Fourth Singularity, Part 10: Towards Angrboða's Lair
1888
Situated in one corner of the shelter, with her rifle pressed to her forehead as she kneeled on the ground, Ayako prayed. Not in so much to a higher power, but she prayed nonetheless. Prayed that they would get through this Singularity. Prayed that Eve would be alright once she gets back. Prayed that her friends will not have to weather the storm for much longer. Prayed that she herself would still be around after all of this, because despite her apparent immortality, she wasn't exactly stocked up in backups. Especially now that one of the bodies had been converted for Eve's use.
She worried about their prospects for future Singularities. Without a doubt, they would need more people, which means that once they get back, they would need to wake someone up. If not, then they would need to return back to two Servants per Master for each deployment. Because yes, although their reserves weren't as taxed as previous Singularities, they found themselves stretched thin despite the fact that they haven't truly been dealing with the Servants themselves. The constant pressure by the unending horde wasn't merely an attempt at wearing them down. It had succeeded.
Golden orbs opened back, her feet pushing herself back up. Her team were looking to her, awaiting her orders. Fou stood on her shoulder, straight at attention, his white coat dirtied with dust.
"Fou." He mewled next to her ear. She gave the small creature a scratch on his back.
"This is it, guys." She said, as she threw her rifle at Ritsuka, who almost didn't catch it in time. "We're ending this now." She dug into her pockets, pulling out cartridges for the rifle. She passed it along to her fellow Master.
"How are we tackling this?" Kagiso asked her, and she noticed that the curved dagger was still in his hand. She wondered when was the last time she saw him not holding it.
She acknowledged him with a nod before addressing the Casters. "How's the situation at the pub?"
"A lot of their heavy hitters are positioned there, waiting for our arrival." Waver replied, taking a drag from his cigarette. "Da Vinci's main tank is also there, standing where the building used to be."
"Then we will have the combined effort of all Servants in taking him out." She finally answered. "The rest of us? We can deal with the rabble. It'll be exhausting, but we can do it."
"Will you not be using your Mystic Code?" Mash asked, eyeing the rifle in Ritsuka's hands.
She shook her head. "It's a bit too slow." She replied, pulling out a few of her runestones. "I'll be using these."
"Not that I don't appreciate this, but the crossbow Da Vinci made for me is faster too." Ritsuka told her, though he still held onto the rifle.
She frowned slightly, before her eyes searched for the local Alchemist. "How about you, Dr. Jekyll? Do you wanna use a gun? Or do you have, something else that can be used?"
The rest of the Team turned to face the scrawny man, seeing him thumb something underneath his coat. His frown was more pronounced on his face. "I have something."
"Alright then." She held her hand out for her rifle back, which Ritsuka wordlessly returned. She hoisted it on the holster of her back before she readdressed her friends again. "How many of those somethings do you have?"
"I have three." He answered with clear hesitance. "At most, I would hopefully use only two. But preferably, I'd only need one of it."
"Well, we won't lie and say that it's going to be a cakewalk, Dr. Jekyll." Koleen commented with a light frown. "Chances are, you will be using two."
He nodded back in understanding, though it was obvious how much discomfort he felt at that idea. "I… would like to thank you all."
Ayako blinked her eyes rapidly at the sudden declaration. "What for?" she asked as her team look to the Alchemist.
He did not respond immediately, letting her question linger for a few seconds. "You… all know me. And, what I could do. As by the nature of your duties. But, you never once pressured me. Never once broached the subject to me. All of you, simply kept it at the back of your minds as you saw me simply for what I am."
"It's more than just your craft, Dr. Jekyll." Ritsuka said with a comforting smile on your face. "It's a dark secret, and it would be ill of us to just, even casually acknowledge it without you yourself confiding with us."
"And it is for that, that I thank you." He said so resolutely.
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, the gauntlet of Mordreds as she looked at him with an amused smirk. "Finally letting yourself loosen up a little."
He chuckled nervously. "I was busy with, all of this. It didn't really cross my mind."
"So, we're all prepped then?" Ayako asked the group, seeing the other Servants turn to her.
"It's all golden over here." Kintoki answered, flashing a thumbs up at her with Tamamo nodding beside him.
"We'll pen a marvelous ending to this fable." Shakespeare said with Andersen rolling his eyes.
"I look forward to seeing then end of this myself." Alice smiled calmly, floating around Waver with a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's get this done and go home." Her oldest friend among the group said, puffing a smoke with a cigarette in his hand. "I'd like to see something else besides this dreary London landscape."
"No longer homesick, Professor?" Koleen asked with a light smile.
He shook his head as he chuckled. "No. And too much of home can be nauseating."
"It's nauseating in other ways as well." Kagiso added, grimacing at the thought. "My ancestors grow weary every day that we stay here in this polluted climate."
"Literal thousands of people died because of the smog, and not just because of their lungs giving out." Koleen explained with a huff. "It was so thick that people literally walked to their deaths." She visibly shuddered, before meeting Ayako's eyes. "Thank god you don't smoke anymore, because even that stuff will send me hacking."
"It sends her hacking too." Waver said with an amused chuckle. "Even now, her lungs couldn't really handle smoking. I don't understand why she even kept trying to smoke."
She tried to suppress the rare blush of embarrassment, yet she failed as it spread even more. The tinge of red was quite the sight on her ever paling face. She smiled, feeling the mood of the room lighten around her.
"Well, if we're all comfortable enough to make jokes, then let's pack up and leave." She declared as she tapped the shoulder pads of her red coat, letting the runes sewn in them glow. "Let's finish this."
The entire block had been razed, with nothing else left standing aside from a few bricks and mortar that used to serve as foundations and scaffolds. Hordes of steampunk robots, and faceless automata littered the area, with the circular tanks situated in inconspicuous pockets. The homunculi had thinned, no doubt thanks to the death of their creator, though the few that still stood will no doubt prove their mettle. Situated at the center of this open-air workshop was the large tank that served as the symbol of Da Vinci's territory. Each of its eight wheels were larger than a door, towering over the buildings that it had ran over.
The cannon atop it spun every few seconds, aiming at one cardinal direction each time. Nothing seemed liked it could sidestep its supposed gaze. Smoke trailed from the barrel, even though no shot had been fired from it. Not since the Chaldeans had been driven out.
Not until this very moment, when Mash took the first step into the designated area, the open air workshop of Da Vinci. The tank's cannon immediately swiveled towards her direction, and fired a blazing shot aimed towards the Demi-Servant. It missed her shield by a hair's breath, the Shielder not once slowing down as she charged onward without pause. Two more shots echoed in the air, both hitting the massive shield, only barely able to making her pause her step but not truly stopping her.
Appearing from her flanks, Arturia and Mordred sailed forth, taking the lead as their bright swords carved through their opposition. Sparks and debris cluttered the air, just as another shot was fired at them. Electricity flared from Clarent, causing the shot to explode before it could reach them. The two Sabers charged onwards without pause, ignoring the mass of enemies that began swarming towards them, swords raised ready to strike down the massive tank.
"Oh ho? You're back already? I would've expected you to take your time!" Da Vinci taunted, his voice coming from the very same tank. "Go ahead! You can continue on resting, I don't mind waiting. I'm patient like that."
"Shut the hell up, mage!" came Mordred's expected retort, speeding past Arturia. "You talk too much!"
Two of the large steam-bots intercepted her charge, blocking her attack on the tank with their own bodies. Clarent cleaved through one of the constructs, lodging itself halfway through its shattered torso. The other robot raised its cleaver to strike at her, before Arturia came in and plunged Caliburn straight into its body. Beams of arcanery shot down around them and into the two steam constructs, as Circe floated closer to them, providing the needed artillery.
"Get on going. The sooner we can get this done, the better." She told them in a tone that brokered no argument.
For a second, Mordred wanted to give the Enchantress a piece of her mind, but Arturia's no-nonsense nod and Kintoki's arrival brought her attention back to the matter at hand. Both Sabers and Berserker lead the charge, sparks of power crackling over their weapons. Tamamo dropped down behind the Enchantress, her landing leaving a crater talismans begin lighting aflame around her. The two powerful Casters followed behind the vanguard, as they proceeded to meet the tank of Da Vinci's head on.
Mash had stopped, planting her shield in the remnants of a ruined building, using the massive armament to protect the two authors behind her. Unlike the others, the two men were wholly unsuited and mostly incapable of all-out combat, even if their existences as Servants helped them in that regard. Neither of them were magi to begin with. But with their words, they continued supporting the others, weaving a tale as old as time.
That left the waking mortals. The people. The Masters, and Jekyll.
Kagiso drew most of their enemy's attention, his body covered in a layer of smoke as his milky eyes flared with rare but contained anger. In one hand he held his curve mystic code, in the other he held the large dagger, almost a short sword. And with the strength borrowed onto him from his ancestors, he cleaved through most of the puppets with ease. Ritsuka was behind him, carefully aiming his shots as he fired bolt after bolt from the crossbow that Da Vinci had crafted personally for him.
His aim was not sharp, but they did not steer too far away from his targets, especially after he had reinforced the crossbow. Ayako and Koleen had helped him ease into the spell, to not let it be too taxing for him to cast. No doubt, somewhere within the recesses of his thoughts, he was yearning continue his lessons with Medea.
Above them, standing atop a building, was none other than the Puppeteer, laying waste to the encroaching horde. On one hand, she held a burning branch with a runestone tied to it. On the other, she held her rifle, firing it with a steady hand. The bullets exploded with runic power, allowing accuracy to be sacrificed. Her coat billowed as she chanted, her words drowned by the battle. The branch sparked with power, coloring her red hair with streaks of blue and white before a bolt of lightning erupted from it, striking the closest tank that had approached them.
Around her neck, stood Fou, his small eyes carefully looking around them for any sort of danger. He had stuck to the Puppeteer since they took shelter within the house of the supposedly fictional Alchemist, and now she stood as one of the only people within Chaldea who at least saw a glimpse of where his true capabilities lie. At this very moment, while she served as the storm that turned London on its own nose, he made sure that said storm will stand unimpeded against the unending torrent of hostile constructs.
Below the Puppeteer, and behind the two male Masters, were Koleen and Jekyll. The American Witch confidently threw her lesser concoctions, leaving behind puddles of corroding liquid that all but melted the homunculi that had approached too closely too her. Those that got past that, were crushed by her brand of Witchcraft, as her eyes turned a tint of red as she crushed their cores with her fist.
"We're reaching the pub soon." The Witch heard the Clock Tower Lord's disembodied voice through their connection. "No one has yet to notice us."
"Keep it slow and steady, Lord El-Melloi." She replied succinctly.
"Having a Reality Marble around helps, no doubt." She heard him say with a chuckle. "The Girl's confident we won't be noticed."
"Good. Keep us posted." She nodded back, even though he wouldn't have been able to see it.
Beside her, Dr. Jekyll was also making use of his own creations, though they were seeing less effect on their enemy. "I've never seen a witch like you before." He commented, glancing towards the blonde.
"Oh?" was her only response, as she focused her attention outward.
"I've met less than a handful, and they tend to be… esoteric." He said with a visible grimace.
"In what way?" she asked as she pulled her hand back. It had begun smoking, her nerves feeling hotter than usual. She was overtaxing herself.
"They were very, inhuman." His grimace grew. "More so than, us, in a sense."
"Really?" she sounded curious, because she genuinely was. "I didn't really have anyone to teach me, aside from reading the ancient tomes of my ancestors."
"You're self-taught?" the disbelief was palpable in his tone.
"I know how absurd that sounds." She said, trying to hold her own grimace from forming. "Truth be told, my progress spiked the past few months."
"Perhaps there's a correlation." He noted, before he pulled out a thin flask from his inner vest. The grimace on his face tightens, as he uncorks the flask. "Hopefully, I'll still be on the other side." He said, shifting the topic as her team marched onward ahead of her.
"From what I've read, Dr. Jekyll, it's quite the transformation." She paused in her attacks for her eyes to meet the man's. "We'll make sure you get back in one piece."
He closed his eyes, and gave her a slow nod. "That's all I could ask for." He said, in close of a whisper, before he chug the contents of the flask.
Koleen immediately reached for her communicator. "Heads up. Dr. Jekyll's going dark."
"Got it, Kalls! Fou, keep an eye out please, I can handle the front."
"Ritsuka, let us head back and regroup with Ayako. We need to keep an eye for Dr. Jekyll as well."
"Alright, heading back!"
Koleen turned back to the Alchemist, seeing his body contort in pain, his grunts and groans filling the air. Bones cracked as what seemed like to be his spine realigning, elongating. The muscles on his body grew, his clothes tearing apart, already causing her eyes to widen. The moment the dark, almost pitch black fur began growing was the moment she realized just how far off reality was from fiction. His fur grew to cover his head, his mouth forming into a snout, and his milky green eyes turning a glowing blood red, not unlike hers currently.
Doctor Henry Jekyll stood at full height already a full head higher than her.
Mister Edward Hyde hunched over around the same height, and yet Koleen was certain that he was twice that if he stood straight.
His breath was hot as it left his nostrils, and she noticed what looked like to be a grin forming on his face. It was difficult, considering that he apparently had turned into some kind of werewolf.
"Aaahh… To be free…" she heard him say, his voice gravelly like the sound of dirt. He tilted his head, letting his neck crack. "Well, got some pent up stress to unleash. If you don't mind, my lady. I've got an appointment to head on to."
Koleen held back her tongue from commenting, not eager to potentially offend the monster that took over the Alchemist. She simply watched him leave the place, charging straight into the throng of enemies as he howled under the obscured moonlight.
"Was Hyde a werewolf?" Ritsuka asked, confusion evident in his voice.
Koleen shook her head, even though no one was there to see it. "Not from what I've read."
"What was he supposed to look like?" this time it was Ayako that asked.
"Well, he was supposed to be a small person. When I saw how tall Jekyll was, I'd assume he'd be shorter."
"Instead we got a giant wolf man." Kagiso said with an amused chuckle. "Let's keep at it then. We still have a horde to wipe out."
"That we do, Kags. Our plan has so far remained unchanged." Ayako confirmed, reminding Koleen of the situation around them. "The Servants are hacking away at that godawful tank. All we need to do is clean the place up."
"Easier said than done, Ayako-san."
"But well within our capabilities." Koleen said, as she finally joined her fellow Masters in the battlefield proper. The land around her had been melted down to the dirt below, the effects of her concoctions showing their worth. She was running out, with only a handful left, along with one more flask for Monarch's Beat. She sighed, as she began cutting into the palm of her hand, covering them in her blood.
One the palm of her left hand, she still had the pattern of the tribalesque branches. With a bloodied finger, she began drawing a Morningstar on the other. Her hands began heating up with power, as her Circuits flared once more. She held her hands up, bracing herself for the next wave that came upon her. Most of them were puppets, strengthened by Babbage's steampunk robots.
Her eyes, now almost shining red, locked onto the closest puppet, as she closed her left hand into a fist.
"W̕͢Į̶͜͢͡Ļ̵̶͠T̴̡͠"
They began breaking down right before her eyes, still moving in a fast limp towards her. She was contending with a renowned Caster's work, so she would have her efforts tested. She opened her hand, and closed it again, causing dark lines to form from the tip of her fingers.
"W̕͢Į̶͜͢͡Ļ̵̶͠T̴̡͠"
This time, they fell. Still they tried moving towards her, but the puppets were left immobile.
The robots, now without the mass of puppets, came upon her without anything standing between them. The one leading them already had its massive cleaver high above its head, ready to strike her down. When it was close enough, Koleen rushed towards it, letting the cleaver strike the ground behind her, as she touched its torso with her right hand, and chanted.
"Ç͢͟͢R̡̛͝͡U̡͟S̢͏̴́͝H̢͠͠"
The robot did not fare as strongly as the puppets, as its body burst beneath her hand. Her hands were wounded by the effect, but the pain that she would have felt was held at bay by the fire of determination within her. She leapt back before the other two could strike her, their cleavers crushing the husk of the first robot that she left in her wake. She rushed towards one of them, planting both her hands on its heavy metal body, and chanted.
"W̕͢Į̶͜͢͡Ļ̵̶͠T̴̡͠. Ç͢͟͢R̡̛͝͡U̡͟S̢͏̴́͝H̢͠͠"
She felt the bones in her arms strain as she channeled both spells, the blood in her hands drying up at the expense of the needed magical energy that coursed through her veins. The robot that she touched began falling apart, as its internal workings shattered and exploded. It fell faster than the first, but she couldn't hold back the pain that she was feeling now.
As what's left of its body fell, she felt her knees buckle, as she dropped to the ground. The last robot had its singular red eye on her, raising its cleaver to strike her. With a pained breath, she raised her hand, ready to try and stop it as much as she could. Its head exploded before it could, its body toppling backwards from the momentum of the bullet.
Koleen breathed a sigh of relief, her arms falling limp beside her. A light thud landed where the robots were, taking its place. She saw the golden eyed Puppeteer looking down on her, brows furrowed with concern. The small form of Fou was also on Ayako's neck, looking at her with his small beady eyes.
"You good to go, Kalls?" Ayako asked, crouching down to her level.
"Give me a minute." Koleen answered with heavy breaths.
"Looks like you're the one that needs this." Ayako said, handing her rifle to the Witch.
"Looks like it." Koleen agreed, her hand reaching to grab the rifle, pulling herself up with Ayako's help. With ragged breaths, she looked to Ayako's eyes. "How's the battle ahead?"
"The Servants have reached the tank. It won't be long until Da Vinci's machine is dealt with. And Hyde's entrance into the fray is certainly helping us in clearing the field." Ayako said with a tired sigh of her own. "Hold on to that big bomb of yours." Ayako placed a hand on Koleen's shoulder, shaking it lightly. "We're almost through this leg of the race."
"I hope so, Ayako." Koleen sighed, her hands gripping on the rifle now in her hands, staining it with her dried blood. "I'm running out of steam here."
"Then stick close." Ayako said with a nod, her expression hardening as their eyes met. "It's only going to get harder."
"You don't need to tell me that." Koleen replied as she pulled the bolt back. She met the Puppeteer's gaze with her own, her pink eyes slowly returning to their natural color. "Let's finish this."
A smile formed on Ayako's face, the shorter young woman showing her feelings openly. Fou barked at her, his ears twitching in anticipation. "Then let's get to it."
The both of them nodded together, as they turned to the onslaught of enemies that were surging around them, a last ditch effort in stopping them. Ayako pointed the charred branch alongside Koleen as she aimed the Puppeteer's Mystic Code. An explosion of magic erupted around them, as their projectiles made contact with the homunculi, and the puppets. They marched together, slowly yet assuredly, not once stopping in their trek.
Ahead of them, Kagiso and Ritsuka were just as harmonious, working in tandem as they too felled the untold horde. The Shaman took the brunt of the attacks, his body strengthened and reinforced by the fetishes he held, his ancestors watching over him closely. Ritsuka made sure that he was always behind the Shaman, using his crossbow without fear. His own cache of bolts was thinning, but the thought of its inevitable depletion was far from his mind.
And far ahead of even them, Hyde was slaughtering the masses without resistance. His visage might have been something otherworldly compared to what was written in fiction, but his deadliness was what they'd expect of him. The large wolf-like man cleaved through the steampunk robots with an ease familiar to that of a Servant's strength, his claws bifurcating the thick metals like he was melting through butter.
Back behind the safety provided by Mash, the two author's looked on with amusement. They did enough to protect themselves, and with Mash's protection they were able to dole out support to the other Servants. Andersen simply gave quick glances at the commotion, mostly focused on supporting the group with only a ghostly visage of a woman with a crown, sticking close to him like a specter. Shakespeare was far more open, forgoing his own defense as he indulged in the spectacular confrontation.
And of course, in the middle of it all, with the tank being taken at all sides. Kintoki took direct shots on his reddening chest, his manic smile taking the brunt of the attention without worry. The Sabers, Arturia and Mordred, flanked both sides of the tank, giving it no room to breathe. And the powerhouse Casters, Circe and Tamamo, raining down magical artillery around with little hesitation.
All of this, in the midst of the encroaching poison that filled the air.
A pulse erupted from the remains of the pub, instantly alerting every Servant and mortal creature in the vicinity. A Noble Phantasm had been called forth, channeled in the fog.
"Shí Bīng Bā Zhèn!" large red pillars fell from the skies, piercing through the clouds as its weight brought it down.
One by one, with only enough space between them for a grown man to step through, the pillars landed in a circle around the tank, holding it in place with its conceptual power. The tank could no longer move, not even to aim the barrel of its cannon at the approaching magus as he finally made himself known, with Alice floating behind him as they both emerged from the ruins of the pub.
"Oh ho? You sneaky little buggers! Using the little Fairy Tale like that! Bravo, bravo!" Da Vinci's voice sounded out from the tank, along with an applause supposedly coming from the Inventor that reached the edges of the battlefield.
"This won't last long!" El-Melloi shouted amidst the chaos, ignoring Da Vinci's teasing comments. "Hurry it up!"
"Let me handle this!" Kintoki said, letting his golden axe open and shift, crackling of electricity licking the ground and his skin.
The Sabers beside him nodded, taking a few steps back as Circe and Tamamo took their place. They weaved onto him reinforcement spells, strengthening the entirety of his core. The fox-eared Caster patting the Berserker on his back. "Break a leg, big guy." She half-whispered, before following Circe as they left the area.
The earth around him erupted, pushed back by the unstable current of electricity that originated from his own body, his torso slowly turning a brighter shade of crimson red. "Let's give it our all, and blow 'em away!" he launched himself into the air, axe raised above his head, crackling with pent up energies raring to erupt as thunder bellowed high above them.
"Lethal Golden Spark!" lightning struck the axe just as he swung it down onto the tank, creating an amplified explosion of electricity, that cast a blinding light around them.
When the dust settled, and their sight returned, their eyes focused back onto the tank, waiting with bated breath. The first figure visible to them was Kintoki, his red skin receding as it returned to his normal pale palor, his blond hair frayed in disarray, and his axe lodged into the ground. The tank itself, Da Vinci's personal mobile workshop, cracked open like an egg. Its main body had been split down in the middle, separated by the explosion emitted. There was little left of its insides.
In fact, the inside of the tank seemed to be barren. Hollow.
"Of course the bastard's not here." The Puppeteer said with a sigh. "For once, couldn't things be easy?"
"I think hell would sooner freeze before something like that would happen, Ayako." Kagiso chuckled as he arrived beside her, with Ritsuka following tiredly behind him. "Casters." He called out, his eyes scanning their surroundings.
"The horde has stopped, as if they've been deactivated." Circe noted with a clinical monotone. "No, it would be more accurate to say that they have lost their drive."
"If we provoked them, they'd probably get more uppity again." Tamamo further added, her tail swirling behind her. "Finally, we've calmed London down."
"Thank god…" Ritsuka said with an exhausted sigh, leaning onto Kagiso's back.
"What about Hyde? How's he doing?" Ayako continued to ask, searching the ruined area.
"Unleashing his pent up excitement." Lord El-Melloi answered as he approached them, with Alice floating beside him. "What a surprise, that one."
"Yeah, wasn't expecting a werewolf." Koleen said, as she too finally joined the group, along with Mash and the authors. "Sabers, could you make sure he doesn't run off?"
"Will do, Master!" Arturia replied, already moving towards the transformed man with her sword sheathed. Mordred's mask figure simply watched in silence, before running after the White Saber.
"Five minutes." Ayako called out, moving to stand on one edge of the group so she could face them all. "Plus however long it takes to get Dr. Jekyll back, for us to recoup and gather ourselves. And then, we head down."
She meets their eyes, one by one, her own golden colors sharpening. "Understood?"
"Yes!" They all answered in a chorus.
"Are you sure you're good?" Mordred asked the Alchemist, barely covering himself with Waver's jacket now that he had returned back to his normal self.
He smiled nervously back at her. "I'm as good as I can be, Mordred."
"You don't have to come along." She said, almost jogging beside him in a matching pace. They didn't rush, but they did pick up their pace now that their first hurdle had been conquered. "You've done enough."
"I'd like to see this through, Mordred." He said with an affirmed nod, patting the Red Knight's armor. "Thank you for your concern, Mordred. But I'll be fine."
"Unless you knock him out and take him back up, he's not leaving, Mordred." Ayako commented from the front of the group, leading them with Kagiso right beside her. Arturia was ahead of them, while El-Melloi stood a pace behind them.
"I'm half tempted to do so." the Knight said with her obscured gaze focused on the Alchemist, though she didn't not slow her steps, still keeping in line with the rest of them.
"I'd say it's too late to stop now." the small statured author said without a pause to his own stride. "We're nearing this dank and claustrophobic dungeon, we can feel the latent magical energies building."
"Can we get anything from Chaldea?" Ayako asked, glancing behind her to Mash, as the Shielder had opted to stand and cover their rear.
"Something is blocking our connection, Ayako." Mash replied with a visible grimace on her face. "We're being jammed."
"Then there's nothing else to do but march forward." The Puppeteer said as she exhaled through her nostrils. "Brace up, everyone. This is it."
The rest of their march was done in silence, a shared thought keeping things together for them. The light at the end of the strenuous and taxing tunnel that they had all had to go through. The Servants for the most part looked mostly well-kept together, with but a few cuts and dust on their person. The Masters were in all kinds of disheveled and haggard states. Ritsuka's skin had taken a far paler complexion, as he stressed his magical capabilities well above his absolute limits. Koleen at first glance didn't seem to have been affected much, but her hands were constantly jittery and shaking, the traces of blood barely wiped off of them. Kagiso walked with a more wearied pace, an experience almost forgotten coming back to him as quickly as a recent memory. Ayako looked the most different, with her hair and limbs still sporting their unnatural color of her spell, pushing her body to its absolute limits as well.
Despite the silence that loomed over them like a night terror, their pace gradually quickened, picking up the deeper they delved into this dungeon they found themselves in. When they saw the malefic light that shone at the end of the tunnel, casting its violet gaze upon them. The air was heavy with mana, bearing down on their shoulders.
They entered upon a large cavern, the light almost suffocating them as heavily as the mana that permeated in the air. The silhouette of some sort of machinery was visible at the crest of the cavern, spewing a dark and obscuring smoke that trailed down its surface. It didn't take a genius to ascertain that said machinery was the thing that was responsible for pressuring London with its oppressive poison.
In the middle of the clearing, they could make out another set of silhouettes. Three figures, with another appearing in a blinding light. Another Servant had been summoned, considering the circumstances. It wasn't unexpected, truly. As exhausted as they were, they had removed the enemy's pieces one by one. It stands to reason that they would attempt to replenish their numbers.
The Servants all moved into stance, the frontliners forming a line in front of the Masters, with Mash in particular settling her massive shield directly before them. On the opposite end, the large form of Charles Babbage loomed over the conspiracy, the large cleaver planted on the rocky ground. Da Vinci stood beside him, smiling a smile that didn't truly reach the Renaissance Genius' eyes. Separate from them, almost as if he was shunned, was a tall man with short blue wavy hair, his eyes piercing as her glanced towards them. His hand, closed to a fist and aimed at the Servant he had summoned, was bloodied as it dripped almost dangerously fast. And the Servant beside him, taller than even the Master himself, was a clean shaven man with long wavy blue-tinted hair. On his right hand and arm was a copper gauntlet that emitted electricity.
He turned to face them himself, mouth open as if to speak, but he was cutoff before he could utter even a single word.
"Tesla, we do not have time for you lip." The Master, Makiri Zolgen, his tone brokering no nonsense. His bloodied hand began glowing, channeling the last of his Command Spells. "Get to the surface, and finish our goal!"
The Servant's form began glowing brighter, a look of disappointment flashing on his face before his body disappeared in a flash.
"Shit!" Ayako cursed, turning to the Blonde Witch beside her. "Kalls! Take the Sabers and El-Melloi, and get back up!"
Worry was written in Koleen's eyes for a single moment, before she shared the Puppeteer's determined look. "On it! Sabers, Lord El-Melloi!"
Without another word, the four rushed back, trying to make ground as they raced back down the path they had went through, leaving the others in the standoff they now find themselves in.
"I see you are the one that's proven to be too much for Flauros." The Russian Magus commented, turning to fully face the Chaldean contingent.
"And you must be Zolgen." Ayako responded back, already palming a few runestones in her hand. "So, which Pillar are you exactly?"
A grimace wormed its way onto his face, forming into a frown. "You know."
"The Clock Tower could only fall by having someone inside to be among the enemy." Kagiso said, taking over for her as he tightened the grip around his dagger. "Select bloodlines by virtue of their Crests mean certain people are all but guaranteed to be enemy agents."
"So yes, would you be a dear and just get on with it?" Circe further prodded, waving her hand dismissively.
The Russian's fist tightened, as well as the grimace on his face. "You would readily face a Demonic Pillar?"
"We've faced and defeated two already. What's another one to the pile?" Ayako said, her words eliciting amused chuckles from the hostile Da Vinci.
He sighed and closed his eyes, seemingly in defeat and acceptance. "Very well." He said, pulling out the Holy Grail from within his being, letting its golden light shine in the desolate cavern. "Then let this be, our final confRONTATION!"
The two Servants behind Master began to glow as their beings were absorbed by the breaking form of Makiri Zolgen, his body losing its shape as the telltale presence of a Demon Pillar took his place. The Chaldean group leapt back as the very grown was also consumed, drying to dust as if the very essence of life itself was taken in. The large and imposing Pillar reached the very roofs of the cavern, its pure white fleshy skin almost shining in the purple haze.
Its red eyes all turned their attention onto Chaldea.
"I, am Barbatos! One of the 72 Demon Kings of his blessed Majesty!" the very cavern shook as its voice forced itself onto them. "By my will! You will fall today!"
"Servants!" Ayako called out as Dr. Jekyll downed another one of his potions, his form almost changing instantly. Light flashed on each of the Masters' Command Spells, as they as one gave out their commands.
"Do not hold back!" Ayako ordered as one, never once taking her eyes off of Barbatos.
"Yes, Masters!" the Servants answered as one, digging their heels into the ground as they once more charged into battle.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
yo guys, i'm back.
sorry i've been gone for long. let me explain.
while i was writing this chapter, i decided to take a bit of a break, especially since school was starting up again. didn't really plan on taking a long break, 2 weeks at least, a month at most.
yet, when i was done with the break, and went to get back to the chapter, i just couldn't write anything. i got some real hard writer's block. like, for real, it was all just blank, and i couldn't get anything down. which pissed me off, since i got the ending pretty much in my head for months now, but i couldn't form into words on how to get from the chapter into the ending.
so, i am deeply sorry for leaving you guys hanging like this. if you follow my, you may have noticed that i posted a few chapters for other stories. that's because i still like writing, but every time i try to continue, i just sit there for half an hour getting nothing done.
this is the worst case of writer's block that i have experienced thus far, my god.
hopefully, you guys will enjoy this chapter, and hopefully it also isn't as shit as i'm thinking. seriously, seeing the same chapter for almost five months with no progress sure did put a damper to my damn mood.
in regards to the chapter it self, there's quite a bit of things that i wanted to do differently. maybe i can steer it back into where i want it to be in the finale.
in regards to the game, i've been taking a break as well, only really logging in for the bonuses. also, i failed to get Super Orion, unfortunately.
but, i'm F2P, so it's not like i lost anything. hopefully i can get him next time.
well, with that sob story done, let's get to the reviews!
Addicted2fanfics: yeah, my luck ran out for Super Orion. a shame too, would've been so awesome to get him!
IliIli567: i have my plans for him, don't worry.
Wizzer96: oh, Salem will definitely be fun! i probably won't do adult Abby, but she'll definitely be teenage Abby. there will be some fun interactions in the future!
Quartermass: a confrontation between Mordred and Arturia was almost a given. probably would've ended up different if it wasn't Lily.
harlequin320: dude, big same! Maou Nobu is so cool, even if she's kinda underwhelming performance wise i still use her all the time. fucking awesome.
Ryuzaki Uchida: hey, i'm glad to see you enjoyed reading through the story! sorry that you had to wait for so long after the last chapter! that's not the norm, so hopefully i can return back to my normal schedule.
primus101: i got some big plans for Caster Cu, and it'll be awesome!
DarthPrince: Liz is just enjoying herself and living her life to the fullest, after her hazy experiences in her other chances.
Resi: such is the dichotomy of Romani.
larmmason: hope you enjoyed reading through the story! sorry that you had to wait!
TalonScythe: Eve's situation is unique, because she isn't a Servant, but an actual "person" from the Singularity brought back to Chaldea thank to Puppetry. in-universe, the only reason why this was even an avenue that they were willing to puruse was because of Olga's unique situation.
because of that, look forward to Eve becoming an even more staple within Chaldea!
Thekiller7: the Singularities get even more different with each passing time, to signify the changes that are gradually taking effect. i really hope i do them justice!
well, everyone, to those who have patiently waited this long for another chapter to arrive. it hurts leave it in limbo for so long, especially since i very much wanted to keep on writing and pushing out chapters.
so, i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, leave a review if you don't mind, and i'll see you guys all next time! (hopefully)