Don't really know why I put out the offer. I could walk around all I wanted; odds are I wasn't going to find anything. The notion that Rider's master would be hanging around or in a portable was a joke. At best for me, his master was somewhere within the main school building; worse, his master was on the roof, staying out of sight. Not like I could fly; no way in hell was I getting up there. Not that I was getting inside the school either, to be fair. I didn't have the strength, or guts, to go smash in a window and climb through. Doors would be locked, too.

But Rider was right: they only saw the surface, superficial layer of things. Johnathan seemed to be a bit better than Sortiara, but really, they were both bad. Clearly, no one bothered to teach them how to properly analyze a battle, let alone a war. Not that I can blame them for that; not like most kids had much business learning such things. Sortiara needed to learn to stay calm, both riding the tide of momentum and standing against it. Johnathan needed more confidence; decisiveness. While I had no doubt that they wouldn't learn that here and now, hopefully me looking like I know what I'm doing, as well as getting out of their hair for a moment, would enable them to reset some of the battle conditions to be more in our favor.

Needed them to think of a way out of this mess, after all. Not like I can fight off Rider if they go down. Shame doing this forces me to miss out on the fighting, but sometimes you just gotta do what needs to be done.

…Hard to do though when all you did was spout bullshit. I had no idea if Rider's master was around here or not to begin with. For all I knew, Rider was indeed capable of doing all this on his own accord, and his master could be god knows where! Also, considering the city had seven leylines within it, it could very well be the case that Rider simply had access to enough ambient mana in the area to do this trap, so he did.

…Speaking of Rider though… The list of names was narrowing, but not fast enough. Even knowing all I did about him, there were still too many possibilities that had, at least in my mind, a sixty percent chance of being correct. As they say in university: C's get degrees. So long as there was even a sixty percent chance, I wasn't going to dismiss the possibility. I hoped seeing his master could maybe give me some clues, but I admit that could just be a red herring. What I really needed to know was more about the specifics of Heroic Spirit summoning. Like, what were catalysts, and how does the Holy Grail choose which servant, if it even chooses at all.

Does using a catalyst guarantee a specific Heroic Spirit, or just increase odds, or what? Are there other factors in play besides the yes/no of having a catalyst? If so, what are they? Do they have an order of priority, like how Caster said the grail has a priority system for choosing its manifestation point? If you don't have a catalyst, like me, then how does it work? Does not being a magus and having the grail do everything for you change anything was ano-

I was so deep in thought that I didn't even realize I had just walked past the last row of portables…

Fwip Fwip Fwip Fwip.

The black daggers stuck into the tarmac, directly in front of my feet. The sound of them cutting through the air snapping me out of my train of thought just in time to stop myself from walking into the throw and getting my feet impaled. Looking around, I noticed another one of those assassin familiars, perched atop one of the portables. He hadn't been there before; I was sure of it…

Must be that Presence Concealment thing they mentioned before. Did he drop it intentionally, so I'd understand? Or does it drop automatically once you make a hostile action?

"Right, so this is the limit then. Got it" I nodded to the cloaked figure, before turning around and starting my walk back towards the kids.

Still, revealing himself like that tells me that Rider can possibly support more than twenty of these things at once, assuming none of the original ones I saw have left Lancer. It also means any attempt to assume a hard cap to these things is pointless.

By this point, the servants had been fighting for… what? Two minutes? …Maybe four, at the very most? I had no idea how long these fights were supposed to last, or how fast Heroic Spirits were drained of their magical energy for performing certain actions and the like, so I didn't even know what stage of this game within the game we were in. My preference for every game has always been to scale to the late game and take the guaranteed win, even if it did take an hour or more to get there. But without knowing all the nuances to the game, I couldn't really formulate a proper strategy. I was at the mercy of those who should know the game, at least to a competitive level: Johnathan and Sortiara.

"That was quick" Sortiara commented when I returned.

"Either Rider has even more familiars than the ones surrounding Lancer, or one peeled out of the group and followed me" I explained, looking over to Lancer, attempting to get a count.

"How do you know that?"

"Almost got my foot impaled. Seemed to just be a warning throw that I nearly walked into. Basically though, no going past the furthest row of portables. Couldn't detect a master around there either, so… yeah."

Not that I really looked for that, but yeah, if Rider's master was here, I was certain I wouldn't find him, or her, in one of the flimsy ass portables. They'd be in the main building, or on the roof.

"Anyways, what's the plan for getting out of this mess" I continued.

"…Well-" Sortiara began to speak, but before she could explain anything, a new voice rang out over the battlefield; loud enough to be noticed over the clashes of metal.

"Tch! How long do you plan to drag this out, Rider" the voice sounded displeased.

The night turned silent in an instant. Both Rider and Saber paused mid clash, lowering their weapons, but still maintaining their guard. Over by Lancer, more than half of the assassin familiars dissipated into the blue particle effect looking stuff. The few that remained leaped far back, freeing Lancer from the encirclement.

Damn, those things have legs…

Looking up at the rooftop, I could see the figure who must have been the source of this voice. Unfortunately, the figure stood in the shadows of one of the… I wanted to say vent units. I couldn't make out anything on the figure visually, but by the voice, I suspected it was a man.

"Master" Rider was the first to speak up. "Why are you here? I told you I would deal with this."

"And yet I see you haven't, despite the amount of magical energy I'm sure you have exhausted. Why are the heretics still standing?"

"I told you before, master: I will not kill civilians while I can avoid it."

…Heretics? Who the hell does this man think he is?

"Then have the assassins do it."

"I will give no such orders. They have not interfered, and thus have not lost their status as civilians."

"So, it falls to me to deal with them, as I suspected it would. Hence why I am here."

By this point both Saber and Lancer had returned to their master's sides. Lancer was breathing fairly heavily, but otherwise appeared to be unharmed. The head of his spear was red, which I could only assume was blood. Looks like he got a hit or two in after all. I never did get a refresh on the count of assassin familiars surrounding him, so I couldn't say for certain though.

Saber, on the other hand, was a bit worse for wear. Didn't look too bad, but his armor had some dents and even a gash in it. His right arm was bleeding from a cut too, though, in my untrained eyes, it didn't look to be anything seriously life threatening for the moment.

So Heroic Spirits bleed? Huh, who knew… Feels weird, considering they're made of magical energy and shit. What's next; they have mortal weaknesses too? …Actually, that would only make too much sense, wouldn't it? Considering they bleed like mortals…

I wanted to check over Rider as well; get a comparison. Before I could though, Rider's master just straight… jumped. Right off the roof. As he landed, the tarmac audibly cracked beneath his feet. Seriously…?

"What is up with you nutters jumping from roo-" I wanted to laugh, before the sight of what the man was wearing stopped me.

It wasn't something I was used to seeing, outside of pictures and videos from the internet, or in movies. A black dress shirt looking thing, with a white collar and cuffs. Black dress pants and dress shoes too. Hanging from a chain around his neck was a solid silver cross. In other words-

"Oh my god, wait, you're a priest" I laughed. "No wonder you're a nutter!"

The man glared at me. If he really had the power of God on his side, he would have cast me down to Hell in an instant, I was certain of it. Those were the eyes of someone who detested what he saw before him with all his being. Didn't seem very appropriate for a priest, but what was the Church and its followers if not one giant collection of hypocrites?

Counter to me though, both Johnathan and Sortiara appeared to be taking this man's appearance very, very seriously.

"I am no mere clergyman, child. Not that someone like you would understand. It appears you miscalculated, Rider."

"...Indeed, I did. Yet you can't sense anything from him either, can you?"

"…No, I can not. I suppose you're not entirely at fault, then; curse this blasphemous war."

The priest turned his attention towards Sortiara and Johnathan.

"See what your blasphemy has wrought, children? An outsider to the truth has been granted sight, against the will of the Lord. The cost of atonement for such a sin, I fear, is beyond your ability to pay. Thus, in the name of the Lord, you shall be returned to his side."

"Damn, you really like to play the part, don't ya" I grinned. "All you religious types, so caught up in your delusions and hypocrisy… Beautiful! Abhorrent, detestable, but undeniably… beautiful!"

My two allies looked at me in what appeared to be a mix of shock and horror. Rider, for his part, also looked very displeased.

"A warning to you: cease your mockery of the faithful. A lack of faith can be tolerated, but if you refuse to maintain civility, I will cut you down."

"No. No it can not, Rider" the priest snapped. "You, child, are clearly a heretic beyond any semblance of redemption. You shall be the first I return to the Lord's side."

"Well, clearly someone doesn't know their own religion; how typical… News flash: God forgives all, man! According to your own religion, it's quite literally impossible for me to be beyond redemption, no matter how many of your so-called 'sins' I commit."

"Shut up Nathan" Sortiara glared at me.

Oh, how I loved dealing with the religious.

"That's not a priest; he's an executioner."

They were so selfish... So self righteous... So hypocritical!

"Nathan, don't" even Johnathan sounded serious with his warning.

Truly, there were no greater monsters to have ever walked the Earth than those of the faith; any and all of them!

I did a rainbow wave motion with my right hand, grinning at the priest the entire time.

"The more you know" I sang out.

Phwup Cl-Cl-Cl-Clang!

If it hadn't been for Saber's quick swordsmanship, I would have been dead; skewered by- actually… what ever were those? Not that I had time to check them out. Even Saber, despite being a Heroic Spirit, seemed to only just be able to react in time, raising his swords in a guard just as-

Clang!

It was the loudest sound of metal clashing with metal that I'd ever heard in my life. Which was weird, considering the priest had just punched directly into Saber's guard; not a single blade in his hand. While the impact of the strike didn't seem to phase Saber, the wave of force that came off it was enough to knock my unprepared ass backwards a good few feet.

"Rider!"

"At once! Slay the infidel!"

"Not this time; you're fighting me" Lancer shouted out to, I could only presume, Rider.

Wasn't like I could really see yet. I was still disoriented and trying to regain my balance. Taking in the beauty of this new battle would have to come later; repositioning myself was the primary concern.

"Accursed servant" the priest snarled at Saber, before leaping backwards and tossing more of those blade things at him.

Phwup Cl-Cl-Clang!

"You're not getting away that easily" Sortiara shouted. "Buzz blades!"

Just behind Sortiara, four saw blades manifested overhead. Except they weren't made of metal. Instead, they were green, and gave off a whining noise akin to a swarm of buzzing insects. The sound only got worse as they whirled through the air, heading right for the priest at different angles.

Fwip Fwip Fwip Fwip. Whoooooosssssssssshhhhhhhhhh!

Before any of them could connect with their intended target, however, four black daggers intercepted them. On contact with the green saw blades, they exploded, creating vacuums of wind that expanded outwards slightly, before dissipating. I wouldn't normally describe wind as being sharp, but if wind could cut… well, this looked to be the exact type of wind that could cut.

Oh my god, she's a wind mage! That's so fucking cool!

"Saber, deal with the assassins" Johnathan ordered.

"Master, are you-"

"Trust me! We can handle the Church; we can't fight Heroic Spirits!"

"Understood!"

Fwip Fwip Fwip Fwip. Cl-Cl-Cl-Clang!

As Saber leapt into action, I hurried myself back over to Johnathan and Sortiara.

"Way to stick your foot in it, idiot" Sortiara shouted at me.

"I mean, sorta what I do best, I guess you could say" I gave her a sheepish grin. "Can't help myself when the Catholic Church is involved. Sorry!"

Taking a glance over at Saber, he was currently facing off against four assassins. While they were definitely giving Saber a bit of the run around currently, it was clear that they were on the back foot, as opposed to earlier when there was twenty of them opposing Lancer.

I know Rider dismissed a lot of them, but there should have been more than just four left. Where did the other ones go?

"May you find love in the embrace of the father" the priest chanted, manifesting three more of those long, bladed things in each hand.

"That what you tell the altar boys too" I shouted back, basically subconsciously.

Oh, it was just too easy to bash the Catholic Church!

"Repent in flames, heretic" the priest's eyes blazed with an unquenchable hatred.

"Johnathan" Sortiara called out on my right.

As the priest kicked off from the ground, lines were etched across his hands, glowing with a light blue color. I could only assume if the same was true for the rest of his body or not, beneath the clothes. The way they were formed though… they reminded me of the circuitry of computer and other electrical components. The tarmac beneath his feet cracked, chunks flying upward and scattering behind him. It wasn't as fast as a servant's speed; now that I was prepared for it, I could see that much clearly. But it was still far faster than what should have been possible for a normal human.

The beauty of magic… The power, the speed… Just what else could this priest show me?

I hadn't even been paying attention to what Johnathan and Sortiara had been doing. As the priest came flying through the air towards us, out of the corner of my eye I managed to glimpse many long, thin sheets of paper flying through the air around Sortiara. It looked as though they had some kind of marking on them, but I couldn't make it out; I was still mesmerized and focusing on the priest. The space within the talismans roared with the sound of high-speed winds, like those of a hurricane. Sortiara, standing in the center of it, was barely visible through the swirling green energy.

"Ready" Johnathan confirmed.

"Vacuum cannon!"

The talismans in front of her parted, and, as if shot from the world's most powerful cannon, the gale of wind shot forward like a funnel, heading right for the priest.