SentinalSlice: You are welcome.
The true Skull: We have already discussed this through PM, but I think other people might be interested in my answers.
As for the "Dude" who is supposed to be Maglocunus, I think you mean Maelgwn Gwynedd who was the "Tiern" (the king) of Gwynedd. Saint Gildas gave him the title of "dragon king". But the part of this text is rather difficult to understand, Gildas does not expressly say that Maelgwn Gwynedd is "Maglocunnus" he just calls him "dragon king". Now, we know from the ancient texts that the Britons were led by a "great king" who bore the title of "Pen Dragon" (Literally: "dragon head"). We tried to explain this title in different ways, but one of the proposals (based on similarities between the coronation of many Celtic kings and the Lia Fáil rite in Ireland) was that the Pendragon would be chosen by Maglocunnus during a ritual... a pagan ritual. This would explain in large part the hostility of Saint Gildas.
But the first question is whether we can trust Gildas the Wise. He is not a historian. The De Excidio Britanniae is a sermon... I have read some parts of it. One can sum up his book to a charge against his contemporaries "this man do this" or "this one did that"... it is a painful text to read that makes one think a little of Ecclesiastes in the Holy Bible... "All are sinners and bad Christians except me, me and me. In my ivory tower, I judge and condemn all the other men"... I always hated this behavior. The "historical" part of the work makes contemporary historians laugh frankly. An example? Gildas tells the story of the Hadrian Wall in De Excidio: "[leaving Romans] thinking that it might help the [British] allies, whom they were forced to abandon, built a strong stone wall from coast to coast, in a straight line between the cities that had been built there for fear of the enemy, where Severus had also built a wall once. " Source: Encyclopedia site: fr wikiqube net.
In reality, the Wall of Hadrian was built in 122 A.D. long before the Romans left the British Isles.
As for the relationship with Lancelot... let's just say that Lancelot is a character added to the Arthurian myth in the twelfth century. Perhaps he was inspired by the Tiern of Dunmonia Petroc "Bladaert" (sparkling lance) ap Clemen, others suggested that Lancelot would be inspired by Cù Chulainn.
The problem is that there is not an "Arthurian myth" but several... The Arthurian legend knows several writing epochs that are superimposed a little like sedimentary strata with here and there, majors works (like the Mabinogion) that have fixed durably certain aspects of the myth, authors (like Geoffrey of Monmouth, Christians of Troyes, or Thomas Mallory) who revolutionized the Arthurian cycle by bringing new themes and characters. Geoffrey of Monmouth introduced Merlin to the Arthurian legend. As for Chrétien de Troyes, he introduced Lancelot... at least he is the oldest AUTHOR mentioning Lancelot, since the cathedral of Molena -anterior to Chrétien de Troyes' "Chevalier de la charette" already shows Lancelot facing Meleagant to free Guenevere. As for Mallory, he introduced the "Black Knight". Would we now imagine the Arthurian Cycle without Merlin and Lancelot? Impossible... yet they are relative newcomers who were introduced into the Arthurian legend only in the 12th century.
As for the reproach of introducing too much Arthurian Myth into my stories... Is it not the very principle of the Fate series to introduce characters of various legends and to make them coexist?
And to reproach me that it is not canonical makes me laugh. I am not an author paid by Type-Moon (unfortunately!) and Fate: Ryuudo Awakening is a crossover with Rifts. So we are from the start very far from any canonical story...
Then to say that I do not know what Fate has in store for Artoria and therefore I do not indulge in my own speculations... considering the number of "Alter" versions of Artoria (Artoria Lancer, the Lion King, Artoria Alter, Artoria Lily, Saber Lion, Artoria Caster) and the number of parallel universes: Fate Stay Night, Unlimited Blade Work, Heaven Fell, Fate Extra, Capsule Servant, Fate Apocrypha, Fate Tiger Coliseum, Fate Tiger Coliseum Upper, Fate Strange Fake, Fate Grand Order, Fate Unlimited Code, etc... There has never been a single version of Saber with a perfectly fixed story. Let says the events of Ryuudo Awakening are happening in an alternative Fateverse with a slightly different Saber.
Trial by fire
Hiroshima, Republic of Japan, 110 P.A.
It was one of those grey and rainy days when the sky seemed so low that we could almost capture the clouds. Hiroshima was not a beautiful city and on such a sad day, the concrete and glass environment became particularly oppressive.
Wherever one looks at it was only titanic skyscrapers, most had round shapes from an "organic" design, but others were pyramids or arrows, there were even some constructions similar to crystals with multiple facets.
Intense traffic reigned at the feet of the buildings. The wide avenues were teeming with passers-by: pressed salarymen, policemen in Kuru armor, schoolchildren and high school students in Gakuran uniform for boys and Sailor Fuku for girls, waitresses dressed in French Maid distributing flyers to passers-by, Cyberoides with visible Cybernetic implants and dressed in very colorful clothing, all a strange fauna typical of Japan at the end of the twenty-first century. Most wore surgical masks to protect themselves from pollution. On the pavement were many cars. Some were no different from what was seen in the twentieth century, but these cars were mixed with hovercars that moved while floating above the ground.
But the vehicle traffic was not limited to ground level or elevated roads that formed interlacing on several levels... There were also aircars channeled by floating beacons that defined several traffic corridors between the facades of the skyscrapers.
Everywhere, even at the highest altitudes, large animated holographic panels reach potential customers for any kind of products in ubiquitous brainwashing.
In one of the air corridors reserved for long distances, one could see three cloudbuses painted in green and decorated with the logo of the Army of the Republic. Their tinted windows did not allow us to see the interior, but they must have been soldiers traveling between two military installations.
The aircrafts left the city and headed northwest, their objective was a huge dome built in the mountains.
A Santō rikusa (Major) in uniform greeted the recruits with a smile and gave a brief speech:
"The Combat simulations are accomplished by various means, often interacting with each other to form intricate scenarios that are so tightly interwoven with imagination and reality that the two are virtually inseparable."
The officer took a few steps, pointing to the scenery behind him. Multiple cubes of glass-like material were moving, amalgamating to form obstacles and tall structures.
"The major components of the simulator sessions are the realistic mock-ups, and the sophisticated weaponry utilized by the Republic Army in the training. This is a high-tech equivalent of the 'Laser-Tag' games which were so popular in the days before the Opening of the Rifts."
The Major then pointed to the dome above him:
"The greatest asset in simulation combat is the Enhanced Video Simulator (EVE). EVE is a holographic projector that creates a perfect illusion of reality. With the use and extensions of EVE, simulation combat can be just as realistic and frightening as real war. Physical exhaustion and mental anguish appear in the training troop as frequently as in real combat. Many recruits have suffered battle fatigue during the training sessions as if were actual war. Recruits may know the conflict is a simulation before and after the exercise, but during the session... the combat is real! The complexity of the EVE will prime the conscious mind into combat mode. Pain and death will seem all too real."
He pointed to the cubes that continued to move.
"Furthermore, will the use of real obstacles and various simulation equipment, the training sessions know no limit. The confines of the Training Program have been stretched in every conceivable manner. Weather, terrain, encounters, and time are interchangeable simulator pieces in a real puzzle. In one session recruits could be fighting in the rage of a snowstorm in the Arctic Tundra and the next, facing the ravaging fury of a desert sandstorm. The whole world can be the battlefield... "
The Training Company recruits were listening in the resting position. They were 150 young soldiers and instructors wearing the AT-A14 Infantry "Trooper" Body Armor. Plates and laminate cover the upper torso and most of the legacy, mutually linked by the use of flexible joint made of ceramic and steel mesh created through molecular bonding, 100 times stronger than steel. The armor wore tiger-striped camouflage paints in green, khaki, and black.
The helmets had opaque visors, making it impossible to see the recruits' faces. Even someone who knew Matou Shinji would not have identified him among the other recruits. In fact, it was impossible for a foreigner to distinguish a soldier from another since the Body Armors had no insignia. But thanks to the complicated instrumentation built into his visor, Shinji could recognize friends and enemies while everything he saw was broadcast to the H.Q. commander to the infantry.
These futuristic gadgets were part of the assets offered to the soldiers of the Republic... but some had cybernetic or bionic improvements. Shinji was still very uncomfortable with his own modifications. According to the doctors who had transformed him, he had received only a minor modification. His new nervous system was made of living fibers, part of his body and modeled from his DNA, nevertheless... his reflexes had increased... increased at a superhuman level.
Over the past ten days, since leaving the tank filled with nanobots that had rewoven his nervous system, Shinji had struggled to control his new reflexes.
In fact, as soon as he started stressing, his altered nervous system reacted to adrenaline by... slowing down time. There was no other word.
When he was stressing, he would go into combat mode... and because his nervous system was working ten times faster than normal, there was a serious slowing down effect. Except he didn't control the phenomenon.
The doctors told Shinji he shouldn't worry. No one learned to control such a modification in a matter of days. They gave him some medicine and advised him to learn meditation exercises. Because it was only by succeeding in keeping his calm in all circumstances that his improved reflexes would be useful to him. If he panicked, he would only manage to hurt himself and others around him.
How ironic...
Shinji found himself here because he was naturally impulsive and thoughtless, having made stupid decisions that had hurt the people around him, and ended up leaving him handicapped. And now - to control his nervous system- he had to learn to control himself... The kind of things that made you think there was a God on Earth... and that he has a sense of humor.
Aware of having listened to the Major without hearing him, Matou Shinji concentrated because the officer was explaining the scenario of the simulation.
To sum up, the Dionii (an alliance of insectoid races) and their Mechanoids (insane cyborgs wanting to eradicate all humanoid races) allies had set up a base in a desert region of Central Asia, preparing to eradicate Asia's humans and D-Dbees' populations.
The mission was in two parts and would be the subject of two separate simulations.
The first phase consisted of destroying a launch base of Wasps (flying Mechanoids) on which depended on the enemy's air superiority in this sector. Nevertheless, the launch base was protected by bunkers that the infantry would have to clean before they could advance.
The second phase consisted of the attack on the Dionii hive itself. Again, the objective was protected by a network of advanced defenses.
Someone, somewhere, had pressed a button. It was a small cause but the effect was spectacular.
Inside EVE everything turned upside down.
Shinji stood in a vast basin bounded by rocky walls of red rock. Under his footsteps, the white plastic floor had been replaced by ochre sand, above him, the blue sky... and hundreds of flying machines fighting each other amidst rays of energy and missiles. At once, an explosion sounded and an aircraft disappeared into a rain of fire and debris.
When a machine crashed in the desert, Shinji threw himself to the ground. Lying in the sand, he turned to the wreck of an Am-jet which had just drawn a furrow in the sand of the desert before being stopped by a big rock...
He was in a holographic simulation...
But the Major was right, inside EVE everything seemed real.
Around him, the other recruits had thrown themselves to the ground or behind rocks.
But the training sergeants who commended on the various platoons were already reforming the ranks of young soldiers by shouting at them. They distributed their orders.
As platoon A and B advanced towards the nearest bunkers, platoon C -Shinji's platoon- was ordered to take the bunker on a plateau overlooking the battlefield. Several Am-jet and SAMAS had just launched a ground-air attack, sweeping the enemy units present. They had to seize the position before the counter-attack.
While a Ka-Kuma (Metal Bear) mecha was firing with its rail-gun howitzer towards the enemy lines, attacking positions and vehicles, its Gatling light rail-gun and laser opened fire, massacring the infantry coming out of the bunkers.
Taking advantage of the cover offered by the powerful mecha, the three platoons attacked their objectives.
Running amidst the thirty young people who constituted his unit, recruit Matou Shinji climbed the dusty slope. The top of the plateau was riddled with craters and filled with smoke. Everywhere charred bodies and still glowing wrecks testified to the violence of the bombing.
He was the second soldier to enter the bunker. There was no one.
The Dionii and their allies had been attacked while they were in the open and the support point had fallen unopposed.
Unfortunately, enemy reinforcements were already on their way.
The first encounter with an adversary froze Shinji's heart.
As he came out of the bunker, he saw another soldier, a knee on the ground firing his laser rifle. The red ray appeared for a brief moment and struck an immense metallic silhouette. In spite of the smoking trace that had just appeared on its chest, the creature open fire with its powerful plasma rifle and the soldier collapsed...
Young Matou's improved reflexes "saved his life".
Throwing himself to the shelter of a large red rock that took several shots, he riposted and a lucky shot in the head ended the fight.
Shinji approached to discover the creature... it was an autonomous robot created by the Mechanoids and called Thinman. 13 feet high, its head resembles the skull of a humanoid and was contently griming.
But the battle was just beginning. Lasers and plasma weapons were firing at them from the other end of the plateau. Behind the scout, a troop of Mock Men (Mechanoid autonomous humanoids robots) stormed. The two AT-600 rail-guns of the Platoon were placed ready to fire. Then the Japanese soldiers took shelter behind the rocks, retaliating with their AT-88 rifles, firing lasers or grenades with the underbarrel pump-action grenade launcher.
Several robots (the gigantic Thinman or his smaller companion and nicknamed Runt) succumbed to their firepower. But several Japanese, struck by the fire, died in the exchange of fire. The first Mock Men reached the plateau and dispersed among the rock formations and vehicle wrecks to hunt the Japanese.
The fights became sporadic punctuated by changes of place. To shoot, it was necessary to go into the open and therefore to expose oneself.
Shinji was advantaged by his reflexes, but this was not the case with his companions. One after the other they succumbed. The young Matou and one of his companions managed to touch and damage a Thinman who hid behind a large rock. Shinji fired a grenade, forcing the opponent out in the open, and they shot him down in a crossfire.
This second victory while he had still not been hit once makes Shinji enthusiastic... Alas, they had faced only the robotic servants of the enemy. Their creators had still not made their appearance.
The first Mechanoid Shinji encountered was a Seeker, a small three-foot metal sphere with two antennae and slender arms finished with lasers. The being was floating above the ground... but it was not completely a machine. Part of the sphere was transparent and revealed a brain floating in a translucent liquid and connected to the mechanical body by multiple wires. The insane and hateful creature fired at the Japanese soldiers who retaliated with grenades... which were as dangerous for the allies as the enemies, since the Seeker was fast and agile and swiftly changing position.
But it was the young Matou who killed him... It was his third victory.
He smiled as the battle continued around him.
It was then the turn of a Dionii to make his appearance. The alien was a kind of large insect with huge wings similar to those of a dragonfly, a thin body, and four arms. In each of his clawed hands, he held a weapon (dagger or axe) made of a kind of ceramic. Above all, he used a rifle firing bursts of psionic energy fed by the psychic power of the insectoid.
His shots took the form of a kind of swirling wave that tore his victims from the ground to throw the Japanese soldiers several yards away, wounding or killing them, damaging their armor.
As the Dionii flew over the rocks that the Japanese had turned into a fortress, the defenders shot at him. Once again, Shinji's reflexes allowed him to shoot down the enemy.
But around the Matou inheritor, only a dozen members of his platoon remained. Despite their losses, the attackers managed to drive the Japanese around three large rocks, encircling them almost completely. The worst part was ammunition was running out.
They repelled two more attacks. Shinji had killed a second Seeker and a second Dionii, his armor was now very "damaged", because he had been hit several times. It was in this state that he awaited the third assault.
It's not long before a new wave of Mock Men climbed the slope, exposing themselves to the shots of the last survivors of the C-platoon.
The young Matou shot down a Runt... but perceiving a movement of the corner of the eye, he turned. A Mechanoid was standing near the bomb crater that served as his shelter, it was a Runner. On long mechanical legs like those of an ostrich, the metal body resembled a conch cut vertically. A vaguely saurian head and slender arms came out of the opening... the left arm was a laser cannon. Shinji only had time to record the red ray that hit him in the chest before everything turned black.
His training armor, having recorded the "deadly" damage he had just suffered, disconnected.
During the debriefing, Shinji learned he had the third-highest score among the recruits. In particular, he had obtained the highest score for precision shooting.
Despite heavy losses (including the destruction of the Ka-Kuma mecha), the training company had succeeded in its mission.
Without giving the recruits time to recover from their emotions, the Major began the briefing for the second simulation.
Fuyuki, Republic of Japan, 110 P.A.
Fujimura Raiga smiles at Shirou. The young man stood beside his "grandfather" in the big car that drove them to an unknown destination. Sitting in the seat next to the driver, Saber briefly turned around, feeling his tension.
Shirou had reason to be tense, after all, Raiga had come shortly after lunch, offering to give him the inheritance of Kiritsugu. The old man had since kept a mysterious smile, refusing to comment, if not "Shirou, you will understand when we arrive."
They drove through Shinto, and then took the coastal road around the mountain separating Fuyuki from the industrial sector where the oil terminal was located.
The large car entered between the warehouses that formed the seafront, avoided the larger ones before stopping in front of a concrete building only designated by an alphanumeric code painted on a wall.
Raiga came out with a grin:
"Ah, it's hard to grow old. Rheumatism is no fun. When I see that the people of the 'Republic' can reach two years and more and that they do not appear half their age, I come to wish that their medicine would soon be available in Fuyuki."
The old man was dressed in western clothes, rather than his usual kimono. He wore a Three-piece suit, with a yellow vest decorated with black stripes... similar to the coat of a tiger.
Searching through an inner pocket, Raiga pulled a magnetic card out of his wallet and passed it through a scanner near the metal door.
Raiga brought in Saber and Shirou, the yakuza staying outside to watch his car. The young redhead looked around him, they were in a corridor with doors on both sides. From one of them came several yakuza. Recognizing their leader they bowed politely.
As he began to prepare one of his long, typically Japanese metal smoking pipes, Raiga turned to Shirou:
"I don't think I told you how I met your father."
Shirou shook his head. Over the years, Kiritsugu's adopted son had understood that the relationship between Raiga and his old man had not begun when the Magus Killer had bought the Emiya residence at the yakuza's Oyabun.
Raiga leaned aside as one of his men offered fire to him. Deep-reaching, he blew a puff of bluish smoke:
"I've known your father for years. He sometimes operated in Japan and needed someone to pass things through that customs certainly wouldn't let in. I was doing him this favor."
Raiga remained for a moment to remember the memories he kept for himself, then he turned to Saber and had a sad smile:
"And ten years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Kiritusugu for the first time. As his wife and Saber landed at the airport, he chose a more discreet way to get to Fuyuki. Then, after the Einzbern Castle was attacked by... the enemies he was fighting, I found him a new home." He nodded to Shirou: "Where you still live."
Shirou, in turn, turned to Saber, surprised by this mention of a wife and especially that the Servant knew her. The quiet face of the she-knight was now sad.
The Magus wavered a brief moment before asking a question:
"Who was the wife of my Old Man?"
"Her name was Irisviel von Einzbern... she was a sweet, kind, brave woman. She loved your father very much... and she was the vessel of the Holy Grail... "
She added nothing, but it was not necessary. Shirou stiffened. Like Illyasviel in the Fifth Grail War, she was dead because of this. An irrational burst of anger made him clench his fists. Both... sacrificed... The Einzbern had to be a bunch of monsters to create Homunculi, to make them sentient beings capable of loving, and feelings and then... they send them to death in these absurd wars.
Raiga looked at Saber then Shirou then coughed in his fist before waving to one of his men:
"Open the storeroom."
"Yes, Raiga-sama."
They passed through one of the rooms on the right of the corridor. As Raiga turned on the light, Shirou opened his eyes... it was an armory. Cabinets with glass doors lined up in two rows. Each contained pistols or rifles, as well as crates and boxes of ammunition, which were piled against the walls. The yakuza's Oyabun, made a gesture of his metal pipe, encompassing the whole room:
"Claymore mines, C-4plastic, sniper rifles, assault rifles... There are also surveillance systems, infrared sights, firing systems for explosives, and all kinds of technological gadgets. This is the legacy of Kiritsugu."
Shirou recovered from his surprise, emptied his lungs, and rubbed the back of his head with an awkward air:
"Grandpa, what do you want me to do with all this? I... I don't plan to start a war."
Raiga shrugged:
"I know you well enough to know, my boy. But the latest events prove that wars do not wait for our goodwill."
"True, but this weaponry is completely out of date... and ineffective against demons or armor used by soldiers of the Republic."
Instinctively, everyone turned to Saber who had just spoken. As soon as the conversation turned on topics like combat, her voice took on a tone of command that was not forced, but natural... what was called charisma. Without seeming to notice the attention that was focused on her, Artoria continued:
"Of course, Kiritsugu could have used it effectively even in this case." She nodded with thought and looked at Shirou with seriousness: "Your father had been nicknamed 'Magus Killer' because he had a gift for finding and exploiting weaknesses that no one else would have guessed."
The young redhead felt his eyes fogged while the last memory of Kiritsugu imposed itself on him. He had died peacefully, looking at the stars, because Shirou had promised him that he would become a hero of justice. He acquiesced, unable to say a word. Yeah, it sounded like his old man to find a way to victory whatever the situation was, he was the stubborn kind.
Raiga took advantage of this moment of silence to speak:
"I'm glad you brought that up, Saber-san, because one Kiritsugu's weapon must have probably been transformed by this passage into another world."
Kneeling by a storage cabinet, he took out a key ring and opened a drawer to take out a box of rosewood.
"Let's look into it in the next room, it's a meeting room," proposed Raiga.
Shirou nodded without saying anything, accepting the proposal.
They entered a concrete room with a single-window and a long table.
Now seated, the redhead held out his hand to the box... and jumped when his fingers touched it. He had not activated his Magic Circuits to use his Magecraft yet a strange sensation had invaded him. By reflex, he raised his hand, refusing contact.
Saber called him:
"Shirou?"
He smiled awkwardly:
"It's nothing, just a strange feeling."
A disturbing sensation...Shirou was certain that this box had nothing ordinary. He touched it a second time and a flood of images invaded his mind...
He swallows.
"Magecraft... this box is protected... it... " Shirou paused, searching for his words.
Saber frowned and said:
"Kiritsugu may have protected it from thieves. In that case, you better not try to open it."
Raiga shook his head:
"I don't think so. I opened it and I know what's in it."
"Grandpa's right, it's not that kind of protection." Deeply inspiring, Shirou resisted the impulse to open his Magic Circuits and resort to the Structural Grasp Magecraft... even more, than the box, his own reaction intrigued him.
He touched the box and concentrated. The flow of images was now organized rationally. He saw a woman with gray hair, the hard look... the creator of the Magecraft protecting the box... Natalia Kaminiski... a killer... and Kiritsugu's teacher, the one who had trained him. He saw her create the box and understood the complex Magecraft she used:
"This box is surrounded by a kind of Bounded Field that prevents what's inside from being affected..." He paused. "I was going to say 'affected by the effect of age' but it's more subtle... it's to prevent the quality of what's inside does... How to put it? Evaporates... disappears."
Without waiting for an answer, Shirou opened the box.
He discovered a gun in a blood-red setting. It is a break-open single-shot pistol with a fourteen-inch rifled barrel. Its grip was carved in walnut.
"The bullets fired from this weapon are stowed underneath," Raiga said.
Without touching the gun that looked more like a toy than a really usable weapon, Shirou lifted the case to discover long bullets... more rifle bullets than pistols that lay in dwellings. Just under half of the rounds were missing (1)
Shirou then touched the gun and his eyes widened...
He retained the urge to vomit as the images quickly followed one another... the juxtaposition of dozens of fights... and the horrific deaths of 28 Magi. The weapon was horrible, cruel, using bullets that... turned the magic of a being against itself, made the Magus experience the equivalent of a massive short circuit. The weapon... a Thompson Contender... was a Miscellaneous Mystic Code imbued with Magecraft... and transformed by the powerful Mana of Rifts Earth in a weapon capable of killing supernatural beings.
But the true power of the weapon was only obtained when it fired the Origin Bullets.
Hesitating, he reached out his hand and immediately regretted it. When he touched the bullets, he came into contact with fragments of Kiritsugu's soul... who remained prisoners of the bullets because of the Bounded Field erected around the box by Natalia Kaminski.
Shirou faints under the violence of the shock.
That day Shirou discovered two things. First, the power of the double Origin of Kiritsugu, "Severing and Binding".
He also discovered that being rifted had awakened a dormant faculty... After years of using the Structural Grasp Magecraft, he developed a great sensitivity to the history and nature of the objects around him, making him a potential psionic capable of Object Read. Except that psionic powers did not exist in the Fateverse. This faculty had therefore remained latent. Until then...
Phoenix Empire, near the ruins of Uruk, former Iraq, 110 P.A
Marcus Meleagrus was a True Atlantean and an Undead Slayer.
He walked in the desert, only clothed in trousers, carrying neither weapon nor equipment. His long hair floated in the wind.
Although he carried no weapons, he was far from disarmed. His body was covered with tattoos. Each of them was the key to a particular power that he could invoke to fight or protect himself.
Typical Atlantean, his life was a quest to right wrongs. Born long after the disappearance of Atlantis, Marcus had never questioned the motto adopted by the survivors.
It was their fault that their ancient homeworld had suffered. It was up to them to fix it.
And Marcus Meleagrus was at the perfect place to continue his eternal quest.
The monstrous Phoenix Empire was allied with the Splugorts and led by a powerful necromancer. It was a horrible place, an evil nation spread over all of North Africa and part of the Middle East, however, although the undead and monsters reign in that part of the world, there were still isolated human populations.
These people needed help, and it was Marcus' job to protect them. He had arrived on Rifts Earth years earlier and had never stopped fighting since. The task was immense... most of the planet was nothing but ruins and silence. Elsewhere, the monsters, the demons fought among themselves to assert their domination. Humans, once the dominant species, survived in small enclaves. There was not even a single human nation in all of Africa and South-West Asia.
In fact, the closest human nation was the New German Republic... several thousand miles across the Mediterranean, in Europe.
At the moment, Marcus Meleagrus had a specific goal.
The day before, he had witnessed from afar an impressive fight... the whole desert had trembled as two entities clashed. Explosions and luminous effects had followed one after another for nearly an hour. Finally, the silence had returned.
Any sane individual would have gone in the other direction... but Marcus had a duty. If two very powerful creatures had clashed, they constituted a danger for the local populations. The Atlantean wasn't crazy, he knew he couldn't fight the kind of creature that had ravaged the desert, opening hundreds of craters that were still smoking... but he might find out a clue about the fighters... unless there are some survivors from the local populations to tell him what happened.
Arriving at the Umm Qasr, a river flowing into the Arabian-Persian Gulf, the True Atlantean Undead Slayer discovered a camp among the burned palm trees or cut into pieces.
He looked at the tracks on the ground, the fire...
Two men.
They talk to each other... and they argue and... he looked around him... they fight... the fight which he had witnessed in the night. Men? This was certainly true for their appearance, but men would not have done so much damage.
He resumed his course... to follow the course of the fight was difficult. The two opponents seemed to be able to fly or make prodigious leaps.
Seeing a reflection of light on metal, he pressed the pace. In the midst of a particularly ravaged area, he discovered a man lying on the ground, wearing gold armor too precious, too heavy for a mortal to wear.
With caution, he approached without the other reacting. The being remained prostrate on the ground, face down, his blond hair caressed by the wind was the only sign of movement. He lives on dried blood on the occipital.
And when he came to the side of the being that could not be a man, he turned him.
The face was that of a man of great beauty, the features were arrogant as if sculpted by the fingers of a god.
He touched the throat and felt the pulse.
"Alive" murmured Marcus.
He looked at the golden armor, noting the damage, the chain wrapped around a gauntlet. Near the right hand, a kind of weapon... a sword formed of three cylindrical parts was abandoned.
Suddenly, the being in golden armor moved and rose, opening red eyes with vertical pupils like a cat or a snake. Mechanically, Marcus supported him as he fought against the effects of vertigo:
"You've been shot in the head, stay down."
Gilgamesh carried a hand to his forehead and spat blood, furious with his sudden weakness. Yet his mind was empty, except for his name and some blurry images, his mind was empty of all memory. The blow that had almost killed him had caused amnesia... Would it last long? Who could say? Anyway, for the moment, Gilgamesh had forgotten who he was.
He turned to the man who had come to his aid and his eyes widened in amazement. Even though his memory was mostly blocked, he could NOT forget a certain name and a certain face:
"Enkidu?"
Marcus Meleagrus looked at the former king of Uruk with surprise:
"Sorry?"
Of course, he didn't know this, but his resemblance to Fateverse's Enkidu was almost perfect the only differences were his ebony black hair and the tattoo of a third eye in the middle of his forehead. Even the dull lack of emotion on Marcus' face reminded us of the inhumanity of Enkidu, the weapon of Summer's gods.
"Enkidu" repeated Gilgamesh... but he shook his head, uncertain. Who was Enkidu? And then... the Enkidu whom he remembered had green hair.
"I'm afraid you're confusing me with someone else, my name is Marcus Meleagrus. Stay down, I'll treat you."
(1) A total of 66 Origin Bullets were made from Kiritsugu rib powder. 27 of these bullets were fired throughout the career of the Magus Killer. Two others were fired against Kayneth and Kotomine (the only one failure). Theoretically there remain 37 Origin Bullets... However, the sources are contradictory since it is said elsewhere that 20 bullets remained at the beginning of the Fourth Grail War. However, in Fate Ryuudou Awakening, I opted for the first statement: 37 bullets.