowly but with assurance, and the fire parted around her. Another short incantation and the fire flowed around her like water, until I couldn't even see her anymore.

WHOOOSH!

The fire spread in all directions- rushing through the catacombs and searing into each and every cranny it could reach. This was an extermination mission- we were going to burn all the worms we could.

"Okay! I think I'm done here!" Medea said cheerfully, as she spun on her foot to face me. "Maaaan! You were right, Master! There sure were a lot of worms here!"

"And now, there are a hell of a lot less. Come on, let's go out and support the others."

Outside, the battle waged on. Sakura was to one side, and hidden behind a large pile of rubble, while she watched the battle.

The fight itself was neck and neck, even with Medusa outnumbered. Lily kept pace with Medusa and was able to fight her blow for blow. I felt my Perception Magecraft activate and noticed that their Agility stats were identical- B. Saber had the slight advantage here due to her weapon and her experience with using it, but Medusa's own daggers were sneakier and Rider of Blue was good at setting them up. I was certain that the lavender haired woman would have been able to slowly wear Lily down even with her higher Endurance score if it wasn't for one thing: and her name was Boudica.

"Hyaaaaa!" She cried from atop her speeding chariot, blade drawn and firing mana projectiles from the blade, that Medusa was forced to endure, while she surged through the field of battle, disrupting Medusa at every turn.

And then, the battle kicked up a notch. Sakura shouted aloud "Use it, Rider!", and she nodded, ever so minutely.

In an instance, she was gone- having returned to her Astral form. This move was shocking and bought her a moment of reprieve to escape the two-pronged assault of my Servants. Then, she reappeared, afar from the Mansion. She took her dagger, and in one clean motion slit her own throat.

"Fuck!" I called out. "Get back! Noble Phantasm!"

The blood pooled together and did as I knew it would. From the blood, a shining horse manifested. The Pegasus of legend, arguably Medusa's trump card, and the sole thing the qualified her for the position of Rider. Her Blood Fort Andromoda was unprepared, and I'd Sealed away the possibility of her Mystic Eyes of Petrification being a huge trump card here, since the major threat here was Chevalier d'Eon, so consequently she needed something else to even the scores.

And then it was too late, as the Pegasus was mounted, and Medusa took to the skies in a shower of silver. ["Caster!"] I urged, though she needed no prompting. With panicked tone, she cast her strongest shield- and a massive wall of light appeared before Saber, before several more layers of light were applied.

"Bellerophon!" Medua commanded, and then the star fell. The barrier held for a second, and then shattered. Saber braced themselves, preparing for the attack. But then, Boudica was there- her Chariot had its own flight capabilities, and she drove it so she stood directly before Medusa and her mount. Then, the white comet struck her too- and her defensively made chariot crumbled. I saw it though, Boudica leapt from her craft, and straight at Medusa- then put her sword and shield between them, and then the light of Bellerophon struck her too.

In a moment, the attack was over. The dust settled, and I could finally see what had happened. The Pegasus had definitively defeated my Rider- she had been struck hard and ploughed down into the earth- and now rested at the bottom of a massive crater. Burnt, bleeding and wounded, her shield gone, she knelt on one knee, with only her blade keeping her upright.

"Thank god for A Ranked Battle Continuation." In Heavens Feel, Bellerophon had managed to rival Excalibur at one point, and if it had been any other Servant to take a direct hit like that, I was certain they would have fallen.

Boudica had performed her duty though. She had been tasked with defence and to be my shield. Chevalier d'Eon was my sword, though, and a sword isn't satisfied until it had struck. There- in Medusa's torso, was a beautiful rapier, and its wielder there thrusting it in. While Rider took the hit, Saber readied themselves and retaliated while Medusa was fully committed to her attack.

Medusa reacted fast, and so did her Pegasus, even exhausted. Her dagger came to hand, and aimed to plunge into throat when-

"Machia Hecatia Graea!"

Then the Rain of Light fell upon the Matou household once more. A concentrated rain of spells directed intently at Medusa and her mount. A moment of hesitation as the Gorgon deliberated over which was the greatest threat, and that was all the fast swordsperson needed to remove their blade and kick off the Divine Beast.

It was too late now- the spell was cast. Medusa could either pursue Saber, or protect against Caster, and was already gravely wounded.

"Rider! Endure!" Cried out Sakura, and her Master's voice and Command Seal seemed to spur the Servant of the mount on. Her Pegasus vanished, disappearing into a blizzard of photons, with its duty done and the cost of maintaining her too great. And then, Medusa changed. Her muscles bulged, her demeanour darkened, and then her blindfold fell away, revealing the eyes of the Gorgon to all.

["Careful! She's using Monstrous Strength, and her Mystic Eyes are deadly enough that even looking away isn't a full defence!"]

Saber was the target, and they could not move. I'd ordered them long before to avert their eyes- but it didn't truly make too much of a difference, and I'd been a fool for assuming it would. Saber's Mana score was too low- already half her body was stone.

"Fuck! Saber!" I cried out, though I had to look away myself, because even with my own ridiculous Mana output, my body was starting to stiffen. "Shit! Why did I suggest this!? Why didn't I go with removing Assassin from the Temple, or stopping Lancer, or ANYTHING but this! Oh shit- I've just led Saber to their death!"

And then, when hope seemed lost, I recalled something.

Caster's Rain of Light had still been falling.

And so, they struck Medusa head on- breaking her concentration, and forcing her to the ground. I made myself watch- to see this to the end. I saw Medusa, on her knees, but unbroken by the attack due to her high Agility and her B rated Magic Resistance. But it stopped her assault on Saber, and more importantly, at this moment, she was off balance.

This was a fact that Boudica was very happy to take advantage of.

"Take this!" she cried, leaping from her place in the crater. She'd been injured- heavily, almost fatally so, but she had endured, and with the high amount of Mana I had sent her, I'd seen that she'd been able to heal herself at least enough to be able to move again. Medusa spun, readying herself to defend herself or strike- but she was too late. The blade struck the throat and decapitated the head in one clean motion. In this case, she had played defensively and paid the price. She died in much the same way her false Master had, funnily enough.

Medusa the Gorgon, the Rider of Blue, was dead.

XXXXXXXXXX

If someone were to observe the Matou household, the first they would wonder would be exactly what war had been waged there, for the ruins there could be described as nothing less than war-torn. Then they'd notice the pensive silence amongst those still there. And finally, they'd see the wounded, and wonder how the hell they survived whatever the hell they did.

"Oh no, nonono!" Medea whispered, from beside prone bodies of her fellow Servants. There was Saber, half their body stone, and Boudica, the majority of her body bloody and burned.

Then there was me- stood to one side, pumping as much Prana into their links as I could, while to my left sat Sakura- who could only watch the spot where her Servant fell.

"Can you heal them?" I asked, my voice bereft of emotions. I was too drained at this point to properly express my worry.

"It's bad." Medea admitted. "I think I can, but it will take my Noble Phantasm."

"Then use it." I told her. "In fact, never ask for permission to use your Phantasm. Ever." Because time was of the essence.

She complied, reaching for her staff and focussing intently. Her Prana drain increased exponentially, and then she spoke. "Pain Breaker: All Flaws Must Be Repaired.". From her staff, waves of light flowed, almost like the aurora borealis. Like starlight, it bathed the two prone figures, and clung to them like clouds. Then, before my eyes, they began to heal. No- not heal. This wasn't taking a broken thing and filling in the missing parts. It wasn't taking something imperfect and recreating it until the damage could barely be noticed.

This was almost akin to time reversion. The bodies were being brought back to the point when they were at 'perfect condition'. She could not tolerate those imperfections- therefore the bodies had to have been perfect all along, was the sort of logic that Noble Phantasm worked off.

In other words- it was a very much a contrast the Noble Phantasm of her elder self, which could only ever break.

"There we go! I think they should be fine now." Medea said, ending her Noble Phantasm. With a sigh, she wiped away the sweat clinging to her forehead.

I approached her and patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Thank you. If you weren't here, we would have just lost two Servants. I… fucked up by suggesting this, and they almost paid the price."

"Not a problem." She shook her head reassuringly. "Besides which, I wouldn't say that you messed up. We were fighting three on one, and it really should have been easier than that."

"Aye. I'd expected an easier battle, but I shouldn't have, so I still screwed up." I hadn't expected this outcome, although in hindsight I should have. I'd taken our numbers advantage, the synergy of my Servants and their individual abilities and had assumed that a victory was well within reach. However, I'd definitely underestimated Medusa, and I should have known better. Medusa, and so many Servants, were Bullshit. And I'd forgotten just how bad Medusa could be when she was going all out.

Medea's smile was reassuring. "I guess we're both screw ups here, then. I wish I could have done so much more, because I was useless against that Magic Resistance of hers. That battle… if Servants like her are the calibre we are going to be facing, then this War will be much harder than I'd hoped."

"True." I acknowledged. "But on the other hand, while you aren't quite as offensively Bullshit, you are a damned good healer. Saber and Rider can afford to fight with all their might, because they know you can patch them up."

"Complimenting me doesn't make me happy, you know." She frowned.

I coughed something that could have possibly been 'Tsun-Tsun'.

"Excuse me, but what are you going to do to me now?" I spun, only just now remembering that we still had Sakura sitting there. We'd just murdered her Servant and told her to sit still for a bit, and so she had. She did it with a small, defiant glare at me, but it wasn't like she was in a position to protest.

"We'll do nothing with you." I honestly told her. "Quite frankly, we were just here for Rider."

"You have three Servants."

"Aye. That I have. This War will be ridiculous, with 21 Servants total. So, it seemed wise to strike early."

Sakura looked pensive- she was still staring at that one spot. "I never wanted to be in the War. As soon as I was forced to summon Rider, Shinji took her from me. That was a shame, because I liked her. And then you killed him. And then you killed her too."

I sighed and walked up to her. She flinched away, so I stopped. "Look, it wasn't anything personal. Honestly, if I could stop this war with no casualties, I'd do it. I don't much care for a wish to begin with. If I could have earned a Happy Ending where everyone and their Servants could sit down for tea and crumpets, I would. All this-" I gestured around the devastated mansion. "it just seems so pointless. We're all fighting to the death for a wish. And I'm not quite a Saint enough to do nothing when I know that brave people are coming to kill me..."

That wasn't quite the complete truth, but it was close enough. For the most part, I would have been content to sit out the War. Living in this world would be hella difficult, but it beat dying. And since escaping this war now that I was a target was impossible, it made sense for me to be proactive in ensuring I survived this War, right?

Yes- it did. But while I wasn't Saint enough to do nothing when people were coming to kill me… I also wasn't self-deluded enough to think that I was immune to the promise of a pure Wish- that I didn't have a selfish aspect to my actions. If a genie asked you 'hypothetically, if you had a rules-free wish, what would it be?', then you'd be a fool not to reply, wouldn't you?

Riches, power, knowledge, love… having any one of these petty desires fulfilled would be better than not having them. So objectively, since I'm already fighting to survive this War, then there was no harm in claiming the reward at the end if I did win either, was there?

I wasn't like Emiya Kiritsugu, or Matou Kariya, or even Waiver Velvet. I didn't have a desire or Wish strong enough to murder for. I didn't have an unbeatable drive to do something. But I was human, and I naturally had selfish desires. It would make my life easier if I could return to my home world; it would be wonderful being able to live for as long as I chose to live, and not a day before; and I sure wouldn't turn down getting the Kaleidoscope or travelling the Multiverse.

Point was, a part of me did want to win this thing. I'd committed to it, so naturally I'd consider what I'd do with the reward, even if my Wish would be nothing noble at all. So, me killing Sakura's Servant wasn't some tragic event done to survive… on some level, I had consciously decided to have her killed, just because it made it easier for me to win a petty Wish I probably didn't deserve.

"Not a Saint at all. Just human…"

She smiled a hollow smile. "I suppose we both play the roles that we must, then. So, are you going to kill me like you did my brother?"

I was glad she'd asked me that. My mind had a tendency to get side-tracked, so it was nice to get distractions to help me stop thinking those thoughts. "No. You're free to go, though I wouldn't recommend going to that slimy priest. Perhaps the Tohsaka heiress or the Emiya boy would be good choices to hide with." I suggested.

At the last option, I think Sakura perked up quite a bit. She quickly decided against it though- if the hesitance on her face was anything to go with. Probably wouldn't want to bother her 'beloved Sempai'. Even so, she seemed rooted to her spot. "I… don't want to go. Not quite yet. Rider was fighting for me. I didn't know her long, but she was like a sister to me. My one real regret here, I think, is that I was unable to be a proper Master for her or be beside her when she fell."

I could sympathise, I suppose. I'd felt shit when I thought Saber was going to die- when I'd only know them for less than a day. I couldn't imagine how bad I'd feel if Boudica died.

"Take your time." I told her, turning away. "But not too long. The Worm has been wounded, but he's not gone. Not quite yet."

And with that, I took the still unconscious form of Boudica, and then with a massive groan of effort, I managed to heft her up into a bridal position. Despite the circumstances, I let myself smile a little- because now the shoe was on the other foot. Beside me, Caster lifted Lily with her magic.

"Come on. Let's head back."