(A/N) It's a (relatively) longer boi this time! Like I mentioned earlier, the poll will close tonight at 24:00 EST, which is in about... thirty minutes. Oops lmao. Anyway, don't worry about any sort of tampering on my part because it's pretty much impossible to know what servant ID we'll end up with until I do the long count. How exciting!

There are so many throwaway lines in this chapter that you'd need a Fate Complete Material book for this chapter alone. They're semi-hidden, so big props to those of you who can find them. That said, they're only throwaway lines until they finally mean something (wink wink).

Holy shit lol that made more sense in my head. I'm going to sleep. Wait no, I need to stay up to close the poll. Gah.

Ah. My brain isn't working. I was definitely going to say something else, but my brain seriously is not working. Send help.

Point being, if I forgot to mention something that you think I totally should have mentioned, shoot me a PM or drop by the forum. The in-site link is at the top of my profile page.

Similarly, please do let me know if you find something that seems off to you. I'll try my best to fix it in the morning. Final revisions for this chapter were done, but I have a lasting mental haze atm so idk how effective that was this time.

Enjoy!

X

"Him?" squawked the director, pointing a finger at me accusingly. "The spellcaster, of all people?"

"That is correct."

I remembered the recruiter mentioning something along those lines, but somehow, the woman on the other side of the holographic projection made my lost documents sound like a much bigger deal.

Animusphere clicked her tongue. "Why am I only hearing about this now, Da Vinci? I made sure that every selected candidate was approved by me. If this man" –she spat the word distastefully– "was really that important, I'm sure that Lev would have made me aware of his existence."

"…That's just it. The recruitment file is archived, but it was never actually submitted. I'd wager that Lev never received it."

Animusphere grit her teeth. "Who's the incompetent fool who managed to screw up this badly?"

"Kirschtaria Wodime."

"Eh?"

"It was Kirschtaria Wodime's initiative to recommend Emiya Shirou for the position. For whatever reason, it never reached the rest of us, and he never brought it up again."

I didn't know who this Wodime person was supposed to be, but he must have been important. Both the director and Kyrielight were making strange faces.

Hold on, I was missing the point, here! If I didn't know him, why did he know me?

"Krisch…taria Wodime," I spoke aloud, doing my best not to butcher the name. "Who is he? Does he have any business with me?"

"He's the A-team's leader," Kyrielight responded.

So he's important, then. Definitely important.

She didn't have an answer to my second question.

"The A-team members are still alive for now, but they're being held in a cryogenic stasis; they're far from stable at the moment. We won't know more until they wake up."

"How long until then?" I asked.

"I don't know."

I grimaced. That wasn't the answer that any of us were looking for.

"Regardless, whining over it now won't do us any good. What matters is that we've reached out to Emiya Shirou eventually. Our remaining bright spot is that our only serviceable master candidate is experienced at handling servants– definitely more than most others could say."

"Hold on!" the director shouted. "What was that last part?"

"Hm? You didn't know? He was the saber-class servant's master during the fifth grail war."

I felt Lancer's piercing gaze on my back. Despite being her master, I couldn't help but feel unnerved.

The director looked like she had something else to say about that, but now wasn't the time.

"Lancer," I addressed Medusa. "Which servants are still around? Caster is dealt with, but that still leaves five servants unaccounted for."

I couldn't see her expression. It was hidden by her veil. "Caster was the only servant remaining until you freed me. Archer, Rider, Assassin, Berserker, and Saber have all been defeated and are now apparitions possessed by the Holy Grail."

Apparitions... I didn't like the sound of that, and yet it went a long way in explaining a lot of things.

Wait a minute, "You said Caster was the last servant remaining. Where's his master?"

If there was still a human left alive in this hellhole, then we should do everything in our power to make sure they're alright.

"Dead. Caster was relying entirely on his Independent Action class skill, I would assume."

Ah. Never mind, then.

We were given a significant clue, however.

"A singularity is caused by a divergence in history, right?"

"…More or less. Basically, something's wrong, but we need to figure out what that 'something' is."

"The Holy Grail that I'm familiar with was corrupted as well, but it didn't reanimate the servants that had already been defeated. I'm guessing that's the best place for us to start. The Greater Grail should be on the ley line that passes through Ryuudou Temple–"

"I wouldn't recommend that plan of action, Master," warned Lancer. "Saber guards the grail. It supplies her with mana– enough for her to have been able to slay five other servants in little more than a day."

"…"

That's the part that I couldn't understand. That I could fight a weakened Caster was one thing, but the fact that Lancer wasn't able to crush us all instantly cemented the idea that a reanimated servant –a puppet of the Grail at most– was not as powerful as a normal one.

But then why was Saber so strong?

Mash gripped her shield tightly. "Lancer-san, might you know Saber's identity? If we know that much, then we might be able to work around a weakness of theirs."

Good thinking, Mash. So far, most of the servants that we had encountered were not identical to the ones that I was familiar with. With any luck, this Saber wouldn't be Arturia.

"King Arthur."

So much for that, then.

A whistle came from the hologram. "That's one hell of a well-known legend. Saber's mysteries must be something frightening."

"They are," I told them. "Back then, I wasn't that great of a master so her parameters weren't optimal. Even so, she fought by my side reliably up until the very end of the war. Even with an average master, rather than a third-rate such as myself, she would've won with little effort."

Which she had, in fact.

Apparently, there were a few takeaways to be had from my comment.

"So your servant was King Arthur as well."

"Ah, Senpai. By 'she', you mean…"

"Third-rate? You're really sending mixed messages, Spellcaster!"

I could only laugh uneasily.

"Well, the point is, our options are limited at the moment. Saber is strong, but if we want to fix this singularity, we'll have to go against her eventually. Lancer and I can–"

"Master."

My new servant placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Hm?"

"I am not your only servant at the moment. Do not forget that."

"…"

Mash shifted and avoided my eyes.

…Seriously. What was I supposed to say to something like that? A child her age shouldn't be burdened with a heroic spirit's duty.

I was stuck. We would need all the help we could get, and yet, how was I supposed to make this girl fight a battle that she wasn't ready for?

"Mash," I asked, noticing how she stilled. "Your Noble Phantasm… do you know its name?"

She seemed to shrink in on herself and I grimaced. That was a no, then. It was never my intention to make her feel inadequate, but at the very least I knew the extent of what she was currently capable of.

Without the full scope of that shield's abilities, its defensive properties wouldn't be enough to handle one of Excalibur's swings.

As frustrating as it was, there was nothing that I could do to help her. My reality marble didn't hold the Noble Phantasm belonging to the original servant, but the shield belonging to the demi-servant Mash Kyrielight. Its true history was hidden from me because the girl's Noble Phantasm was a different entity from the item it was trying to imitate.

…Although, something about it was strange. It wasn't that the properties that we were looking for didn't exist, but more that "they were hidden since the shield's creation".

Unfortunately, this really was something that Kyrielight needed to figure out for herself.

"We'll work with what we have," I suggested. "Saber is an extremely talented swordswoman, but against servants of equal skill, her main advantage is her magical capacity. If Lancer can engage her in melee combat, I can offer enough ranged support to make it a fair fight."

"Just hold on a minute!" Animusphere growled. "I am in charge of this operation, so don't you go deciding things on your own. Lancer is one thing, but what happens when Saber decides to attack us instead? Mash is a demi-servant now, so she might survive, but you and I would be dead in an instant."

I could definitely see where she was coming from, but I had already accounted for such outcomes. I'd make sure that we would be in a position to shelter ourselves from anything that Excalibur could throw our way. "I have a few defensive Noble Phantasms that am positive are strong enough to protect us."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Silence again. Was it something I said?

Mash lifted her hand up to her shoulder. "Senpai… when you say 'a few defensive Noble Phantasms', what is it that you mean, exactly?"

I blinked.

Oh. Right. None of them knew about my brand of magecraft.

"I don't have very many talents to write home about, but my skills with my variation of Gradation Air are more than adequate, I think. Projecting Noble Phantasms isn't usually a problem for me."

Animusphere scoffed. "This is no time to be pulling our legs! I let it slide earlier with that strange arrow, but you will tell us the truth."

Her snarl quickly made way for something marginally softer. "I understand that a family craft shouldn't be shared with outsiders so easily, but the future of humanity –and more imminently, our lives– are in grave danger. I'm sure we can agree that–"

"You said that you weren't him, but there's more to it than that, right?"

The director cut herself off mid-speech, not anticipating the firmness of Lancer's interjection.

I blinked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Archer. I'm sure of it– more than your appearances, the way you fight is identical. I never anticipated that a servant could have so many Noble Phantasms available to them, but if it's as you said, then it makes sense."

I nodded, though I was reluctant to do so. "You're right. We're different people, though Archer was once an individual who lived the life of 'Emiya Shirou'."

I couldn't stomach the thought of comparing us any more than that.

"Hold the phone and back up the bus, if you would be so kind."

The lady from Chaldea. I almost forgot about her.

"Are you saying that the Archer present in this Grail War is from the future? As in, a servant who managed to ascend to the Throne of Heroes in this woeful era of dying mystery?"

"Yes."

"And this servant is you?"

"No."

Somehow, I managed to kill the flow of the conversation once more.

"…Moving on, could you show us one of these 'projections'? We'll disregard the significance and plausibility of what you're suggesting until a later time. For now, knowing what is or is not available to us is most important."

Tracing a Noble Phantasm was… not particularly convenient or economical if I didn't need it. I'd rather not waste my energy when we'd be fighting Arturia imminently.

What the woman was saying still rang true, however. A weaker mystery then. Enough to prove that I could while being mindful of the strain on my magic circuits.

In the palm of my hand, a green spark followed the outline of Kanshou's blueprint.

A simple C-rank Noble Phantasm. It helped that I was practiced with tracing this weapon. That I didn't bother with its other half meant that I expended less Od than I usually did.

Both Kyrielight and the director eyed the weapon with awed expressions.

"Heh. Would you look at that? You're a weird kid."

I didn't know how being called "a weird kid" should make me feel. I am a grown man, Miss, despite Rin's frequent avowal to the contrary.

At the very least, they seemed to be a little more willing to trust my word now.

"The sooner we do this, the better," I said. I paused, taking a moment to observe our new servant's parameters. "Lancer, your Agility should make up for the difference in Strength, but the real issue here is Endurance. Harpe doesn't offer you much in the way of survivability, so if Saber capitalizes on that advantage, retreat behind my Noble Phantasm until you've recuperated enough to continue."

In a novel turn of events, my contracted servant didn't immediately shoot down my plan for using myself as an instrument to its success.

"Saber won't be idle in the meantime," she remarked.

"I can buy you a few seconds"

"Then that is what we'll do."

Working with agreeable individuals was kind of nice.

"Aren't you forgetting about us, Spellcaster?"

As short-lived as it was.

"I won't let anything happen to either of you," I promised, trying to appease the director.

"That's not what I'm talking about, fool."

Oh?

She pointed at Mash, whose spirits still hadn't seemed to have made a full recovery. "Her Noble Phantasm may be out of reach, for now, but an A-rank Endurance parameter should not be so easily overlooked. If it's a matter of buying Lancer a moment to breathe–"

"–Then Mash should be just fine, as long as we move swiftly and purposefully," I finished. "Are you alright with that?"

For whatever reason, the girl was caught off guard by my addressing. "Y-yes! Please, count on me!"

Then that's what we'll do. Let's just hope that it'll work.

X

I stared back at a face nearly identical to my own.

The similarities weren't unending, however. His hair was a little whiter, and his skin a little darker.

The biggest difference was that his frown was annoyed at best while my own expression was closer to a snarl.

Near the entrance of the cave that Lancer brought us to, we had found Archer.

Our servant told us that an encounter with him would be likely. For whatever reason, he had taken upon himself the task of guarding Saber's new-found lair.

And I resented him for it.

"You look like you have something to say, Otherworlder."

"Otherworlder", he called me. He knew my name, and yet he didn't bother using it.

At my rear, I heard the strangled noise that came from the director's throat.

"The spellcaster is really…" she muttered to herself, though she trailed off before she could finish her thought.

"I want to hear your excuse. It better be a damn good one."

Archer quirked a brow. "What are you talking about?"

He didn't get it? How strange. Maybe I overestimated his ability to feel shame and remorse for his own ineptitude. "Rin is dead. Sakura is dead. Everyone is dead, and for who knows what reason, you're still here doing whatever this is supposed to be. What do you have to say for yourself?"

I hated it then, and I still hated it now. The thought that someone like him was so closely tied to "me"... did he even care what happened to them? Probably not, right? They mustn't have been anything more than strangers to him, as he was.

This might not have been my world, but that didn't matter to me. The thought of the people I cared about suddenly dying like this was enough to set me off. I couldn't begin to imagine what I'd do if I came home to Rin one day just to find...

I shook my head.

His frown deepened. I must have hit a nerve. I'm glad that he was capable of feeling as much despite the half-assed nature of his resummoning.

"You would never understand. You look a little older, but I can see now that you're just as small-minded now as you've always been."

Was that supposed to mean something? What a joke.

"…"

Evidently, he didn't have an answer for me, nor did he have anything meaningful to say. If nothing else, he'll be a good practice dummy for us.

"Go, Lancer."

Archer's greatest asset was his Unlimited Blade Works, which paired with his hard-earned combat ability allowed him to fight on relatively even ground with most servants. Other than that, however, he was utterly outclassed in terms of raw statistics. A servant as powerful as Medusa–especially now that her spirit origin was fully-functioning– wouldn't be felled easily by Kanshou and Bakuya. Were I in Archer's place, I'd fight her with a Noble Phantasm that I knew her legend would be weak against.

And so, as copy of Harpe appeared in Archer's hand and immediately morphed into an arrow

I found it a little ironic that Medusa wielded a weapon that was meant to kill her.

Its rank was A+, but Archer wouldn't be able to make a copy that was as powerful as the original. Moreover, despite not being a divine construct, it bore enough divine properties for it to be too bothersome to project in any other circumstance.

If he really intended to waste its abilities as an arrow, then Rho Aias could take it handily. It was true that Medusa would not survive if the blow landed, however.

I called out to her, "Get behind–"

My internal monologue wasn't needed, it would seem. Archer's arm turned to stone before the arrow could be fired, and though the rest of him took a little longer to follow suit, Lancer's scythe dealt a finishing blow swiftly enough for it not to matter.

Archer vanished, and I had to hold back a blush.

How silly. I had completely overlooked the fact that she had Mystic Eyes of Petrification. At Rank A+, Archer wouldn't have had a strong enough Magic Resistance to stave off its effects.

It went without saying that I was pretty lucky during our first encounter. Had she not confused me for Archer, I would have died just as easily as he had now. As a human, I didn't have anything as convenient as "class skills" or "Magic Resistance".

Lancer was proving herself to be an incredibly frightening servant, but then again, this could just be the gap between a real servant and a wraith controlled by the Grail.

"Enemy servant neutralized, Master."

I joined Kyrielight and Animusphere in their unashamed staring.

"Good work, Spellcaster," the director commended me, catching me by surprise. "You've done well securing such a strong servant."

I wanted to take her compliment for what it was, but it was important that all of us knew the difference between what we had just faced versus what we were likely to encounter.

"By servant standards, this Archer wasn't that impressive. If Saber managed to take on nearly every participant in the war in her current state, then I can only guess that she's become something that surpasses the limits of a heroic spirit, rather than the opposite."

She had abnormally high Magic Resistance, to boot. Lancer's Mystic Eyes wouldn't be as useful against her.

I smelled a strong concentration of magical energy emanating from the cave and I stilled. The director did the same, so she must have possessed a sixth sense similar to mine.

Saber knew that we were here, and she was waiting for us.

X

"Welcome."

She sounded like Saber, looked like Saber… but she wasn't Saber. Not the one that I knew, at least.

It was disappointing, but then again, maybe it was better this way.

For a moment, she and I locked gazes. She studied me as if looking for something, but turned away before I could begin to decipher the expression. Maybe it was just a trick of the light.

Or a lack thereof.

What looked like the Greater Grail stood tall behind her. Something that she had once destroyed with her own hands was at her back, protected from the danger that we posed.

For a moment, it seemed as though nothing would happen.

"Rho Aias."

The conceptual shield's petals –as many as were available to me– manifested before us. After getting over her initial shock, Animusphere tilted her head my way in a quizzical fashion. "This is the 'Noble Phantasm' you spoke of earlier, correct? Is it merely a precaution–"

What sounded like a thousand jet engines screamed in our ears. A blast of magical energy slammed into our first line of defense, breaking the first two layers on impact.

My eyes felt like they would jump out of my head. I tried to ignore the searing pain in my arms.

"Go, Lancer!"

If she didn't act quickly, another layer would be lost. We couldn't afford to have Rho Aias break down so soon.

Thankfully, Medusa was able to cross the distance between Saber and herself in the blink of an eye. With power befitting of a knight-class servant, she interrupted the enemy's assault prematurely and forced Saber into melee combat.

Every swing was so strong that it shook the cave. Honestly, the structural integrity of this hole-in-the-mountain worried me greatly.

Lancer was holding up admirably, but the current pace was something that she was struggling to maintain. Mana didn't seem to be an issue for Saber, and every strike that impacted the side of Harpe's shaft looked as though it hit like a magically-powered nuke.

"Mash!"

Shielder ran out from the cover of Rho Aias and joined the fray, allowing Lancer a temporary reprieve. Saber tried to cut off her escape, but she wasn't agile enough to get past Mash.

I was surprised, but pleasantly so. If this version of Saber sacrificed mobility for power, then it worked to the advantage of our current plan of engagement.

"How are you?" I asked the servant that had returned to my side. She kept a straight face despite the weariness in her step.

"I'm fine. Saber merely caught me off guard."

"That's– get back, Mash!"

I had to interrupt myself to warn the girl as quickly as I could. Durability was one thing, but taking the brunt of what was coming would wipe her out either way.

She barely made it in time. Excalibur swung, and two more petals were taken from my projection.

A third attack like that one would be just about all that I could take.

Medusa was forced to leave cover or else Saber would have us trapped in one place. Despite not having fully recovered, she did an admirable job once more.

Her strategy had changed. Instead of blocking Saber's swings, she took advantage of the disparity in their Agility to avoid the attacks altogether.

Saber had enough.

A burst of mana hit Lancer head-on, sending her flying back into the depths of the cave. Her sword was still being held overhead, but the wind pressure emanating from the weapon was enough to drop stalactites from the ceiling.

Mash steadied the director before the woman could lose her footing.

Damn it! Lancer needed to move quickly, or–

Saber turned to face us.

"Shit!"

Just like that, Rho Aias was reduced to its final layer. I don't know what happened to Lancer, but if she didn't interrupt Saber soon then we would meet our ends swiftly.

I couldn't turn away –steadying what little of the Noble Phantasm remained required all of my focus– but I caught sight of Kyrielight trembling silently.

The director, I would imagine, was able to hold herself together much more effectively. I was led to believe that she was an excellent magus, so she surely took the expression "A magus walks with death" to heart.

Kyrielight was not. It was clear as day. I loathed the fact that I allowed her to be dragged into this mess to begin with.

I didn't know how her status as a demi-servant came to be, but it was more of a curse than a boon.

"Don't worry, Mash," I told her through clenched teeth. "Leave everything to me."

Even if it was a lie, an empty platitude was all that I could manage.

The final petal shattered, and so I had no way of knowing how the girl took my words.

Sorry, you two.

Death approached quickly. My final thoughts were of–

"Haaaaaah!"

A new layer replaced the petal that had shattered.

No. That wasn't quite accurate, for this new protective veil wasn't part of Rho Aias at all.

Mash stood in front of me, shield raised.

Somehow, the girl had managed to use her Noble Phantasm without knowing so much as its name.

Seriously, what an admirable young lady.

Shielder stood firm in the face of the never-ending attack. Saber's magical capacity was both frightening and wholly unanticipated. It was no longer a mystery to me how she managed to kill five servants in one sitting.

"Do your best, Mash!" shouted the director, acting out of character because of the near-death experience.

Or maybe I haven't seen this encouraging side of her because she flat out didn't like me?

One of the two, probably.

I would surely congratulate her, but that would have to wait. Her timely intervention gave us something invaluable.

Free use of my hands.

Shattered as they were, I pushed through the pain and projected two objects. A bow strong enough to fire solid metal and Hrunting, the Noble Phantasm belonging to Beowulf.

The results would be very different from when I tried something similar against Lancer. The two variables were the speed of my opponent and the time that Shielder's protection had bought me.

I drew back the altered sword and ignored the blood escaping my lips. I poured as much magical energy into the newly-made arrow as I could.

More.

More.

Ten seconds had elapsed. A broken phantasm was notched to my bow, the only thing holding it in place being my trembling fingers.

"Hrunting."

Even if I failed the first time, I was certain that I could manage this a few more times, despite my mangled body. I doubted that would be necessary, however.

Powered up as it was, it instantly reached speeds surpassing Mach ten.

Would the Saber I knew be able to parry such a thing? Maybe.

This servant was slow, however. Strikingly so.

As such, I didn't so much as bat an eye when Hrunting tore through her chest plate and nailed her to the far wall of the cave.

An explosion sounded. The Broken Phantasm had collapsed on itself.

Kyrielight's Noble Phantasm was dropped immediately. She leaned on the shield so as not to follow suit.

Thank you, Mash.

We made it this far with hers and Lancer's help. At this point, it was my responsibility to ensure that the job was seen through to the end.

"Hold on–"

Animusphere reached out to stop me, but I grabbed her hand before she could.

I gave her the closest thing to a reassuring smile that I could currently manage.

"Sorry, I let things get out of hand. Everything is under control now."

She was frozen in place. Her face looked a little flushed, but considering what we had just put ourselves through, I must have been a little red too.

Uninterrupted, I approached the stilled saber-class servant. If the particles wisping off her body were any indication, the Holy Grail probably couldn't support her continued manifestation any longer.

Seeing her like this made me feel a pang in my chest, but I squashed it immediately. This wasn't really Saber after all. Someone like this just couldn't be her.

Somehow, she mustered the strength to drag her eyes onto me.

"Shirou."

"Yes?" I answered instinctively. I hadn't anticipated any sort of conversation from the dying heroic spirit, tainted as she was. Until now, she hadn't given the slightest indication that she had recognized me.

I wished that she hadn't recognized me.

"How old are you?"

"Uh...Twenty-seven."

"…And you've lived well?"

I couldn't begin to guess what she was getting at. I was definitely missing some context here.

"Yes."

"…"

Supposedly, she had decided that our conversation would end there. Nothing more was said, not even a grunt was offered. Saber disappeared.

Someone started to clap.

I looked back in confusion. Kyrielight? Animusphere?

No, it wasn't them. I couldn't see Lancer anywhere either. Where did she go?

"Good riddance, that fool of a Heroic Spirit had it coming. Though I won't say that I'm pleased you made it this far, I can't say that I didn't expect it, either."

That voice… it was familiar.

"Lev!" shouted Animusphere. The relief in her voice was clear.

She started to run towards me– no, towards something behind me.

I turned around and found Lev Lainur standing in front of the Greater Grail. Wasn't he supposed to be dead?

I grabbed Animusphere by the waist as she tried to cross me.

"Wha– let me go, Spellcaster!"

Sorry, Director. I'm positive this isn't who you think it is.

My actions seemed to anger the individual wearing the face of Lev Lainur.

"You know, Shirou Emiya, I think I just might find you a little more annoying than Saber. I went through all that trouble to make sure you would never be contacted by Finis Chaldea, and yet, here you are."

A finger came up to the man's chin. "You know what? The cat's out of the bag, so to say, so I might as well ask: where in the world did you find Wodime's recruitment file? I got rid of the damned thing the moment he gave it to me."

"…"

I was beginning to think that the man in front of me wasn't so much an impostor, but more of a particularly talented liar.

"You planted the bomb in the command room," I guessed.

"Of course."

Animusphere's eyes widened in horror. From what I could gather, the woman was quite fond of this man. His betrayal must be difficult for her to swallow.

"Did you know?" he began. "Once Caster was eliminated, that should have been the end of it. All seven servants would have been dead, and the Holy Grail that entrusted to Saber would have ended the world. Properly. Concisely."

He said it as if discussing the weather. Though I could have easily guessed as much, he had effectively admitted to being the cause of this singularity.

…This man was either the most dangerous magus in existence, or he simply wasn't human. Doing what he did suggests that he possesses something resembling the Second Magic.

He crossed his arms, continuing his rant. "And yet, you lot took away an entire spirit origin from the Heaven's Feel, weakening its power. If Saber had it her way, she could've kept this singularity above water indefinitely."

Despite myself, I shouted up to him, "Are you saying that Saber had some sort of ulterior motive? She was possessed by the Grail, wasn't she?"

Lev Lainur stared down at me as if I were an insignificant bug. It made my blood boil.

"Weren't you listening? I gave her the grail. She wasn't swallowed by it– Saber took its power of her own volition."

I must have mirrored Animusphere at that moment.

I couldn't believe it.

Saber? She did this to herself?

"Why would she–"

"Poor Saber… she had just lost her master. Were it not for my timely intervention, surely she would have perished along with him." Lainur's grin was telling. He was enjoying the way that his words were throwing me for a loop. "Magnanimously, I saved her life. I gave her a Holy Grail, and with it, she could continue to fight. His wish may have been lost… but not hers! It's amazing how someone like her could cling to a lost cause for so long, no matter how tired I grew of her actions eventually. In the end, I can't say that I fully understood what went through that one's head."

He laughed as if he told a particularly funny joke.

It wasn't funny. Not at all.

Saber would never–

"What's going on, Lev!" cried the white-haired woman hysterically. "Are you saying that… that…"

"That I'm responsible for the situation you currently find yourselves in? That I planted a bomb at your feet? I suppose I am. Though I must say, I'm baffled that you aren't dead. Good on you, Emiya. You truly are an insufferable miracle worker."

With newfound confidence, Kyrielight placed herself firmly between us and the enemy.

"Your orders, Master!"

"Stand back."

My command threw her for a loop, but I knew that trying to fight this man as we were could only be a bad idea.

"Cute, but it won't be so easy for you, I'm afraid."

Animusphere's body was pulled from the ground by an invisible force and levitated towards Lev Lainur. I wasn't able to react in time.

Some sort of portal opened behind the man. I could see the broken remains of some sort of room, and…

The bright red globe…

Was that CHALDEAS?

"Allow me to reintroduce myself," spoke Lainur. "I am Lev Lainur Flauros, the demon sent to this time period in order to destroy humanity. The state of CHALDEAS is proof that I have already won."

"No… No!" screamed the director, struggling against her invisible holds. "For CHALDEAS to malfunction in such a way–"

"This is not a 'malfunction', foolish child. The outside world is already gone. Incinerated. Chaldea's protective fields might have isolated you from the incident, but your luck ends a year from now."

My brain stopped working.

"Lev… Lev, what are you doing! If I touch that, I'll–"

"You'll die. Touching CHALDEAS would be like trying to touch a black hole, after all. Aren't you happy? You'll be closer to your life's work one last time."

I forced myself into action. The director was being drawn closer and closer to the makeshift weapon of death.

A blueprint from my Unlimited Blade Works rose to the forefront of my mind, but it proved to be unnecessary. A dark blur tackled Animusphere out of the air, effectively saving her life.

I sighed. "Where were you?"

Lancer placed the shaken woman gently on the ground.

"I apologize, Master. Saber had immobilized me momentarily."

I took a good look at her and winced. A gnarly gash ran from her shoulder to her hip.

A human would have died on the spot. Saber was frightening to have been able to do so much with a single strike.

The demon clicked his tongue. "You'll live a little longer. No matter. Saber's death has brought this singularity to its end. You can die along with it."

He disappeared, and only then had the weight of his proclamations begun to sink in.

"Hello? This is Doctor Romani again! Whatever was interfering with our comms is gone now. What is the status of the operation?"

The cave collapsed around us.

Mash answered in my stead. "We'll explain later, Doctor! The singularity is collapsing; we need an emergency Rayshift!"

"Eh? It's done? Emiya, are you there?"

I couldn't answer him.

"Hurry up Romani!" yelled Animusphere. She could get over herself long enough to get on the doctor's case, it would seem. "If we die because you couldn't bring us back quickly enough, I'll kill you!"

"Eek!"

We would live. Somehow, this burning hellhole didn't kill us.

And yet, I couldn't figure out why that was supposed to matter.

I would be alive. Mash would be alive. Olga Marie would be alive. The doctor, that woman, and maybe some others too…

That was good, right?

The outside world is already gone.

Sakura, Fuji-nee, everyone…

"Rin…"

The world collapsed.