Music/OST used:

~Let the Stars Fall Down: Fate/Zero~

~The Black Star: Lionel Yu~

~Fgo: Grand Battle Theme~

~Shikisai~

Match set used: - Karpov vs Kasparov 1975: Leningard- "First Contact"

Disclaimer:

...Get a cup of Orange juice, this'll be a long one...


...The wind in this room felt sharp... To say the least... As if cold and dull steel was running down through his skin... Its bloodied exterior swept vividly against his tense body... The heavy atmosphere that this room exuded was much more comforting than the imposing threat that stood before this person's amber-like eyes...

Thanks to a peculiar lampshade in the corner that gave off a mystical purple hue... The room's heavy silence could only be accompanied by a dimly-lit atmosphere... What laid in the middle of this room was a simple black mahogany table... and on top of this surface was but a mere chessboard... Yet, Unbeknownst to anyone watching, the scales that this game represented could be far from conceivable...

On the other side of this silent stand-off was an old and senile man, yet the calm and intuitive demeanor on his face emitted a very pleasant aura around him... But the auburn-haired man from across him knew better than to trust his gentle disposition...

He was here for business... and nothing else... And there were only three rules that he knew when handling a negotiation of sorts with anyone... The same three truths that have made him triumph against any foe...

That being to Analyze, Adapt, and Overcome...

Be it either through violence or words...

"Alright then...Just to make things clear... If I win... you'll give every bit of information you have about the Anomalies that have been popping up"

The man began to speak, breaking the ensuing silence that had accumulated from earlier... Not an ounce of hesitation, nor any traces of fear could be heard from his voice... No, labeling his tone as a mere act of diplomacy would be an understatement... His voice not only commanded the aloof elder's attention, but it also carried his deep will, his burning desire, to uncover the mysteries that were unfolding right before his very eyes...

This was so much more than him... He had to get to the bottom of things... If not for his daughter's sake, but for humanity's too...

"Fine... However, If I win... You'll give me the opportunity to examine your daughter, Zyia was it?"

The old man however could only smirk in mock retort... While stroking his ivory-gray beard in earnest amusement... It's been so long since he had any guest that would talk to him in that way... Except for maybe a few certain people, like that twin-tailed girl from a long time ago... To add fuel to his already burning amusement, ever since he left the Clock tower a couple of years ago. That said girl from earlier was now in charge of handling it's control in his stead... Was he running away? Perhaps. He never really liked responsibility, to begin with... He would call this stay-in at the Opposite-side of the world as an over-extended vacation...

And now one of her aquintances just happened to be the first person to find him... And now said person had just challenged him to an intriguing battle of wits, a chess match, no less...

All this trouble just for a bit of information... He could only sneer at the thought... But he can't say that he hated the idea... In fact, this might just be the thing that he was looking for in this over-extended 'vacation' of his...

...Maybe deep down, he was just looking for a little bit of fun...

"Like I'll let you even get close to her..."

The old man could only be snapped away from his musings when he heard the snappy, and somewhat menacing, retort that the man offered back... No, it was more like a threat against his end of the bargain...

But there was no going back now... A deal's a deal afterall... And besides, either way, neither one of them could back down... Their contract was sealed by a geass afterall...

"I like that glint in your eyes young man... I haven't been this excited in quite a long while.."

~pawn-e4~

And with that, the game has begun, starting off strong with a sicilian defense... The old man opted for more control over the center, it would open up so much more possibilities later into the game... And it just so happened that this variation works well in his favor, considering he has the white pieces in this match...

"Don't you think it's weird to call a fourty-year old man young?..."

~pawn-c5~

In contrary to the aggresive opening that his adversary had just done, the amber-eyed man decided to be more reserved in his play-style... And instead decided to open up his right flank on the board... It was a complete contradiction really, their diverging play-styles did not match their respective age at all...

"What's wrong? Getting cold feet?"

~pawn-f3~

The old man could only accompany his next move with a snide remark. Nobody could blame him for being that sarcastic. He was fully expecting a heated early game, but expectations do only drag you down as they say... It was just that when he saw the passion burning in his adversary's pupils from earlier... Well he just couldn't help but have high expectations for this match... Imagine his surprise when his opponent used such a self-reserving move... It would seem that this man wasn't lying afterall...

A few moves were all it took for Zeltretch to know... that this man really was a general, a tactician at that... Cold, reserved, calculating, precise... these were the traits he could see on his board... and it was still only three moves into the game... These were the very same reasons as to why he decided on playing his knight so early... Since he had the white pieces, he might as well take the advantage and dictate the pace of this battle... If things go according to plan and this man plays sytematically... Then he could exploit his defenses in the near future...

"Yeah keep talking"

~pawn-d6~

His adversary could only counter with an impassive response, but beneath it's context laid an underlying threat... And the old man was very well aware of it... Zeltretch took one more glance at the board, only for him to notice that his plan wasn't going as smoothly as expected... He had fully expected for Shirou to play by the book and mirror his moves... But instead he was greeted with an offensive defense... Maybe, he had underestimated this man, even by just a little bit...

Well, it was still too early afterall, so there was no need to worry... Atleast that's what Zetretch told himself before ultimately having his wise intuitions betray him...

"For a fourty year old man, you sure have a sharp tongue..."

~pawn-d4~

And so their long-awaited waltz began to unravel... Like the clocks of destiny, steadily moving it's hand... Along with the arms of fate...

"It can be handy when you're arguing with stuck-up dipshits, like politicians"

~pawn-cxd4~

As if the tide of battle had just shifted, Shirou was the first one to make a decisive move... Taking the first piece of the table and ultimately taking control over the center columns...

"Do you normally talk like this to your daughter?"

~Knight-xd4~

Smirking as if he had already known this would happen, Zeltretch decided to retaliate by using his knight, effectively regaining his position in the middle of this intellectual warfare... Now, it was hard to see who had the upper hand in this match... It was getting difficult to point out which side had been dictating the tempo of this important chess match...

"No, what kind of father would I be If I set a bad example"

~Knight-f6~

Only the sound of a chess piece thumping on the board, -on the battlefield-, could be heard after the auburn-haired man made his move... This was more than just a simple chess match to him... To Shirou, this was an all-out war... As if the pieces represented a set of soldiers in which he had had to command... And when it came to 'war', he knew better than anyone... Coming from first-hand experience, when it came to tactics, he had his opponent outmatched...

Smirking knowingly to himself, his mind raced in anticipation while formulating his adversary's possible moves... And Zeltretch could've sworn that he saw an aura of magic circuiting from Shirou's toned face...

This was the man known as Shirou Emiya, he was seeing everything,- including the board-, almost as if it was a blueprint of sorts... This was one of the many things that he had picked up in his time in the military... He had learned to use reinforcement magic in a number of many different ways now... and applying it with his intuition wasn't an exception... By strengthening his brain's neurological senses, he is able to vastly predict the number of outcomes a battle might have by merely looking at the information needed... As if he could make a plan that assured victory, no matter how dire a situation may be... As long as there's a glimmer of hope, he would realize it with his own two hands...

It's a nifty little trick that he learned back when he was still in service... And it came in really handy when dealing with cognitive and analytical situations... such as this one.

Using his refined senses, he conjured up a set of possibilities, routes, and moves that Zeltretch might make in his current turn... They say that the battle usually ends before it even begins, and Shirou couldn't agree more with that...

While his adversary may be an unexplained and dangerous terrestrial ,- enough for him to be considered as a threat to humanity-, and a magical enigma of sorts... He was sorely underestimating his position... Zeltretch was mistook this match as if it was some sort of game, a puzzle of sorts that he had to follow...

Meanwhile his opponent was treating this match like any other wars he had faced... And that's one of the few integral factors that gave Shirou an upper-hand in this match... All while his opponent hasn't even realized that he had him trapped in a foreseeable corner...

He hadn't realized the severity of his situation... The same form of severity that had yet to come...

"Father huh? Must be nice.."

~Knight-f3~

'Just as planned' Shirou smirked cynically to himself...

...

A clear trail of sweat was running down on Zetretch's forehead... Several minutes had gone by and in the process, the tide of battle had completely shifted... It only took Shirou few moves for him to win the battle's favor... It wasn't as one-sided as Shirou had hoped it would be, of course it wouldn't... When he factored in the fact that his opponent was still quite knowledgable in this medium...

~Queen-c1+~

Regardless, he was still winning... Every move that Shirou made was precise, following up on numerous back-up plans in any case of an emergency... Or in this case, a mistake...

~Queen-e1~

But judging from the look of things, he really had no reason to worry... Shirou's side of the board had steadily shaped into the form of an impenetrable fortress... A castle that stood it's ground against it's white counterparts' sieges. Every move that Zeltretch would throw at him would be blocked, any hope of an attack he could make would be easily dismissed and cut-off, any follow-up from his pieces in the rear-guard would be totally exposed, and could just as easily be countered...

~Queen-f4+~

Every opportunity that Zetretch would try to take would be so easily turned over by him... To put it simply, Shirou wasn't giving his opponent any time to recover, and much more, gain any sort of ground on him...

"...So how's the state of well... everything?"

Zeltretch tried to make small talk, but he could never truly hide is nervousness. Apart from the topic he had just brought up... The only thing that was racing in his mind right now was his next move... And judging by the state of things, he only really had a few moves to spare before his formation would ultimately break into an erratic position... It also didn't help that he had lost his knights... It was a pair of pieces that he had considered valuable in this point of time, if only he hadn't taken them for granted earlier...

~King-g1~

"... To keep it short, Magecraft is being heavily weaponized by the goverment factions... It's now being used in the on-going war by each of their armies... even the extremist and rebels are banning together... Every where you would go, technology would be present, and it has certainly harnessed it's capabilities to a high extent... An extent that even we as humans could never hope of achieving... There's also been word of a new bio-weapon that the south has been creating..."

~Queen-d4+~

After taking a deep moment of hesitation, Shirou recomposed himself after having a basic rundown on the world's 'damaged' state, if it could even be called that.

"Sounds like this world is slowly descending to madness..."

~King-h1~

While moving another piece from the board, the senile individual took a short moment to look towards his opponent's eyes... Only to find an unexplainable feeling of dread lingering in those amber orbs of his... And a lost complexion that scattered heavily across his face...

To Zeltretch, it had looked like the man was stuck, stuck in perpetuating feeling of lost and estrangement... This person had the exact look anyone would have in ther mid-life crisis, which was odd considering he was already fourty as mentioned earlier...

"You have no idea... It would also help if you weren't just here taking a vacation... and you know, help?"

~Queen-b6~

Sighing bitterly to himself, Shirou decided to shake off those dreadful thoughts... He would deal with them at a later date... Thinking about those things now would only distract him from his current problem, the current battle which he is facing right at this very moment... He couldn't fail... No, he couldn't afford to fail... Not when the truth was at stake... Not when his daughter's future was at risk... Not when her precious smile is threatening to slip away, from him, never again...

He couldn't afford to lose anyone anymore... No, he would never allow it to happen again... As long as he remains standing...

"...Mhm sounds like a you problem"

~Queen-e7+~

Shirou's inner existential thoughts were later interrupted however, by a blatant, -and insensetive-, blurt from the old man directly across him... Shirou could only stare at him intensely with daggers in his eyes after after that, unbeknownst to Zeltretch... But he soon later dismissed his glare when he noticed that the old man had already made his move...

Taking a quick glance at everything, they were evenly tied... They were momentarily stuck in a silent stand-off across the board. The only pieces being a handful of pawns, their queens and their respective kings...

~King-h6~

It wasn't a stretch to say that things could end up in a draw... However, there was one thing that Zeltretch didn't account for... Shirou, in terms of positioning, had a major lead... And now, he was about to fully exploit that advantage and bleed it dry...

Smirking in the most cynical way possible, Shirou's face had turned into a cold mask of scorn and inept. All of this was accompanied by a merciless stare that gazed right at his opponent's very soul, if he even had one...

Only one word escaped Shirou's lips when he made that decisive move, the simple movement of his queen was all it took for him to seal this match's fate...

~Queen-f8+~

"Checkmate"

With a satsified grin, Shirou sat back on his seat with a relieved, and mostly cocky, look on his face... All while leaving the old man floored and speechless at the turn of events. Zeltretch had fully expected for this match to end in a stalemate, that way they can both compremise... He should've known better... That false pretense had lured him right into his trap... When Zeltretch had forgotten to list one more thing off this man's traits from earlier...

Cunning, that's what he was... He couldn't believe that Shirou had intentionally dragged out the match, all while winning the board's favor with his positoning... If the world was ruled by mere witts alone, then this man would have long been a threat to society, even humanity all together... Zeltretch had observed many people for countless millenias... He'd seen all of humanity's shortcomings, both their beautiful and ugly sides all together... He has seen worlds breaking apart and being destroyed, all for it to begin again through the process of incarnation...

Yet this man, more specifically, this path that he took... was quite a peculiar one... A version of him... A different person all-together, that had refused to accept fate's cruel embrace... Perhaps that's one of the few reasons why he had invited him to his private study... On the other side of the world of course...

Zeltretch was later then cut-short of his disbelief when he heard the snarky voice of an auburn-haired man... Calling out to him as if he was merely bargaining...

"Now, that I've won, I hope you'll keep your end of the deal?"

Of course, this man was merely here out of sheer interest... Nothing more, nothing less... Sighing in a resigning manner, Zeltretch decided to reveal the information that this man had so-desired, the only reason he was here in the first place...

It's crazy really, just how far this man would go for his family...

With a wave of his frail and old hand, the chess board that was on top of the table dissapeared in a trail of white-pure like sparks... Almost as if it was a mere visage, a mere creation made by the energy's magical compounds... It didn't take long for another trail of white-like particles to swoop by, but this time, it was accompanied by a tea kettle and a pair of antique tea-cups... After the ivory-like trail landed whimsically on the table's surface, Zeltretch then proceeded to pour tea on both of the cups...

"..So... You wanted to know more about you're daughter?"

"...Y-Yeah..."

Shirou responded cautiously, while he was still a bit reluctant to take a sip out of the tea he was so- graciously offered... For all he knew, this old man could have put something weird into it's mixture, it also didn't help that the tea was sparkling in an odd, -and suspicous-, way... Afterall, this guy did have quite the reputation for being a huge trickster, despite his old age.

"...While I have no definitive answers for you... I could tell you what I do know... It might possibly relate to your daughter's uncovered origins..."

With a deep breath, Zeltretch's eyes soon narrowed into more of a colder and distant one... A side of him that he has rarely showed to anyone. You could tell just from the glint in his mirage-like eyes, That Zeltretch was no longer playing around... With a steadied breath, Zeltretch soon started, -what would later be-, a long and deep discussion...

"...Tell me... young man, have you ever heard of the World-egg theory?"

...

...

...


...

...

...

Mashu felt like giving up, she was practically down on her knees, up against this catastrophe's merciless energy... Her cascading shield could only take so much before it breaks... The longer she kept standing, -standing against everything as a last line of defense-, then the longer that this planet's thin veil of hope would steadily start fading away...

She could only handle so much... It was only a matter of time really... It wasn't long, until this twilight like aegis that she had casted on the earth's atmosphere... would slowly break under the descending beam's cataclysmic pressure...

Memories began playing in her mind, like a cruel visage from her bitter past... It was quite funny really... How everything was turning out... Life's comedic irony never seemed intersted in giving her a break...

Mashu remembered a certain memory... A livid image from along time ago...

The first time that she had donned this shield... The very first time she found hope... A certain point in her past when she discovered that she had a future... The very first time... Where she found something, someone worth protecting... A reason for her to take up this weapon's light...

The very same light that shined upon their future... And now here she was... Under life's cruel sense of humor,... All while trying to protect a future that would sooner or later be gone...

Here she laid, on top of a perched mountain,... barely standing... with nobody at her side...

... She couldn't help but do something that was very uncharacteristic of her... Mashu couldn't help but tear up bitterly, both in the inside and the out... While giving a final glance at everything that surrounded her...

With a lone tear in her eye... She watched as the world slowly got enveloped in a bright light... A form of light that outshined even hers... A shine that didn't embody their bright future... Instead, it was more akinned to a kind of light that just wants to envelop everything in it's wake... And with a final goodbye... that was filled with only but one regret... she softly whispered her last pair of words to the world... Hoping that it's heart-felt sentiment would be carried unto the ears of her desired listener...

'...If only I got to see your smile... one last time...'

This was it... this was the end... With a bitter smile, Mashu closed her eyes in acceptance... Allowing herself to be engulfed by the world's bright light... And accepting death's somber embrace... with a regretful tear in her eye...

Like a ray of hope, a familiar voice broke through her inner darkness like a morning lark... and it made the pinkette's eyes widen in teary disbelief...

~Cue Ost: Let the Stars Fall down!~

"Oya?~ throwing in the towel so soon?"

A lone figure started to emerge behind Mashu's faltering siilhouette... It was their one and only trickster of a succubus, Merlin... And he was smiling back at the girl... With an underlying mischievousness, from underneath that white hood of his...

But he wasn't the only one that had came to aid her...

Soon enough, more and more figures had started to slowly emerge from behind Merlin's back... Until it got to the point that their sheer number started resembling an army, like an ensamble of different songs that had all blended into one symphony.

One by one, they slowly marched... Like a united sonatta under the sky's bright light... And they steadily made their way towards the cherry-haired girl's back... And as Mashu gazed at the sight, at the miracle, that was right before her very eyes... She could no longer supress that prevading smile, that same smile that she had made back when everything was alright... When everything was at peace...

Because right now... She wasn't just gazing at a fleet of uncountable servants... No... It was more than that... Because right now... She was gazing right back at her friends... Right back at her family... This familiar warmth that stood before her amethyst-like eyes... This was it...

This was the familiar sight that she called 'home'... Because home isn't a concrete place, nor is it a fantastical wonderland... No, it's the people that had gave her a reason to call it so... Mashu could only, -even if momentarily-, assure herself in a wry smile... "Home is where the heart is"... And right now... It was with them... Along with the happy memories and the nostalgiac experiences that she shared with everyone... And the way that their light had gave hers a reason to shine even brighter, even if it's only a bit longer...

It moved her to genuine tears...

And while her teary filled eyes scanned the multitude of the entire crowd... Her crystal-like orbs couldn't help but catch a glimpse of a familiar black cape that swayed in the midst of that mass... As if her tears weren't enough... As if she ignored the fact that she was in unimaginable pain right now...

Mashu smiled.

None of that seemed to matter to her right now... Because once she caught wind of his face... The very moment that her eyes had met with his... All of her pain, all of her worries... and all of her distraught all seemed to fade away into oblivion...

The mere glimpse of his sapphire-like eyes was all it took for her heart to grow lighter... To the two, nothing was in between them... Not this catastrophe, Not the crowd that had surrounded them, and not even the Planet...

Because right now, Mashu was staring right back at the person she loves the most... To the man that she had tried so hard to protect... To the same person that had first given her a reason to live...

Towards the very same person that was her everything... And in that moment, in that instance... There was no distance between them.

Love is a powerful thing afterall... No matter the boundary, it would always overcome it... No matter what... And unbeknownst to the pair, A simple glimmer from both of their golden rings was all it took to seal it's meaning...

With an apologetic look, -right across Mashu's very eyes-, the man looked at her with that same tender gaze that always seemed to melt her heart... While mouthing a single word towards her beet-red ears...

'Sorry'... That was the only thing that he said... And Mashu heard it clearly... As if he softly whispered that near her ears...

...She could hear it clearly... and yet why was she crying, sobbing, even harder now? The reason was simple really... Against his heart-felt sincerity, Mashu could only feel more and more powerless... And she didn't hate it, because it was as if a huge weight had been lifted off from her heavy heart... As if the crumbling world right before her teary-filled eyes brightened-up a thousand times more... in a warm yellow light...

It was as if her world was painted in an intense array of colors... And for that, she couldn't help but cry in tears of joy...

With a deep breath, Ritsuka then looked at his compatriots with an earnest gaze, prompting them to nod back with an honest resolve...

With a tap of his staff, Merlin and a few others then began the first phase of their back-up plan, accompanied by a familiar incantation...

"Oh great hope of the stars, align once more and allow these dreams to flourish..."

"Gate of Avalon"

Accompanied by his female counterpart, Both of the Merlin's staffs started glowing in a brilliant blue light... And then, as if hope had sprouted out of the ground. The land beneath them started blooming like it was spring... One by one, flowers started growing from the once-desolate land... Symbolizing, that no matter how ruined or dark the future might be... A tiny flower of Hope would always sprout from it's voided and empty land... No matter the conditions...

"Once a forsaken paradise, built upon a tiny glimmer of hope"

"Roadless Camelot"

And then, out of nowhere... A new female figure, -Morgana-,walked up towards the pair... Allowing her silvery-like hair to let loose amidst the raging storm... And beneath her thin black veil laid a resolute pair of eyes... The same pair of eyes that only yearned for darkness, were now the same pair of orbs that was unwavering in the face of death's call... Meanwhile, on her right hand was a certain black staff that shined in a clear white light... Signifying a new resolve, a new beginning towards it all... In a matter of seconds, the blooming land soon took on a bluish hue... Making the array of flowers look like it had descended from the sky...

"Shine your light on this world once more!"

"Round of Avalon"

Much to the witch's chagrin however, a new voice accompanied her call... She could only shiver uncomfortably when the source of said voice patted her in the shoulder... As Morgann's eyes met with the girl in quesion, -with her little sister, and more specifically the caster version of her-... All she could really see in those eyes were a firm desire... A resolute look that was more befitting of a ruler, rather than a small little girl that knew nothing of the world... A kind gaze that was more akinned to a leader, -a friend-, something that she could never hope to be...

It was far from the end however, when a new group of servants came from behind them... Each one wearing a warm smile that showed nothing but camaraderie in them... A blonde man soon emerged first from the group, while donning his bulky piece of armor in all it's steel glory...

The Knight then pointed his sword towards the sky, as if he was offering his soul towards the sun... And once he did, it's blade started to go up in a spark of flames, after fully realizing it's purpose... to assure victory to it's owner...

"Oh great flaring star, set our futures ablaze!"

"Excalibur Galatine"

It also didn't take long for his allies to join him... One by one they emerged and soon took their stance... All while pointing their own blades towards the heavens...

"Songs of Light, Flow hope into our path"

"Arondight Overload"

One of which was the Knight of the Lake... Lancelot could only look on with a determined smile as he watched his blade being encased in a blinding blue light.. A shine that was as clear, -and as beautiful-, as an abundant river...

"Wishes of the fallen, roar like you've never before!"

"Clarent Blood Arthur"

Accompanied by a loud declaration... The Knight of Rebellion's sword started to go up in a spark of red-crimson light, until it got to the point where her blade had turned into an infernal red beam.

"Let our earnest desires shine like silver steel..."

"Switch on: Airgetlam"

The blonde knight wasn't the only one that had a grin on her face though. Right beside her was a certain platinum-haired knight... And he was wearing the same plastered grin that Mordred had on her... However, in contrast with his gentle disposition. Bedivere's prosthetic arm started to shine in a brilliant silver light while he pointed it towards the sky...

Their allies could only follow in tow with their resolutions, all of them pointing their noble phantasms towards the raging skies...

"Let the symphonies of the past guide us"

"Failnaught"

"Fetch Failnaught"

"Let the songs of the present hear our praise"

"Longinus Count Zero"

"Hollow Heart Albion"

"Let the voices of the future be our prayers!"

"Ira Lupus"

"Black Dog Galatine"

"Spinster Habetrot"

After the Knights of the Round, -and a few others-, united all of their noble phantasms, each of their weapons started to glow in an exquisite gold... As if their most-sincere prayers only held one meaning, one wish... To overcome this tragedy that has befallen them... They maybe different all-together, Their origins may differ, Their uprbringings may have influenced their own codes of honor... But in all truth, when push comes to shove...

A Knight's heart would always beat as one...

"Ever distant place of the heavens..."

And speaking of "one"... They weren't the only ones that had showed up... To be more precise, a certain group of blonde-haired servants had arrived for reinforcements... While a certain saber was in the middle of her peers, pointing her Golden blade towards the fading white aegis that had surrounded the earth... Almost as if she, -along with her counterparts-, were offering every bit of strength they had towards the planet...

Towards the only place they called "home"...

"As we unite under the same skies"

"Excalibur"

"Excalibur Morgan'

"Caliburn"

"Excalibur: Proto"

"Excalibur: Vivian"

"Rhongomyniad"

"Rhongomyniad: Alter"

"Secace Morgan"

"Secret Calibur"

"Cross Calibur"

"Bright Ehangwen"

In a moment's time, all of their noble phantasms had began to glow in the golden light from earlier... Before their weapons inevitably went up towards the dark sky in a spatter of golden particles, along with the abundant flowers from earlier...

"Grant our most sincere wishes!"

... Bit by bit, slowly by slowly... The earth's thin veil of hope had started to take on a beautiful golden color... As if their prayers were finally realized... As if hope had blended with that lonely desire... And although the planet's atmosphere was still dreadfully raging on...

"We ask of this, not as brothers and sisters of the sword, nor as warriors of the past..."

Still, the ones from below couldn't help but form a faint smile when they realized that there was still hope... Despite the darkness that had accompanied this beam's descent... There was still a faint streak of pink twilight that broke through that storm... Their was still a small trace of hope amidst that despair...

Because afterall... Every dark cloud will always have a silver lining...

"But as one single plea!"

Well in this case, a golden one...

With an all too familiar, -and mischievous-, smirk... Both of the Merlins then concluded the final crescendo in this grand recital... And in a moment's time, the world slowly bloomed into a faint pink color...

"Bloom forth once more... our ever distant-utopia!~ !~!~!"

"Avalon: (¿)ǝnɹʇ :Our ever-distant dream"

...

...

...


...

...

...

After the cataclysmic beam died down, so did Mashu stopped deploying her noble phantasm. Leaving the girl's tired figure on her knees, breathless and almost unconscious... As the raging storm died down, albeit momentarily. Only a quaint form of darkness was what soon followed in the dimly-litted pink sky... The clouds were painted in a dark clash of black and sugary colors... As if the sky itself was swirling in unstable ambiguities, as if it raged with light and darkness themselves... Yet, despite the momentary peace that had just re-surfaced...

Unbeknownst to the ones below... A new storm was about to brew...

~Cue Ost: Black Star~

Like a calamitous roar that panged like deep thunder... A dark figure began slowly descending from the bleak sky, and as it soon emerged from the dark heavens that surrounded it... A new catastrophic wave accompanied the mysterious figure's tyrannical arrival...

In a matter of seconds... The sky started to errode into a wormhole like shape, something so foreboding that it completely erased the sky's earlier pink complexion...Something so dreadful that it made the newly sprouted garden of flowers loose it's delightful hue... Until it inevitably started wilting away, loosing it's life-like energy in the process... The flowers weren't the only things that withered away however, As soon enough, the ground itself started to errode like old and rusted steel...

Dark clouds began gathering at an enormous rate. All of it's dark properties were concentrating into a singular point. Until it got to the point, where the storm was no longer there... And now...

It was replaced with something far greater, A cataclysmic hurricane... It's gaseous body was but a mere visage... What laid in the center of this dark entity was a glowing retina, almost like an eye... And it was moving erraticly, almost as if it was alive... No it was alive...

This hurricane was sentient... It had a mind of it's own... And in the middle of the 'eye' of this storm... Was where the inexplicable figure laid, and was currently making it's grand descent unto the withering world...

Slowly but surely, it's dreadful descent had finally came to a hault... Making the elegant air around the figure disperse in a sharp, audible manner... If anyone were to describe the anomoly in front of them, in one single word... It would be 'distorted'... It's dark nature was masked with a gracious one, yet an unsettling feeling of fear was still bottling up in the back of everyone's mind... Like the storm behind 'it (?)', the figure was also sentient... The dark entity showed no ounce of hesitation, and nor a trace of mercy was found in it's disposition...

Seconds passed after it's arrival, but to the people below, those seconds felt like an eternity... A tormented one that they wouldn't want to be in...

The figure (?), the entity (?) soon manifested a pair of shadowy like around it. A pair of dark hands that had no real form... Something intangible, something that held no concrete shape... It's dreadful aura only further illuminated it's non-existant energy... If those shadowy hands were to grasp something, they had an unsettling feeling that no one would be able to scream under it's hold..

The familiar scent of death would abruptly take over before anyone even got the chance to...

And from beneath it's dark and ghastly mask ' (?)' A visible, - and merciless-, glint was seen in it's eyes before 'it' uttered a small pair of inconceivable words...

...

|-"D̷̗͒̒̓͊̾r̸̨̭̻͎̻̐̋a̸͖̭̰̿̀̽͌̐̆ ̶͈̰͍̟͈̀͋ͅR̵̨̬͖̱͎̥̹̮͙̱̟̦͛̇̅͜i̶̩̠̥͉̪̲̔̄́͊͗͊̀ ̸̨̨̢̡̛̰͈̼̟͈̭̓͛̋͗̔͛̃̀̂S̴̫̥̳̲̫̾h̸̛̛̟̑̽̊̿ā̷̧̨̝̞͎̯̝͎̩̹͕͍̼͖̹ ̴͚̭͎̫͉̩̟̖̦̪̠͓̝̭͛͆̋̈́̅̀̾̊̈́͝ͅŹ̵̢̧̝̜̯̘͈͕̳͓͙̂́̓͂̒͗̀̅ó̶̢̱̪͍̱́"-|

...

And what soon followed...

Was a ruinous and dreadful descent of dimly lit comets, almost like a dance, like a dark-filled waltz of super-nova...

It's funny really, comedic even...

If it weren't for these circumstances... Then the sight before them would have been no different from a beautiful meteor shower...

But something was wrong... These star like entities weren't just here for a mere exhibition...

No, from a mere glance at it's trejectory... These meteorites were aiming for them.

To put it simply... They were going to collide with the land beneath them... And if they don't act fast... They would be caught in the cross-fire...

And amidst all of this, a young man couldn't help but widen his eyes in a desperate realization... Where was she? Where was that girl? Where was the girl that this man had fallen in love with?

Where was Mashu Kyrielight?

Once the blinding light from earlier had slowly died down, Ritsuka had unconsciously lost sight of her... His exhausted eyes began scanning the environment, it began tracking the battllfield for any possible traces of her...

And there she was... on her knees from across the ruinous landscape... She must have fallen from the hill earlier due to the sheer pressure of that earlier cataclysmic energy...

And once he had found her, he began to slowly stand up... Only supporting himself with the help of his servants, -of his allies-,... In a moment's time her figure began coughing up blood... So much so that it wouldn't come off as a suprise when she reads positive for a hefty amount of blood-loss... Her hair had finally returned to it's once pinkish hue...

While her battle armor was only the outcome of a war... Her breastplate was damaged to a certain extent that it could be deemed as non-existent... Her cuirass was missing a lot of vital pieces, leaving her throat exposed to the sharp air around her... The rest of her grieves had already been torn off, leaving her shins bleeding against the cold wind...

But despite all of this, despite all of the pain that she had just received, despite everything that she had to endure... Her sheer will allowed her to stand up once more, albeit slowly... Making the girl wince in clear pain in the process...

...Yet, In that instance, in that fleeting moment... Their gazes met with one another...Sapphhire met with amethyst in a teary reunion of disbelief... Disbelief, that the other one had actually survived... Mashu and Ritsuka's gazes crossed the distance between them... Almost like there was nothing that seperated them... Almost as if they were actually close with one another, almost as if there was no sort of barrier between them...

When in all actuality, it could'nt have been any further from the actual truth...

Both of them simultaneously reached out their hands, yearning for the other's touch in an untold desire... A smile couldn't help but plaster itself on the cherry-haired girl's face...

"I'm glad you're alive..."

That was all Mashu told, it even felt like a whisper due to how weak her drained voice was... Yet, despite that... It's real sentiment was finally carried by the wind... towards the ears of her long awaited, and desired listener...

Once Ritsuka caught a glimpse of a lone tear that escaped her eye... He couldn't help but catch his voice in between his throat... Even now, he thought she was beautiful... even if a trickle of blood had washed slightly over her fragile feautures...

Ristuka was awe-strucked... In fact, he was speechless... What should he say to her now that they were face to face? Complimenting her face should be the least of his concerns right now...

There was something more important than that... Something far more pressing... Even after all this, he had already realized... that he had hurt her with his careless choice of words... He should have said something different..

He shouldn't have driven her away, in tears no less...

No, he should have realized it sooner... that he was indeed an idiot...

A proper apology was in order... It should be in-order in the first place... That was it... He had already realized it... He had already came to the conclusion...

And yet... why was he hesitating to say it? No, the real question is:

'Why can't I say it?'

Why couldn't he say that simple word... Why couldn't he say sorry?...

The answer was simple really... He was too ashamed at his actions, he was to ashamed of himself to admit it out loud... He was felt ashamed when he realized how wrong he was...

..

But unfortunately for him, because of that same hesitation, because of that very same hesitance he would tend to show... He had uknowingly, and already missed his only chance, -if not the last one-, to ever truly talk to her... To ever speak about what he truly felt... about his actions and all his regrets...

Like fate's song filled nova, a comet appeared from seemingly out of nowhere... Causing it to descend and crash towards Mashu's crying figure...

Time seemed to stop in Ritsuka's eyes as he watched the scene unfold in undescribable horror... The land beneath her seemed to errode upon the star's impact... Turning the perched hill from where she stood, into a decimated form of falling debris...

Causing the earth behind Mashu's falling figure, to slowly open up into a large crevice... Due to the falling pieces of land that caused it's geological infracture...

Time seemed to slow down... Yet the inevitable fate that awaited the girl did not... In a moment's time...

Mashu Kyrielight began falling towards the hole's empty void... As if death had finally caught her in it's somber, yet cold embrace...

Her descent downwards was accompanied by a faint glimpse of light... And the sole yell of a certain noirette calling out her name in terror, being the only thing she last heard... Before Mashu inevitably succumbed in exhaustion, allowing the crevice's darkness to finally take hold of her conscience...

...

"Go Master! We'll cover you!"

The white hooded caster declared with absolute certainty while a determined flame raged within his eyes... It was quite a stark contrast really, with his usual bubbly and carefree personality... After the both of them shared a quick and resolute nod with one another, Ritsuka began to move...

Using every bit of power he had left, he chanted a reinforcement spell and applied it towards his feet... After casting the spell, his legs began glowing in an unnatural blue light before leaping away into the forming crevice...

His movements were as light as a feather. His body felt nimble under the falling debris that had threatened to weigh him down... And each time where he did brace for impact, His servants, -His friends-, would suddenly appear, in order to cover his back... And each one of them... Every single one of them, would give him the same knowing and encouraging smiles, the same kinds of smile that urged him to move forward, without ever hesitating, and to never look back... Before they ultimately steeled themselves and unleashed their own noble phantasms... Not only to destroy the falling star like entities, but to also buy their master some time...

And time was what he mostly needed right now... Right at this very instance... Right at this very moment...

One by one, the comets in the sky were being decimated sequentially, until they fell unto the land in debris and broken pieces... In every sense of the word, this was a meteor shower... The only difference being that they were caused by a rampaging fleet of servants... And Ritsuka had nothing but gratitude towards them for protecting his back...

He could practically... No, he could truly feel all of their voices, and all of their sincere wishes... pushing him, telling him to keep on moving forward... And as much as he wanted to glance back at them... To atleast shoot them a thankful smile, he couldn't... He couldn't afford to... Not when time is of the essence, and not when a certain girl is falling towards death's somber embrace...

He couldn't look back... No, now wasn't the time for that...

Essentially, Ritsuka had no real reason to look back... All of his attention, all of his focus, all of his concentration... All of him was being directed into saving the girl that he loved the most... The same woman that saved him countless times... Through thick and thin... She was always there, she's always been there... She was always right behind him, always giving him the small nudge he needed when he had a hard time moving forward... And here laid that same person, that same girl that he had met all those years ago... Falling into her inevitable doom while being unconscious... Directly across his gaze was where her hand was... It seemed so close, yet so far away... Something so near, yet it was something so undeniably unreachable...

Being able to take hold of her hand again was something close to unattainable, and yet knowing this heavy fact only made him try harder than ever before... Ritsuka narrowed his eyes against the wind's sharp and grim-like pressure... He tried to extend his hand as much as he could... All in an attempt to finally reach her...

While he was falling into this voided crevice, a streak of twilight broke through and adorned his desperate face... Time seemed to move slow... Everything seemed still in this fleeting yet heart-wrenching moment...

Amidst it all, he couldn't help but think that he was pathetic... He was pathetic, And he chose to be pathetic... If only he hadn't pushed her aside, If only he didn't push her away... If only he had clunged onto her more... Would it have changed anything? Maybe... Just maybe, he could have prevented this dreadful scenerio from ever happening... If only he wasn't selfish... Those words still echoed painfully deep in his heart, all of it resounded at the furthest corners of his mind...

He shouldn't have let go... of her... He had the chance to grab her hand, to prevent her from leaving... and yet he didn't... They could have worked something out, something that didn't put the other's safety at risk... Something that didn't put her at risk... And yet what did he do?...

He gave up... He gave up knowing that there was absolutely nothing that could change her mind... He let go knowing of the fact that there might have been something he could have said... He succumbed to fate's familiar tune, knowing that he didn't cease his chance of saving her... Regret? that feeling was already foreign to him in this point of time... If only he said those words... Why couldn't he? Was he that afraid? Was he that much of a coward? Was he really that scared to lose someone he loved? Was he really that scared that it got to the point where his real intentions were caught between his throat? Was he that much of a piece of shit that he couldn't express what he truly felt?!

He didn't give a damn about the promise...

He was scared to lose her because he loved her!... And if only...

'If only I had said that...'

Then maybe... things wouldn't have turned out like this... Perhaps... It could have changed something...

His mind raced through the countless possibilities, and yet amidst all of this inner turmoil... There wasn't even a glimmer of a foreign conclusion he could have arrived at...

Even now...

He was still a coward...

Even now...

He was still as pathetic as he ever used to be...

Even now...

He required the aid of his friends to help him save someone, the very same person that he tried to push away...

Even now...

He was just as powerless... He couldn't do anything on his own...

Even now...

He was still the same naive and weak kid from back then... The very same child that never truly grew up... It was always just there... Hiding at the furthest corner of his soul... Being gradually supressed overtime due to his own struggles... Due to his own upbringings... Due to his own demons... Due to his own past...

He watched... In fact, Ritsuka was staring right across the girl's falling figure... He was staring right beyond her even, through that all too familiar mirror that reflected all of his weaknesses... Those very same faults were what precisely made him 'human'... And he gazed right back at it... With a desperate and somber glint that graced the corners of his teary-filled eyes... Yes, he was gazing right back at himself...

But not through his own eyes, but from someone else entirely... He couldn't help but feel an odd sense of deja-vu... For some reason, he felt like this kind of scene had happened before... From the deepest parts of his heart, he felt as if he had already known this oddity, this painful feeling of estrangement... And for some odd reason, he got the feeling that he had always known this... Almost as if something like this from the past had already happened... It was like a repressed memory of sorts...

Like a deleted file that had supposedly left his recollection... Something that he was akinned to, but not all-together...

...It was the all too familiar feeling of losing someone you really loved...

Ritsuka couldn't help but think that this scene was really familair... Seeing someone let go of his hand... Seeing someone dissapear right before his very eyes...

Seeing someone let go of his grasp... Of his reach...

... And then, like a broken recorder that finally started working again... Something in his mind clicked... No, it wasn't right to call it that... It was more fitting of a person finally gaining his old consciousness back, even if it was just for a little while...

Even if it had felt like a tiny bit...

The boy finally remembered something... Something from a past that never truly happened... A memory that he was so akinned to, yet so foreign at the same time...

...

?|-{Retrieving:_Success_Root_Lane: Error}-|?

...

'I swear Mom, this is the fifth time you've come home in bruises...Why are you working so hard?! I don't want to see you working so hard! You always come home late!'

-'Who knows~ Maybe I'm planning to leave you afterall~ kuku~'-

'..Waaaa!'

-'H-Hey d-don't cry! H-Here have a space turtle! Kids these days love them right?!'-

'I don't want it!'

-'Then what do you want?!'-

'I want you to come home early! Everytime you come home late, your face would always look so tired! You're a-always d-doing something dangerous...'

-'...sweetheart...'-

'I'm afraid... of losing you... I.. I... d-don't w-want th-that..'

-'...Shhh... don't cry... I'm sorry If I made you feel this way... Really... I am... guess I'm a bad parent huh?-

'N-No... y-you're not... It's just that... you're always doing something dangerous... Why couldn't you just stay home... Why couldn't you just stay...'

'...with me...'

-'... You really wanna know?...'-

'...Mhm...yeah...'

-'... My Dad always used to say that the world is a bad place, filled with really bad people... That everybody must work hard to make a brighter future for everyone else...'-

'Grandpi?'

-'Yes! you're grandpi! He would always work so very hard for me! Sometimes it made me really lonely when I realized... that somewhere out there, he was fighting... all for this future he keeps telling me...'-

'... Was he strong?'

-'Yeah he really was! You should have seen him! He was throwing swords out of thin air! He even had a really large pet called a dragon! He was really fast at fighting too! You couldn't even see him! He was also this really cool guy that could shoot anything from a mile away with his gun! He was so cool! He even taught me how to use this thing called a 'sniper' when I was seven!'-

'Ooohh! He sounds like a superhero!'

-'Yeah... He really was... But even someone as cool as him, had a lot of bad things about him... Like the fact that no matter how strong he may look, he was always suffering because of his own weaknesses, and couldn't really do much on his own... No matter how smart he was, he would always use everything to his advantage... even people... No matter how dirty it was... No matter how fast he was, he would always get tripped over by the tiniest things...'-

'...Mom?... H-Hey p-put me down!'

-'... No matter how much he struggled... He never really protected anything in the end... He never truly managed to protect those close to him...'-

'...What happened to him?...'

-'Well to put it short... He died single and... alone... Heh, the end I guess...'-

'Mom!'

-'... It was only till now that I realized, why he had been fighting so hard for this future he keeps on telling me...'-

'...so... what was the reason?'

-'... I guess... He did it all for me... So that I could live another day knowing that I'd be safe... So that... I could smile... in a brighter future...'-

'...I see..'

-' And knowing that... I want to do the same thing as well... Not for others... But hey, if it makes the world a better place then that's already a plus... But the reason why I fight so hard... The reason why I work so hard... It's all for you my little munchkin!~'-

'H-Hey quit that! I told you to stop with the cheeks already! They're starting to hurt you know!'

-'Sorry! Sorry! I just couldn't help myself! Ehhe~'-

'But Mom... there's no real reason for you to be working this hard you know! If your aiming to be a hero! Then-'

-'Nope! I'm not aiming to be one! That job sounds like a pain in the ass to do in the first pla- Oh God! Now I sound just like my Dad! Euch!'-

'Eh?... Then why are you working so hard?'

-'...I just want to be a good mother is all... And of course! I just want to see you in a future where you could smile like there's no tommorow!- Err, Imean there will be a tommorow for you of course! It's j-just an express- Ah whatever! You get the point!'-

'This is why you don't have any friends Mom... your just too ackward...'

-'Ack!... Is this how my Dad felt when I kept calling him single from all those years...'-

'But you know Mom I don't believe you for a second...'

-'Mhm?~ What do you mean?'-

'You told me that you never wanted to be a hero right?'

-'Y-Yeah? what about it?... and why are you smiling?'-

'Cause at the end of the day! You're already one! And there's no denying that! You fight so hard because of me right?...'

-'...Ritsu...'-

'Then that's it then! You're already a hero!, well to me atleast... Kuku~'

-'Yeah...I guess I am...Mhm!~ I am aren't I?!'-

'Yeah!'

-'Yeah! and it's all because of you sweetheart!~'

'Eh? Why me?'

-'It's simple really!~... Because of you... I found a reason to continue smiling... I found my reason to fight...'-

'Hey! I told you to quit it pinching my cheeks! Gyah!'

-'I finally realized it... I found something, someone worth protecting!~'-

...

Like he had just been pulled out from a deep alluring trance, Ritsuka jolted awake... Grounding him back to the familiar despair right before his very eyes... He was now faced again with the impending reality that stood before him... The very same reality that was also known as the 'present'...

He gazed one final time at Mashu's falling figure, before gritting his teeth in a newfound resolve... While he felt the air's sharp current on his face, a certain statement couldn't help but echo deeply in the deepest corners of his mind... There, it cemented itself for a newfound eternity... Becoming his only reason, becoming his sole driving force to continue living... To keep on fighting until his dying breath...

And as he repeated those words in his mind with an unparalleled resolve... Something in his body seemed to pulsate...

'Something worth protecting?.. Well there's no need for me to look any further...

Something inside him seemed to resonate with those foreign pair of words... Whoever said that, whoever that person may be, whoever that certain someone maybe in his short-lived dream... He had nothing but gratitude towards them... Because although his memories were still a bit fuzzy... Even if he couldn't recall that person's face... Even if he could only remember their voice...

As long as it existed... Then there's no need for him to pry any further about it... As long as it helped remind him of the reason as to why he was still here... As long as that voice helped him realize his true feelings, even if they couldn't be captured in mere words alone...

As long as those words existed! Someplace, somewhere, wherever it may be...It helped him come to terms with himself... And what he should be doing! Something that he should've done in the first place!

What he should be focusing...

'...because it's right in front of me!'

was what was right in front of him the entire time...

Out of nowhere, a strange and foreign white energy started pulsing within his body... The command seals in his other hand started to glow in a bright mixture of gold and white color... Meanwhile, sparks of the purest energy started resonating deep in his mind... Until it got to the point...

... Where Ritsuka's eyes started to glow in an ivory-white hue... The pure color completely took over his sapphire-like orbs in the process...

And at the same time... His body began to be enveloped in a pure white cloud, engulfing his entire figure... Until it completely transformed his entire physique into a glowing white figure, like a brilliant silhouette... Leaving only his black cape, of which, had the Chaldea logo embroidered on it's back... Almost as if it symbolized his affinity for something ... As if his resolution, -his only conclusion as a matter of fact-, was cemented onto the back of his body...

To protect those he held dear... To protect his family, To protect his friends, To protect their home!... And...

And as the glowing figure of Ritsuka Fujimaru took one final glance at what was in front of him... His body began pulsating in the same foreign energy that had encased him... And in a matter of seconds, he rushed towards the pinkette's side in accumulated sparks of bluish white, all while reaching out his own hand... Right before she could have fell into the crevice's void...

Here, he had finally reached her... He was this close... And now, finally... He had finally taken hold of her hand... He finally got her back...

To protect her...

And now, now that she was in his hands... He would never let go of her again, no matter what... He was absolutely certain of this... From now, and from here on... He would, and will always stay right by her side... No matter the circumstances...

With a steadied breath, Ritsuka paced himself... He still had no control over this new-found power (?)... However, one thing was for sure... This strange phenomenon allowed him to save her... So whatever this power maybe, it has to be for good... No, he was sure of it...

But that power also came with a price... And whatever was causing him to interact with it, it had to be of a great deal if it was this straining... Ritsuka could literally feel his insides spin and turn... Like his organs and blood vesseles were about to burst at any given moment... Which was less than ideal considering that they were floating in mid-air... And the ground was at least hundreds of feet away from their feet.. They wouldn't be able to survive a fall that great if this new-found power had suddenly decided to give up on him...

And considering that they were already battered and bruised from the earlier onslaught, and that Mashu was already in his hold, and was currently unconscious... 'Falling in hopes of surviving' wasn't really an option for either of them...

With a heaved and a somewhat amused smile, Ritsuka remebered that it was usually her who would break their fall in these kinds of situations...

His musings however, would be soon later interrupted when a voice directly called out for them from up above...

-boy goes up and manages to concentrate and control his newfoun power, even for just a second... boy looks at the now ruinous battlefield and ye cut

...

...

...


...

...

...

After the fleet of servants took care of the cosmic shower, all of their strengths and firepower were now being used towards one target... They were now solely focused on one single enemy... Presumably, the cause off all this... This dark and peculiar entity could have been the source of their current suffering, No... They were sure of it...

Due to this reason, they could never forgive this creature, or whatever it is... They wouldn't let it go, no matter what... The large group of warriors, from both the past, the present, and the future... All of them made a sound and united agreement... That they wouldn't let this thing (?) escape...

And they would soon make sure...

That this vile beast will pay for what it did to their home... And they'll make sure of it... No, they'll see to it... No matter what... Peace was never an option...

Well, not anymore atleast...

And now here they were, fighting will all they've got... Until their dying breath... Right till' the very end...

"Move out of the way Karna!"

From out of nowhere, a female voice broke through all the current clashing... Making the current group of servants stop in their tracks, including the disdaining entity... In order to look up towards the sky...

Only to see a familiar blonde battle maiden waving her french war-flag... On top of a certain gray dragon no less... While leading a mass battalion of Rider-Class servants and Mythical beasts behind her... Both in the air and on the ground...

"Luminosité Eternelle!~"

A streak of golden twilight soon broke through the clouds, while gracing her face's fragile-feautures, and emphasizing her long streak of golden hair... Making the ruler look like a symbol of hope amidst all the current despair..

"▂▂▃▃▅▅ーーー ! ! !" With a bellowing roar from her dragon mount, -from her friend-,... The reptillian caster began swooping down towards the battlefield, with their allies following them in suit... The Dragon then used it's unparalleled speed to accelerate even further, while gathering a large gust of wind and prana in the process...

This in turn prompted the flaring lancer in front of Jeanne to move out of the way... Allowing her to collide with the dark entity, in a burst of blue like sparks and lightning... And thanks to her own noble phantasm... Her reptillian friend, -Sieg-, gained a considerable boost in power... Making the impact more explosive and powerful than ever before...

But it wasn't merely enough... Seeing as the dark entity didn't even flinch from the contact... Or rather, it didn't even bother to... Since, it had already known that they're attempts at a frontal assault would be left futile...

The now lone dragon opened it's eyes, fully expecting to have reached his target... But only to find that his efforts were for naught...

He was now trapped in a dark-cube like prison... And it was closing in on him by the second... When did he get here? How did he get here? Where was his blonde ruler? Where were the others, his allies? Why was he alone? All these questions plagued his bewildered mind, yet all they did was lead the caster in even more doubt... The dragon quickly shook it's head in disagreement, presumably with itself... Now wasn't the time to ask questions... There was something far more pressing...

He had to escape from here...

But how? How would he escape? Not when they're forces were even more divided then they already were... It was an unusual predicament really, This cage was practically supressing his ability to fly... It was ensnaring his scales and wings with a shadowy kind of adhesive, almost like a dreadful imitation of a shackle... Whatever this place was...

One thing was for certain, this prison was preventing him from escaping...

But hope was still at arm's length, when a familiar voice spoke inside his head... She was using their mind's shared link for communication...

"Sieg?! Sieg?! Are you alright?! Can you hear me?! Are you hurt?!"

"Y-Yeah...I'm fine, how about yo-""

"This is no time to worry about me! I'm fine! Can you escape from there?!"

The dragon then looked around at hus surroundings... But everywhere he looked, it would always be the same... There was darkness everywhere... No sight of any possible escape routes...

There was one way he could try... However, by doing it... It would leave him practically drained and it will undoubtedly revert him back to his human form.. But seeing how everything was, and the current tight circumstances... He really had no choice about the matter...

"I don't know, I'll try to overload this place with my-"

And that's when it happened...

Fate didn't even give him the chance to react any further... The cube ,from which the winged reptillian was in, went up in an explosion of the same dark matter that gave life to it... And to the ones watching from the outside, they could only widen their eyes in horror as they watched their friend fall towards the ground in a dark trail of smoke...

...

"You'll pay for that! Laus Saint Claudius!"

A certain saber yelled in teary resolve as her figure began dashing towards the dark entity in an ascending beam of red-crimson light... She wasn't the only one however, when multiple servants accompanied her onslaught of an attack, allowing the red saber to take the lead... In a blinding flash of mutliple lights, almost like a rainbow... Countless servants started streaking through the night sky... All of them were encased in several blinding colors, shooting through the land like a colorful dance of comets.

"Dead Face!: Split arrival!"

"Photon Ray: Genesis!"

"Nursery Ryhme: Once upon a star!"

"Suiten Nikkou Amaterasu Yano Shizu-Ishi!"

"Balmung: Reprise!"

"Crocea Mars!"

"Fleur De Lys!"

"Mumyou Sandan- Zuki!"

"Zekken: Mukyuu-Rengoku!"

"Caladbolg!"

"Golden Spark!"

"Brahmastra!"

"Moralltach!"

"Vulcano Caligorante"

"Shinken: Kusonagi No Tachi!"

"Bolverkr Gram!"

"Brynhildr: Romantia!"

"Viy Viy Viy: Sweet dreams!~"

"Gae Bolg!"

"Mac An Luin!"

"Shen Qiang Wu Er Da!"

"Gae Bolg: Alternative!"

"Kazikli Bei!"

"Kur Ki Gal Irkalla!"

"Bathory Erzesbet!"

"La Mort Espoir!"

"Maria The Ripper!"

"Rikutou Sanryaku - Maou Sondai Usen!"

"Tsubama Gaeshi!"

"Ascalon!"

"Shinsengumi!"

"▂▂▃▃▅▅ーーー {Nine Lives}!!"

"Cursed Cutting Cleanser: C.C.C!"

"Geishou'ui Hiyokurenri!"

"Le Grondement de la Haine!"

"Fragrach Enbarr!"

"Enfer Château d'If!"

...But like it had already been a foresight... The dark entity simply smirked under the weight of all their incoming attacks... Merely giving them a haunting gaze while fully knowing that their attempts at pressuring 'it' was futile... And it did this without even batting an eye towards them...

...The ground then began to shake in a familiar tremor, even stronger than before... While the earlier determination that the servants exuded had already dissapeared... With fear being the only thing present on their faces...

...

|-"Z̸̧͕̥̩̆͛͐͌̂̅͝ͅa̶̬͓̥̍ī̸̛̻̝̯̤͇͌̈́̐́ ̵̛̠͕̪̀̒̃K̶̪̀͛̄͆̍̃ͅu̵̠͙̦͐̐:̶̺̽̾̉̎ ̶̼͝S̶̨̗̩̫̝̪̟̉̂̕h̴̨̟̻̜̘̗̞̎̀̅̑ì̷͚̼n̵̨̛̼̯̻̰͖̺̄̍̇̇ ̸͔̜͓͔̋͂̒͋̅̎̉W̵̺̃̃̈̓̕͝͠ẽ̵̤̦̠͉̞͆"-|

...

The battalion of servants were halted in the mere blink of an eye... When cursed and elongating spikes bore up from below the ground. Piercing through their bodies in a moment's flash... It was strange really, upon contact with the servants' body... The spikes themselves seemed to shriek in a distorted yell, as if they were alive... As if they reacted to the large amounts of mana that was swirling around in each individual servant's body... And it was uncomfortable, to say the least...

The scene was blood-red... The spikes themselves seemed like they were sentient... Because even though it had pierced it's targets... It wasn't even close to satsified... Seeing as it began contorting into even sharper branches... Digging through it's preys' skins like a thirsty vampire, eager to suck the life out of them...

Whatever they were made of... These elongated stakes were definitely made out of a strange property... A property that didn't sit well with any form of foreign energy... Due to this, the spikes went on a merciless rampage... Branching out ,erraticly,even more after piercing one servant from another in an unreasonable fury...

However, those decaying stakes were later disintegrated like mere vines after raining arrows, -almost like multiple noble phantasms-, and other falling projectiles began descending from the sky...

"Yew Bow!"

"Phobeus Catastrophe!"

"Eye of the Euryale!"

"Stella!"

"Tri-Star Amor Mio!"

"Hamesh Vanim"

"Sanden Uchi: Sanzen Sekai!"

"System Keraunos!"

"Pashupata!"

"Gate of Babylon!"

"Thunderer: Revolve!"

"Kakuyoku: San ren!"

"An Gal Ta Ki Gal Šè!"

"The Dynamics of an Asteroid!"

"Sanat Komera Wheel!"

"Antares Snipe!"

"Apfel Schieben!"

"Troia Velos!"

"Space Dead Man's Hand!"

"Authentic Triumph!"

The falling fleet of servants could only hope to look up...

Only to see that backup had their cover... And they were all graced with the re-assuring smiles of their Archer-Class allies and the like...

...

After the peculiar spikes were destroyed, the servants landed back on the ground.. Some floated elegantly back, while a few came crashing down with a hump...

But even after their feet touched the ground, even after they had just landed... The group was already preparing for their next wave of attack...

After a few seconds of silence, the dark being began moving like a dissarrayed form of static... Only leaving a trail of black and white sparks in it's wake... Judging from it's trejectory, it was aiming to ascend into the sky... And whatever it was planning to do up there, it couldn't be good... The current rampaging hurricane had already deemed it so...

With renewed vigor, their feet began moving before they themselves even noticed it... Almost like it was an instinct for them, an unsettling sense of security that urged them to survive... The current group then gave each others solemn looks, while gripping their own resolves in an earnest way...

But before they could even begin preparing their noble phantasms...

That's when a new infantry of servants suddenly rushed past them... To be more precise, they seemingly came from behind them in a sharp gust of air... And along them... came the bright figure of their master... His shining silhouette was rushing towards the battlefield in a white bee-line, while his vestaging body left a trail of mysterious jolts in the process...

What were these white iotas? Was this a spell he just learned? Was a Caster giving him a boost in power? Not likely, seeing as their healers stayed behind for support...But more importantly... What happened to him? From their perspective, his body seemed to be pulsing in a strange and foreign energy... And that said energy encased his body like a cloak of white clouds... if it could even be called that...

From a mere glance, they wanted to ask him so many questions... But they decided to put it on hold... Seeing as he was currently busy making his way towards their enemy's line of sight...

And speaking of which, why were there only a few servants that accompanied him? Even they couldn't beat that "thing" with their numbers... What could they possibly do in the face of that overwhelming power? If it were not for the group of archers from earlier... Then they themselves would have already dissapeared from this world... Leaving their mana constructed body in the enemy's hands...

But now was not the time to dwell on these morbid thoughts... Although their current situation was already more morbid than dire. Just what were they planning to do?

From a mere glance, they were only a few... Their numbers could only number a foothold of about ten... But that's when something clicked... The moment they decided to look at them... To look at their silhouettes, they're identities... That's when they realized it...

Ritsuka had a particular reason for choosing them... He had a plan... That's why they were accompanying him toward's the entity's zone... But the more they realized it, the more they grew concerned...

Scared even...

If that particular group decided to unleash their full potential... It wouldn't end nicely for them... It could even leave the planet more damaged than it already is...

Just what was this idiot thinking?

...

...

...


...

...

...

With each step that their feet took, the more the erroding ground cracked under it's suit... It felt as if each step they took would slowly eat away at the ground due to it's dissolving crater...

Despite they're faces being built upon mana, a construct of sorts. They could still feel an invisible and molten fire graze upon their skins... Like hot iron touching a watery surface... Everything felt... unreal to say the least... To put the world's state in retrospect, it was literally going against it's own foundations and nature... Even their surroundings felt like broken laws, laws that were not meant to be violated... Laws that were succumbing to an even greater force...

The destruction and havoc that this sole entity caused have been more than irrepairable... And if thing's keep up at this rate... Then it wouldn't be long until they lost their world to this "thing's" wrath... Decimation was merely an inch away from their sights... And they were the last ones that could help prevent it... And that's all the more reason as to why they were running, sprinting even... In order to not let this crucial opening, this crucial moment slip... This last minute operation was vital for their victory... They needed this to work.. If not for them... then for their home... for this future they tried so hard to protect... The very same future that was now endangered...

With all that said... then why couldn't they get along?! Unity should have been an automatic notion for this last-minute squad if they wanted any chance at returning... well... everything to normal!

And yet here they were! Arguing about trivial matters like a pair of kids!... There were more important things than this!... There were far more important matters that they should be focusing on! The couldn't afford any slip-ups, what if they lost sight of their target? Considering that it was moving like a fighter jet towards the dark sky... The least they could do was get in position...

All these thoughts made Arturia have a migraine... Just why... Why?! They were fighting for the world's sake, their world's sake! And yet here were these two, arguing like a bunch of grade-schoolers...

It was her job all over again... She was supposed to be saving the world, and yet Arturia felt like she was back in her classroom... Having an all too familiar headache while listening to the squabble of her students... Only this time, the world was ending, she was in her battle dress instead of her usual gown, and the ones squabbling was her supposed "allies"!... Honestly... if they kept arguing then they'll never get in position! Much more execute the plan!...

... A cup of tea would really do miracles for her mind right about now... Too bad that she was running across this wasteland, while having to listen to her "friends" argue... Honestly... the world was ending..

"Tell Me Master... Why do I have to fight alongside these Mongrels?"

Would it kill for this guy to cut back in his ego?!... even for just a little bit... His usual arrogance as a king was worthless in this situation... And yet here he was, acting all high and mighty... This is not an attitude befitting for a "king", Arturia sighed underneath her breath... She of all people should know, since there was once a time where she was called one...

"Oh just can it already Goldielocks! We're near the enemy"

... And she knows that this man was old... So he tends to have a rather, for a lack of a better word, "grumpy behavior"... But since he was the more mature one in this situation... Then the best thing he could do is stay silent! And you know, not argue... Honestly, it was even a wonder why this blacksmith had somehow "used" his body... The fact of the matter was that this guy is the ancestor of a certain... red head... but they're nothing alike!...

...Wait... Was this a thing about their bloodline?... Was having a sharp tongue a thing in their 'genetics'? If so, that would explain... a lot... a lot of things actually...

'I swear these two, no matter what timeline, they'll never get along...'

With aanother heaved and conceding sight, Arturia ultimately decided that she should push these thoughs away for now... The last thing she needed on her mind right now was a headache... So she temporarily blocked their shared communication link. Then after, she shut down her own senses and closed her eyes... Allowing her inner turmoil to dissapear after re-composing herself... The only thing on her mind right now was her objective... Her mission...

All of her surroundings were seemingly blanked out of her mind... Only focusing on her target, on their enemy, in the meantime...

After taking a deep breath, Arturia then proceeded to look at her other allies' positioning... Their small squad of servants only numbered about ten, including herself... But despite their severe lack of numbers...

This particular group's fire power had more than compensated for it...

With another glance, Arturia then looked over her shoulder in order to check the others' positioning... They were following her, good... A litte double checking could never really hurt anyone... And now, that very same cautious nature would prove to be essential for this team's success... for all of their success...

About three of them were already ahead...

Judging by the shift in the atmosphere, Arturia could deduce that they were drawing in on the enemy's location... That 'thing' was already aerial, so they didn't really need to catch it in the air, especially since it's practically in the ozone layer by now, far from their reach... Although she could argue that a certain few in this group could probably tail it in flight if they really tried...

But that wasn't their goal... No...

Their objective was to get below it... To corner it's trejectory with a unified attack... This was way more than a pincer attack... It was an entire pincer assault.

It didn't take them long to arrive at their destination... Once they stopped traversing the desolate plains... It took them a few moments to come into terms with their reality...

The land was way beyond than "barren"... They were atleast thousands of miles away from Chaldea... It was a wonder how they chased their enemy on foot... If it wasn't for the rush of adrenaline that took over them, then they would have been more than exhausted from the journey alone... The group could have used vehichles, or mounts to travel even faster, heck, they could have used magecraft even... But they didn't want to risk it...

The land was already dry in of itself... And with the rate that their enemy was going, they couldn't pin-point a specified location to corner it... So the only option for them was to follow it...

And now here it was...

Laying in the middle of the sky, like a dark and menacing figure...

It caught the group off guard really, when the entity suddenly stopped it's relentless trejectory... It just suddenly stopped, like the arms of a clock that refused to budge...

What could this "thing" be planning?

What was "it" thinking?

Was it's plan all along was to divide them?, even so, it knows that it's already outnumbered...

Amidst all these thoughts, the entity suddenly began contorting... Like it's insides were being torn apart by a vantriloquist... It's body began distorting in an eerie and loud manner, as if it's stringed-like body was being cruelly defiled by a puppeteer...

The entity never had once given his opponents any time to react... A common theme in it's sudden conquest for this planet... And now was no different...

In a matter of seconds, the entity began uttering out a bunch of incoherent words, almost as if it was bearing amidst the sky in order to bear a ritual of sorts...

...

...

...

"Ṕ̵̧̖̹͕͇͚̲̪̙͚̙̠̻͙̜̈́̀͠a̷̛̘̭̿̏̾̋̐̿̀͗̾͑͐̄̾̊̌͊̐̆̀͐̌͒͊̈́̆͘͘͜͝ȋ̵̢̡̨̢̢̛̮̖̝̼̯̫̩̦̖͚̭̤̲͎̪̰͕͖̝͖̰̝̃̑͌́̉̎̐̑͋͋́͛́̅̈́̈́̽̅͂̈̑͒̋̓̒͋̐͑͘͠ͅn̷̡̧̨̢̩͙̺̖̮͇͈͕̭̩̣̰̜̠͇̣͙̙̻̮̣̠̹̻͇̗̝͇̞͌͐̀̅̎̂̿͗̐̓͋̈́̽͘͠͝͝,̷̛͉̝͍̹̗͔̤̪̲̟̞̰̩̙͚̞͎̤̮̌͌̉̀̒̉̾̾́̿͆͛́̓̃͗̆̽̈́͘̕͜͜͝ͅ ̸̢̨̨̧͇͓̜̻̺̯̬̥̣̹̮̫͔̘͓͈̬̰͔͕̦͕̍̾͆͗̒̉͂͆͆͑̈̄̍͑̃͆̐̀͊͝͝D̶̛͙̞̲̐͋̿̇̿̃̌̐̋͌̄͋͒̋̑͗̽̿́̂͘͘̕͘ḛ̶̛̣̭͗͑̈́̄̽̒͑̈̑̈͗̄̇̐̅̅̾͘͘͠s̶̡̧̪̳̟͓͓̲͇͚͇̩̯͎̦͕̻̜̳̟̣͓̲̣͇͚̜̖͍̠̭̖̓̌̀̎͒̓̀̊̀̿̈́̽́̈́͋̊̇͌͑̿̃̄̇̈͘͝͝t̵̨̜̦̦̩̦͍̙̙͖̣̞͈̗͖̫̳͈̗̖̮̩̪̥̟̟̮̤̀́͜ͅͅͅȑ̸̢̢̮͈̺̭̠̼̜͉̳̝̲̳͙͍̥͖͖̲̪͖̮̩̩͕͍̻̠͕̌̓̕͘͝͝ư̶̝͚͚̯̰̭̞͖̖̯̘͓̠̟͍̪̻̤͓̠̣̮̼̻̤͚̪̳̘̻̖͛̿́͗̂̉̌̃̓̉̔̕ͅͅc̴̙̲̻͚͚͎̜̭̮̖͙͖͚͍̗̰͎̰̊̊̑̈́̓̒͂̐͑̀͗̋͆̃̓̾̀̽̓͗̎̏͠͝ͅt̵̨̟͙͉̭̺̪̥̪̻̥̣̐̑͒̄̈́̆́̅͒̈́̀́̔̉̈́̋́͆̌̓͆͐͛́̇͘͘͜͝ͅi̶̢̢͚̜͔̤̝̼͚͖̬̩̣̫̩̣͖̗͐̄̿̇̏̆̓͆̐̍̄̓͑̍͌́̀͋͐̂̍̚̚͝ͅo̶͖̙͇͉̻̺̜̗̫͇̟͓͕̼͈̜̪͛͂̈̔͊̈̇̌̈́̐̄͑̆̄͆́͛̈͗̑͂̄̊͘ͅn̷̨̡͔̝̣̣̥̤͈̙̥̲̩̞͎̯̜͖̩̗̺̫͍̱͈̻̣̪̣̜͇̆̈́̇͗̃͐̆̋͋͂̓̏͊̊̒̈́̔̃̃͊͐̕̚̚͝͠,̷͇͚̯̝̻̩̤̣̗̮͍̹̒̌̎̉̓̍̒͛͑͊̾̇͌̕̕͜ͅ ̵̢̛̺̥̈͒̿̐́͊̏̀͂͗̋̑̇̓͆̈́͑̈́̏͘͠Ą̵̛̹͉̞̘̤̺͈̠͈̭̪̳͎̍͆́͐͛̌̄͌̇̒̒̌͋̌͑̐̉̉̓͒͒͝͝v̷̛̖̗̝̟̼̣͕͚̠̥͕̟̲̟͙̦͚̼̇͗́̄̃̈͒̀̈́͊̎̿͗͑͐̎̈͝͝͝͝ă̸̢̨̡̳̼̝̩̘͍̖̹͔̲̭͍̙̬̟̗̪̬̜̮̳̟̬̝̮̙̊͌͊̓̓̉̕̚͜͝͝ṛ̶̖̰̦͖̟̮̠̝̆̏̋̃̾̀̒̽̀̋̈̇͛̕͜͝i̶̟͇̬͈̪͓̦̘̰̺͈̜̦̥̺͕̻͗̊͆̆̉̈ç̸̛̱̝̤̖͉̣̺̗̜̘͙̼͍͎̥̥̪̠̹̥͆͋͛͋̐̅̇̈́̓̅̿̏̏̃̋͑͂̌̂̄̽̒͊̒̀̌͜e̸͓̯̩͖͚͇͕̤̩͔͕̬̞̰̫̬̳̹̦̦̲͕̪͕̹͎̪̥̱͊̈́̆̅͋̍̾́̕͝͝,̷̨̧̛̱̼̗͇͍̥̜̹̹̥̻̲̣̪̱̜͈̰̼̦̋͌̽́́̀̇͐̽͐̃̐͒̃̿̑̽̆̄̆̈͛͝ͅ ̶̩̊̆B̵̨̨̦̲̣̘̞̩͉̮̘̻̭̦͈̤̘̩̣̉̃̂̊͋̆́̓̍͑̐̈́̕̚͠ͅë̷̢̨̡̢̼̺͖̦̙̩̝̘̥̤͈͇̯̹̤́́͛̕ͅţ̸̰̱̖̤̣͙̣͐̐̋͌̂͑̓̌̓̂̈̔̊̓̐͌̎́͗̊́̋̓̈́̈́̿ͅr̸̛̙̹͖̀̂͆̌͆̽̃͋̍̎͂̚̚͠e̷͍̖͍̞̻̠̠͑́̏̍̇̎̀̏̂͋͐͘͝y̴̨̡̢̛̛̜͍̳̠̣̜̬̰̻̲̥̲̝͛͑̏́̀̒̀̀̐͌̉̇̓̉̈̑̈͑̓̔͆͝ą̶̡̧̜͈̣̞͉̺̣̝̠̥̮͍̘͖͉͙͓̰̙͚̳̻͎͇̭̱͍̼̲̊̀͛̓͜ļ̷̻̪͖̰̦̻̒̑̂́̎̐̌͒̒̿́͛̽̾̋̏̑̾̒͛́̾̓͂̒̚̚̚͠,̶̢͍̦̤̩̖͈̥͓̦̱̪̥̞̱̾̓̓̂͂̄̏̃̇͆̕͘͠ ̸̨̨̡̧̨̡̥̬̙͎͎̣͙̠̪̙̼̝̭̪̳̻̯̟͉̞̓̾̈́̈́̓̔̅͌͐̃̅͊̔̐̾͝ͅI̴̡̨̡͚͖̻̱̼͎̝͈̬͇̬̘̥̦̰̎͂͛̄̋̐̾̇͗̑ͅm̷̛͚̩̮͎͙͍̜̙̑̆̓̓̏̈́́́̇̈́̿̆̿̃̽̂͛̋͐̄͐͛̉̍̄̇͝͝͠p̵̯̞̬̪͖̥͕̭̟͒̌͠ͅu̸̙̯͉͗͗͋̀̋̍̾̾̑̄̀̓̔͒̃͘͘̕̚͝͝ŗ̴̤͔̹̗͔͎̣̲̖̮̭̜͉̘̝͑́̾͆̒́̈͊͌͌́́̀͋̐͝͝į̷̘̲̳̱͓̬͉͎͈̬͔̯̲̗̂͗̿͋̕͘͜ͅţ̷̡̡̤̞̯͈̩͍̻̜̮̭̘̜͖̼͈͇̭͍̂̂́͋̓́̀̑̆̐̂̐̔͂̍͐͊̑̈́͌͋̒́̽̅̂̈́̿͘̚͝ͅy̴̧̨̡̨̫̙̹̠̪̳̞̬̳̭̲̼̝̝͉͊̊̌̋̈́̃̐̆̌̾͆̑̾̆̏̓̔̓̀͒̍̀͑̿̉́̕͝,̵̡̨̡̙̹̞̺͇̹̠̮̝͖͈̦͕͎̟̗̞̝̱̺͚̲̝͎̱̟̥͆̓́̈̿̒̅̅͊͂͠ ̴̧̡̯̣̝̪͇̺̣͓̤̝̠͎͑̓̈͛̈́̈́̿͆̊̏͋͝ͅH̸̡̛̱̥̘̫͙̦̜̹̙̺͎̞̩̩̽͐̉ͅa̴̛͎̭̦̻̾̀͐̈́̉̆͊̅̆̊͛̔͆͝t̴̢̢̢̛̻̫͓̙̳͎̣̭̹̰̲̙̲̺̹͎̩̲̹̮̗̻̐͂̓̄̆͐̊͗͜͠ͅr̸̡͚̩̰̠̪͖̬̞͠͠ͅe̵͎̽̆̉̈̆̂̈́͑͂̍d̸̨̨̛͕̩̞͋͗̄͊͗́̒̈̊̑̊̈̑̐̾̄̃͌̽̃͛́̔̌̀̓̕̕͠͠͝͝ͅ,̸͖͔̬͔̯̰̺̺͚̩͇̩̞̻̮̫̠͕̪͉̹̫̐̆͌̈̆̈͌̌͜͠ ̴̡̖̲̜̲̹̺̺͉̠̳̭̳̻̟̭̬̾̏͛̇ͅB̷̧̧̨̧̢̻̫̥̝̳̣͙̣͓̻̩͉̜̬̗͎̯̳̠͇̞̋́̈́̈̕͘͠ȩ̷̢̛̳͍̺͕͖̘̯̝͔͉̽͆̓̐͋̾͑̒̀̀͊̓̌͗͋́̈́̀̿̓̇́̐̋̏̍̃̄͆͘͝g̶̢̢̨̧̘̠͈̗̞̱̩̼̼̝̤̙͕̳͚͉̫̺͔̱̠̰̿̄͐͌͒̓̆̓̅̄̎́̐͊͗̀͂̇͘̕̚͘͜͝ͅí̶̡̠͍̘̖̹̫̲̥̹̱̞̫̥̞̐̄̈͐͆̀̉͑̌̆͐̽́́̔͂̅̊̈̕͠ͅņ̸̧̡̛͕̝̹̝̰̦͖͓̹̜̼̞͙̗̮̥̠̓͑̅̃͂̄͌ͅ ̵̨̛̛͎̳̙̦͙̫͇̬̖̘̬͈̩͙̘͕̖̞͈̮͚̤̜̦̏͗̀̃̀͒̎̏͠ͅͅą̶̡̛̟͕̝͕̟̖͉̝̳͕̦̣̳̥̖̖̀̀̿̂̓̋̂͐͗͋͒̏́̀͒̏̊̓͊͛̀̈́̓͘̚͜͝͝͝͠n̵̼̹̪̦͇̣͎̣̗̠͉͖̗̫̋̅͗͐̊͒͝ ̵̺̱͓̱̤͑͋̆̈͌̔͛̉̈́̑̀̑͗̑̊̽̅́̽͝͝é̷̱̼̩̠͇̝͉̮̼̬̦̬̥̱͖͛͋̀̐̑̽̄̋̊́̔̓̚͜͜͝ņ̵̨̧͎̼̤̘̝͙̙̯̰̩̩͉̟̜͇̰̺̝̞̦̭̳͖̹͔͉̓̀̽̀̏ͅd̸̛̛̞̪̑̓̽͒̂͑̌̆̓̍͑̓̇͂̀͂̈́̍̽̌͛͌̓̐͘͘͜ ̴̡̛̩̪̩̝̘̣̰̩͑̀̌͑̆̍͒̄̐̑̈́͊͋̌̅͘͝ͅͅţ̸̤̖̦̞̱̝̼̺̜͓͇̪̘̖̻͉̪͉̜͐̽̇͛̾͂̿͋͌̏̓̉̓̅͝͝ͅò̷̻̯̟͈̭̳̣͙͋̃̌̈͑̎̏̓̽͒̾͛̽̐̈́́͝ ̴̧̧̨̛̙̱̺͙̯̯̝̱̩̰͓̳͕͖͙̰̫̖̠̯͖͙̩̯̻̘̅́̎̽̈́͆̽͊̾̈́̈̈́̀̊͛̓͗͌̏̓͘͝ḛ̸̤͂̿̔̏̒͌̂̍̓͆̍͂́͊̎̈́̿̀̌̉͛͒̈͂͘̚̕͘͝v̷̲̒̽̄̇͛ë̴̢͕̹̬̭̯͕͇̬̞́́̈̔͊͆̅͜͝ŕ̵̡̡̫͔͎̣̲̜͇̗̖͕̣̩̜̝̩̘̙͔̣̳̯̫̳̥̜̩̰͜ȳ̴̧̡̢̞̩̦͙͔͍̰̗͙̣̅̂̌͐͜͜ͅt̷̡̨̧̖͍͎̳̘̝̬̝̳̳̮̭̽͝ͅh̶̢̬̞̣͉͊̂̈́͊͑͐̀̇̍̾̍̇̀̌̕̕̚͠i̴̧̨̠̪̹̤͎̗̪͚̞͖̠̺͉̾̆̈́̏́͛͠͝n̴̛̛̠͇̰̫̺̹͕̹̼̖̲̫͍̠̪̗̙̘͎͂́́̉̆̋͒̈́͑̒̏͒͆̊̐̚̕͜͝g̵̡̡̛̛̘͍͉͔̼̤̳͖͎̻͉̫̗̱̮͎̫̠̤͍̹̎̐̾̾̓́̋̂͊̀̓̉́͊̓͑̋̔̇͌͆̇̑̓͋͛̕͠͝͝͝,̸̩̼͈̯̰̰̀̈́̈́̄̇̋̈́̅̑̒̈̒͆̀̚͝ ̸̣͚̪̖͙̱̜̐͗̎͒̅̅̌̈́̚Ņ̵̡̨̛̛̫̜̯̬̫͇͉̪̞̱̺̊̀̆̔͑̐̋̏͛͘ǫ̴̣͕̺͍͔̰̼̲͒͌̍̍͑͐̈́͗̅̈́̃͒̑͒̃̀̾̈͘̕͘͠͝͠w̷̨̮͎̜͖̤͖̩͖̲̻̗̹̜͍̲͕͚̝̹̺̓͊͐́ ̸̢̛̲͍̭̯̻͕̱̞̻̋̂͊i̶̢̧̛̩͔̙̹͔̼̫͙͕͈̻̭͐̒́̈́̍̒͑͛̽̈̋͒̎͋́͂͛͂̓͝͝ŝ̸̢̢̧̟̠̬͙̗̮̫̝̳̘͚̞̰͇͔̙̯͙̰̣̺̰͎̬̾ ̶̢̛͓͖͎̥̱̯͙̟̯̥̒͑̒̓́̈́̋͌̀͆̕̚ț̵͕̪̱͖̯̇̀̍̾̌́͐̌͛̍̅͊̌͝h̴͔̲̬͑̿̊͐͒̈̅̈́̋́̄͆̃̏͐́̐̐̔̀̌͘͘̕͝͝͠ȩ̷͈͓͚́̈́̌̓͑́̓̂̓̐͋́̽̅ ̶̯͑̀͂͊̊̿͂̈́̀̕͝t̶̡̨̨͚͇̞̬͓̲̙̱̖̫͖̜̱̝̻͔̣̥͎̗̮̲̀͛̅́͊̽̈̔̀̐̔̀̀̆͌̎̉͆̕͜͝i̷̧̢̡̱͔̣̤̹̳̤̳͐͆̈́̈́͊͘͠͝m̵̢̢̡̢̛̯̬̬̺̼̤̪̪̘̮̯͓̋͐̊̎̉̌̒̈́̽͒̾̐̿́̊̇͌̅̔͐̐̌̆̕͘͠͝ͅę̷̧̺̙̣̮͔͓͕͔̼̠͔̠͔̜͕̞̞̼̮̥̦͉̖̮͕̤̿͋͋̈́̄͌̈͜͝ ̸͉͉̫̼̻̈̎̊̐̈̇̿̓̐͒́͝ẗ̸̛̹̫̣͕̠̘̖̝͙͍̂̈́̊̍͋͐͛͛͂́͋̅̑̇̍̇̈̑̑̓͝ͅo̷̺̙̬̩̙̳̰͇̅̿̈́̓́͌͂͂̓́̍̇̌̊̂̀̋́̈̑͂̏̓̈̚̚͝͝͠͠ ̶̨͇̳̫͕̠̣̣͈̹̖̘͓͉̽̆̊̏̀͆̓̈́̆͗̀̑̎̀̈̿̇̇̎̊̕͜͠r̷̛̛̲̜͒̐͊̆̾͆͑̊̓̈̌̈́̑͆͊̃̚̚͝͠͠ę̵̧̬͕̥͔́͛̓̿̐̀͋̿́͗͛̚͝͝͝p̴̢̧͔͍̥̩̳̰̤͓̔̄ę̴̣͚̱̥̘͎̥̫̞͎̘͎̖̱͈̜̟͙͉̟̟̙͈̲̠̘̭̜̒̊͊̐͐̏̈́͒̀͂̈́̓͌̅͜͠n̷̛͈̣̝̲̪͖͓̺̈́̐t̶͇̰̜̥̥̻̲̙͇͔̰̄̽̏̀̆̐̆͑̑͛̾̏̓̈̔͌̚̚͠ͅ ̵̧̛̤̳͎̬̲̻̖̩͕̭͍̫̻̪͖̾̐̈́̍̀̃͒̈́̂͊͌͆̉̉̆̀͌̋̊͐͌́͆̀̒̈͘͠͝ͅͅm̵̨̢̡̧̲͙͚̗͉͓͖̙̣̺̩̦̳̠̦̤̼̣͈̝̘͍͈̈́́͌̒̒͑͌̏̃̿̒̂̒̆͑̈̑̋̌̆͊̑̆͗͘͘͜͠͝ę̴̧̨̛̰͕̟̤̝̪͕̻͎̖͙̠͔̹͇͉̝͌̍̾͒̉̐̂̀̋̓͊̀͆͘r̸̨̧̢̥̝̬͎͔̣̪̻̹̤͖̘̥̼̖̩̗̬̔̿͊̅̀͊͋̑̂̋̍̿̽̍̚͝ẽ̴̮͎̹̦̦̽̐͆͗̄̒͋̋͒̽̆͐̈̀̆̈́̅͐͂̉̓̄̈́̀̇̊͘̚͝ ̷̧̡̛̱͍̬̫̹̮̤̦͕̯̟̠̩̝͙̦̦̖̣̯͖̱͙̹̼̃̋̄̍̓̋͗̃̇̓̈̎̀̑̑͛̀͐͘̕͜͠͝ͅP̸̡̨̛͓̖͚̣̖̘͖̯̮̗̰̔͋̏͑̇͛̐̃̀͂̕͝͝͝͠ŗ̷̫̣̗̘̺͌̈́́̈̈̔̄͋̔̎̑̂̈̄̋̒̍̿́̓̕̚͘̕͠͠͠i̵̡̛̙͕͈̳͎̘̦͕͙̺̜͙͔̘̻͒̂̓̿̊͛̎̄̈́́́̊̂͂́̑̓͑̔͘͠͠͠m̸̧̥̳͈̤͎̹͕̺̥͉̥͕͎͉͐́͌͆͐͒̂̈́́̉́̌̑͊͑̀́͛̆̽̅̊̈̕͜͝ị̶̡̟̹̩͔͓̻͓͔̦̓͌̾́͆̃̋̍͗͊͂͛̂̊̄͋̐̚͝ͅö̷̺̭̺͉̯͍̉͒̒͊̑̉̌̽͒̊́̌͑̐̈́̒̏̈́͒̃͋̚͘͘͝͝͠n̴̖̱̬̻̾s̷̜̱̦͂̏̾̔̑̐̎̃̏͗̿̊͆̚͝.̶̛̹̾̀̎̍̀̀͐̉̓͒͋̓ ̴̧̡̧̻̠͈̮͖̪͉̩̬̦̺̼͍͇͇͎͎͎̲̯͊̉͋͑́͛͜B̶̡̰̘̠̬̟̼̗͕̮̰̭͚̹̫͎̺̻̽͊͑́͊̓̾̚͝r̷̢̹̝̩̜̱̙͈̳̮̬̭̆̾͌͝i̸̧̞̯͝ņ̴̛̱͎̠̫̫͚̟̬͔̯̩͈̩̩̞̘̦̱̭̪̽̐͌́̃͒̈́̾͐̄̀̀̃̏́͛̈́̔͋͛͗̉̔̐̕͝͠͝g̸̛̼̬͍͎̟̩̯̳̭̉ ̷̺̱̤̣̙̣̼̪̲͋͌̔̓̓̋̂͋̍̎̈́̅͑̆̆̀͋̽̆͒̌͆͘̚a̵̢͕͉̞̱͇̗̭͓̒̉͜b̸̡̢̝͈͙̙̼̺̟̘̮͗̇͊̂o̵͇̪̦̞͍̥͖̝̳̙̠͎͍̹̼̲̻͈̼͈̯͕͆̀̾́̆̈́̾̀̏̌̋̎̏̈͐̏͗̆̌͊̉͝͝u̷̢̨̨̠̳̘̣̭̼͔̫̺̦̯̦͕͈̳̗̟͖͒̄̾͆̔̅̍̽͐͐̓̈̀̅̾͂̽̑̐͘̕t̸̛͓̖͔̩̙̙͆͒̂͒̉̓̌̍̓́̔̓̈́̾͂͂͐̾͂͒͑̂͊͐̾͋̚̕̕͝͝͠ ̶͇̪̤͇̼̯̞̙̟̜̺͒̇͠a̶̡̡̧̧̡̫͕̫̣̹͚̺̖̺̙͎̰̣͔͖͇̱̺̺̅̈́̌͆͘͜ͅͅ ̵̢̧̬̹̻̗͔͉͉͉̻̫̩͔͙̙̩͍̖̯͙̯̔̏̾̐̌́̇́̊̉̽̿̐͊̄̆̎͒̽̑͠͝n̵̞̹͎͉̈́͛͑̃̔̒̐̐̐͠͠e̵̮̩͓͆͗͐̾̚͠w̷̪͖̩͖̘̣̰̜͇̍̎̆̽̆͆̔̿̄̚͝ ̶̨̡̢̡̢̣͕̥̘̹͓͎̘͍̬̣̰͓̼͎͉͍͍̺͈̫̔̆̌͑̍̆̃̓̇̈́͑͐͛͝a̶̧̡͎̼̼̼̬̠̩̹̦̟̮̳̫͇̙̣͇͚̣̬̖͓͗͊̇͂̿̋͊͒̕͜g̸̬̻͈̦̺̣̥̝̱̬̒́͆̃̎͜e̶̛̻̹̤̙̲̲̠͉͕̥̪͇͙̤͍̥͖̼̦̣̤̖̮̣͐̌̈̓̀͋́̀̽̾͒̃̎̕͘͜͜͜͜ ̷̨͈̫̼͉̻̞̙̱͙̖̖̼̎̈́̔͆̀̽̋͆̑͗̀̓̋̀̈͊́̈́̾̿͒͋̑̓̓̍͘͘͜͝͝o̶͎͎͙̼̤̎f̶̨̢̡̛̥̖̠̗̺̲̺̳̪̝̣̭̹̗̭̫̤̹̻͎̻̼̟̹̱̽͛̍̉̓̂̿̑̓́̕̚͜ͅ ̶̧̢̢̮̰̞͈͍̲̹̪̰̥̼͔̠̞̦͈̮̠͈̤̠͙̩̂̍̌̌̾͌̌̋̋͒̿̂̈́̒̈̀̇ͅt̵̡̡̨̗̻̥̱̟̜̩̼̟̦̯̩͚̰͌̒͗̀̆͆į̶̛̞̟̩̥̗̟̻͉͖͔̼̟͙͇̱̗̜̺̾͂̔̊̏͌̎̆͋͒̃̀̈̾̂̆̊̊͂̌̍͐̆̚͜͜͝͝͝m̴̡̛̗͖̠̺̞̙͓͚͙̟̱͔̮̭͛͋͛̄̿̈́̍̔̊̄̇̈́̑̉͠͠e̷̢̨͙̪̱̩̝͉̼͙͚̮͕̣̹͖̞̖̠̘̮̫̠̽̿̒̍́͊̑̍̀͊̌̀̊̄̌͒͆͊̀̂̂͜͠ͅͅ.̷̡̨̛̲̟̥̣̜̜̝̤̤͚͎̳̰̹̖̬̞͖̼̭̰͕̲̘̞̙͙̯̊͗̇̇͒̍̐̾͂̓̌͊́̄͌͜.̶̢̰̉͊̆̅̆͂͋̂́͑̍̅̓͗́̾̑̂́̑̏̄̃̓̚͘͠͝͝.̶̛̙̟͙̗̖̲͓̞̘͓̱̬̬͓̟̟̌̃̑͛̍̍̄́͊͐̒̉̑̍̓̊̈́̈́͛͋͑̔͜͠͠͠ ̷̡̘͈̲͙͈͖̥̙͎͎͎͓̰̻̩̖̗̭̗͖̘͔̟͈͇̼̿̉̕̕ͅͅͅP̸̨͕̭̙̦̥̦͈̻̬̪̳̻̯͇͖̼̰̮̦̺̰̪̾̿͂̂̀́͂͐͋͊̔̆̐̋̋͛̽̓͆̌̐̽̽́͆͠ư̷̡̧̢̢͔̯͓̘͈͇͈̦͙͖͉͈͍̤͈̰̾́͌̂̓͊͂͜͠ͅͅr̵̢̡͖̺̋͌̈͌̍̓̎͂̈́͌͌̇̈́̒͋͊́͗̿̿͂̓̽̾̽̀͆̈́̎͋͘ġ̵̢̡̧̧̢̨̻̦̱͈̲̫͔̤͚͈̰̘͇̜̞̯͓̺̪̦̻̻̺̞̍̾̈͌̊̀̃̾̾͛̌̓̽̅̆̃́̕͘͜͝͝͠e̸̢̢̧̢̟̠̼̳̪͚̳̦̲̲̮̰̤̭͔̘̫̞̹̙̗͍̙͖̼̳͗͂̏̊͜͜ ̴̡̡̛͔̦̹̭̥̤͓̗̤̲̫͈̞̫͍͎͇̘̟̦͖̺̩͌̽̇̈̊̀̔̇́͌̉̈͛͊̃̀̒͑̓̓̉̋͊͗́̑̚͜͠͝ͅţ̸̗͔̿̔͂́͛̍̈́̈́̾͋̉́̒̇́͗̌́͆͆ḩ̸̨̼̜̘̯̣͖̟͇̥̠͎͖͕͚̠̭̄́̆̎̊͑͒̓̿͒̈́̏̊̆͐̒̌̆́̾̀̇͋̓͌̿̋͊͛͘͜ͅę̸̧̣̙͖̪̼̫̮̪͕̯͖̫̪̫̣͚͈̣̬̎̌̔̊̽̈̌̏̒͋̈́̕͜͝ ̴̺̱̽̈̅́̅̾͂͗͐̅̈̽̅̓̏̀͆̕̚͝͠w̵̛̛̮̭̭̙̦̰̻̞̺͙͎̩̻͔̩͕̤̪̮͂͌̾͗̏̽͊̂̓̓̇̄̑̔̀̀̀̕̚͜͝ơ̶̢̡͖͓̱̯̱̬̬̮͋̈͆͋̐̈́̽̽̿̔̈́̾͆̎̍̓͂̎͂̔̈́̔̑̚͝ͅr̵̨̢͈͙̻̹̥̤̙̪̟̻̞͍̺̰̰̙̞͍̒͊̎͊͂̋̐̂̉̇̚͝͝͝ͅd̶̡̡̡̬̘̻̫̰̭͇̤͓͈͍͇̗̬̳͓̯̠͈̩̹̺̩̜̯̱̓͋̈̈́͛̏͗̍̆̽̈́̈́͗̓̈́́̿̀̍̚̚͜͠͠ ̴̧̧̪̼̦̺̗͔̥͚̮̺̪̭̰͍̱̮̣̪̐̅́̌͜͜͠o̸̢̡̧̡̨̥͚̰̮̤͗́̊̏͗͂̓̔̐̈͛͠͝f̵̳͎́̋̈́̐̽̊̉́́̽̂́͊̀̋̓̅̿͘͠ ̷̧̨̜̩̟̦͕͔̜̩̱̙͈̤̳̀̓̄́̈́̌̾͋̎͛́̈́͛͛̉̉̋̑̐̄͆̄́̃͆̾̽̅̇̐̚̚ͅi̵̝͉̋̍ț̸̡̛̟͍̥̖͇̾̽͂̀̌̈́̈̈́́͗̔̑̂̓̔̅͑͝ͅ'̵̨̨̨͖͙͓̬̰̱͉͚̲͙̟̲̭̻̲̬̜̥̳͔͚̮̳͉͓̞͕̥̻͒͛̿̊̊̒̽̆̐͑̄̾͊͆̊͂͛̐̓́͛̀̈̋̂͂̿̈́̓̿̿͝ͅs̶̜͉̭̹͍̗̪̙͛̽̋͂̎̾͋̏̓̾̎͌̾̍́͒͘̚̚͝ ̵̨̰̣̟͈͎͚̼͆̅̔̓́̔̔͆̇̈͛͊̋͋̓̚͘͠d̵̢̛͖̳͉̣̼̹̝͚̼͈͈̟̮̻̣̠̭̯̺̟̭̞͔̝̗͇͙͇̣̉͌͌̒̋̿̿̽̐̄̀̈́͊̎̉̄̓̕͜ͅả̸̧̨̡̛̙͎͖̱̖̪̬̭̰̰͖͈͙̙̼͚̗̝̰͎͋̓͛̊̄̊̕͜͜r̸̡̢̫̬̺̲̘̬̪̺̦̜͚͔̣̀̀̐̌͐͆͛̆̈̀̎͌̓̓̑̐̂̂̈̎͑̃̔͘͝k̴͉̤͔̗̪̲̞̫͚̒͒̅͜͜ͅn̸̛̞͔̞͈̗̯͉̫̿͂͋̐̓̉̋̌̒é̶̡̢̡̤̜͍̜͈̣͖̻͖͙̬̦̼̫̗̻̱͈̱͖̰̞̞͍͕͎͕̯̗̮͛̏̏̋̉̈́̉̀́̍̓̍̏͂̅̒̀̀̃̈́̓͒̀͂̈́̚͝͝s̶̡̨͉̠͓͔̱̯̪̙͎͔̙̪̩̰̳̝̬̩͉̠̱̥͍͚̖̥̮̍͑̔̓̈́̓̅͋̌̈́̏͑̏̆̆̅̈́̌̒͊̇̐̏͒͘͜͜͝͠ͅͅs̵̡̢̨̛̛̤̜̦̭̖̻͉̭̘͉̝̹͑͌̀̿̌̈́́͋͆͑̂̒̈́̃̈́̎̂̂̕̚͘̚͜ͅ.̸̧̧̛̛̥̣̞̰̣̹͙͚͓͉̼̺̬̺͔̗̍̌̆͒̅̏͊̔̓̅́̇̒̐̊́̈͂̉̍̋̋̒̕̚͘͜͝.̴̢̖̟̣̱͉͎̂͗͌̌̎̂̍͌̋̐̑͝.̸̛̖̝͗̿̆̓͐͐̓̌̎̆͐̒̎̄̐̽̓͌̊̕̚̚͠͝͝͝"

...

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~Cue Ost: Grand Battle Theme~

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...

...

As if the earlier tremors weren't enough... The entire planet began to shake violently, like it was tossing and turning from the sheer magnitude of the entity's power... The entirity of the sky, -and the cosmos beyond-, was soon encased in a black and dreadful matter... A matter so fragile that it almost resembled glass... The whole world had been turned into a dark reflection, a mirror that showed one's inner shadows... A glass-like globe that was absorbed in utter darkness... Light was barely tangible... Everywhere they looked... they could see their own reflections... they could see every bit of their silhouettes, their shadows... their undeniable despair... And if one stared hard enough, you could see the infinte number of reflections that stretched beyond the dreary sky's horizon..

And while all of this was occuring, a strange pillar of omni-potent light began shining from the dreadful sky... Almost like a blaring signal from the dark heavens... After that, the mysterious light soon began descending towards the direction of the contorting entity, like a harrowing beam that was filled with black starlight properties, which soon encased it's target in it's strange and dark essence...

The entity then started... laughing... To say that it was "distorted" was an understatement... It felt as if it's voice was an amalgamtion of a thousand different others... Laughing maniacally like a murderous chorus... It's twisted laughter resounded throughout the world like a warped echo...

Soon enough... The planet not only began rampaging like a loose tremor... It's gravitational pull started to invert in on itself... Causing every living matter, every living organism, to be pulled towards the cold erroding land...

Due to the planet's sudden surge, the small group of servants attempted to back away... But the earth's inverted flux kept their feet anchored on the ground... Movement was already out of the question, much more flight... They wanted to run away... Believe them when they thought of just regrouping with the others, in order to escape...

However, they couldn't afford to retreat, they couldn't hesitate any further... In fact, they couldn't ask for a more opportune moment... Now was their chance, their only chance at subduing "it"... And they realized that if they let this moment slip away... Then they might as well be knocking on death's quaint door... They had to seize this opportunity while the entity was still laying immobile in the sky... Whatever this thing was doing, it was holding itself in it's place... Now was their only chance, their only opening... It had to be now... They needed to exploit this weakness or else all will be gone... Their planet, their friends, their loved ones... and their home...

And Yet... Why couldn't they move... Why couldn't they take hold of this opportune moment?... Why won't their feet move? What happened to their earlier resolves?... Why now of all times?! This was a critical moment for their survival... And yet... Why? Even if their minds blared at them to seize this moment... To atleast do something! Why?! Why wouldn't they dare to take a single step?! Why did their breaths feel oppressed? Why was their vision getting blurry?! Why was their heart beating in such a melancholy tune?!

... Because even if they didn't want to admit it... It might have been due to the earth's inverted pull that made them frozen in place... Yet, even if everyone watching couldn't come to terms with it... The reality was...

That they were scared.

These were all warriors which came from both the past and the future... And in all their lives of living out such a heroic mantle... This was the first time where they truly felt the real meaning of fear...

The mere aura that this thing exuded was more than enough to make anyone stand frozen in place... It was unnerving in a way that it could make anyone's insides puke from terror...

It seemed like nothing mattered anymore... An unnerving feeling of dismay and helplessness began invading their senses... No matter how hard they tried... In the end, they couldn't beat the one enemy that's always been in their shadows... They could never hope to beat their own fears... No matter how much they willed it, no matter how much they desired it...

At the end of every forking road, fate will always have it's way... It would and will always end up winning... Because in the end, they were always powerless...

Afterall, if they weren't... Then none of this would have ever happened...

... Amidst all this, amidst all their inner turmoil, amidst all their desperation...

An all too familiar voice suddenly reached out to them... In the form of a glimmering figure, dashing past them like a star-filled comet, encased in a transluscent glow... It was an all to familiar shine that they've always admired... An all to familiar warmth that made them feel like they belonged... An all too familiar back that they've always been accustomed to... An all too famliar light that reminded them of their one and only home...

And now, that very same light was shining as brightly as ever...

"H̸a̸v̷e̸ ̵a̶l̶l̶ ̵o̵f̸ ̵y̴o̸u̶ ̷g̵i̴v̷e̴n̵ ̶u̷p̶?̸!̷ ̶S̵t̷a̵r̸t̸ ̶m̶o̵v̷i̸n̴g̵ ̸a̷l̴r̵e̷a̵d̷y̸!̶ ̵W̸e̷ ̷c̸a̴n̷'̸t̷ ̸l̵e̶t̶ ̶t̶h̴i̵s̷ ̸o̷p̸e̵n̶i̴n̶g̸ ̴s̶l̵i̵p̵!̸ ̸"

It was strange really, his voice sounded familiar and yet so foreign at the same time... Deep down, they knew that this was their master calling out to them... Yet they couldn't help but take notice at how... different... his voice sounded... It was like his voice was accompanied by an ambiguous entity...

However, that all too peculiar voice still exuded the same gentle warmth that they've always been akinned to... So for now, they wouldn't question it...

Not when they had bigger fish to fry... They knew that he was right.

Now was not the time to hesitate.

"He's right! Let's proceed with what we planned! It's the only thing we can do right now!"

Amidst all their inner realizations, a certain noirette saber in their group decided to break the settling silence with a firm and authoratative declaration. She couldn't lie, she still had a lot of doubts on wether or not they could do this... It wasn't a question if this was right or wrong... It was a matter of "if they could do it... And right now, Ryougi Shiki knew that all they could really do at this point was try... And maybe somewhere deep within her heart, she knew that it was the only real answer, -the only real conclusion-, that they could arrive to...

"You're right... At this point, what do we have to loose.."

A certain long haired berserker smirked amidst the team, a total contrast to his usual stoic demeanor. She was right, this was the only thing they could do right now. So the least he could offer was his cooperation... Afterall, isn't this what he always wanted? To properly instill Justice onto the world? He himself knows that there is no concrete definiton for this idealistic dream of his... But a certain master once taught him... That in the end, Justice is doing what you think is right...

So for now, he would have to follow his heart... And this heart of his was beating in a such a beautiful resolve... It was telling him to do the right thing...

To protect the world, to protect their home... To protect that very same place that he cherished the most...

"...Fine... For now... I'll allow you mongrels to cooperate with me... The lot of you should be grateful that you have the cha-"

With a deep sigh of resignation, a certain blonde archer finally agreed to drop his own arrogance... albeit in his "own way". But the others were right, that was a fact that he couldn't simply dismiss... If he could, then he would've just stomped over this matter with his own two feet... Yet he couldn't. This wasn't a problem that he could solve all on his own...

Despite what many believes... That's all he has ever been doing...

Trying. Alone.

But that wasn't the case this time... Now, he had others to rely on... Or in his terms, He had new pieces to "use" now... This time, he wasn't alone... He was going to protect this place, this planet... And as much as he didn't want to admit it... He had grown quite fond of his new home... So for now, he would have to "use" these new "pieces" to achieve his goal...

Afterall, he was a King. A King that stood above all others. And what kind of a King would he be... If he couldn't protect his own treasures?

"Alright! Alright we get it! Would it kill ya to stop with the arrogance!"

Some however, still couldn't stand the blonde king's upheaving attitude. Most notably, a familiar red-haired blacksmith... And said japanese weaponsmith was practically grouching at his annoying behavior... Despite Muramasa's somewhat pessimistic sighs... He still got the message... And he of all people knew it clearly... Afterall, being of old age did come with it's advantages... Like being a good judge of character, wether it's genuine or not...

That said, he still couldn't prevent his eye from twitching when Gilgamesh turned his back on him like he wasn't there... Wasn't he supposed to respect him?... Considering that he's older... Wait... Technically, that arrogant brat was millenias older than him... Still, for a demi-god, he was acting like spoiled child... "Ah, whatever" Muramasa sighed in resignation...

"Ehe~ Now, Now"

Out of nowhere, a furry pink fox popped out from behind Muramasa, making him jump a bit in the process... Muramasa didn't even notice when Koyanskaya had sneaked up on him from earlier... Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was contemplating on something earlier... Well, whatever it was... One thing was for sure though... simply being in the same room with this furry deity made his skin crawl... And this time, it wasn't even an issue with his "vessel"

Although unbeknownst to the Blacksmith, all Koyanskaya really wanted was to cheer him up...

Just as he was about to get over it, Muramasa dawned in a sudden realization... Where... Where was the other one-

"Mou~ All we wanted was to cheer you up!~"

Like it had been a sense of deja vu, another fox appeared from behind the red head's back. Only this time, despite both of the fox's appearances being nearly identical, her fur had more of a whiter complexion than the previous one...

"GYAH!"

Although, both of them still had the same effect on him as before...

After Muramasa was startled, he began to throw some very... "harsh"... words towards the furry twins. The scene almost reminded everyone of an angry grandpa reprimanding a pair of children... Maybe because that was the scene that was currently unfolding...

The others couldn't help but share small forms of laughter with one another at how silly the blacksmith was acting...

"Jeez..."

And amidst this small and temporary happines, A certain blonde saber couldn't help but chuckle at the sight in front of her.. Arturia just couldn't hold in her smile anymore... Honestly, considering the state of... well, everything... And taking into consideration their own positions right now... The group couldn't afford anymore room for hesitations... As of this moment, the world was practically on it's last pair of legs... Their surroundings were practically getting torn apart...

And yet here they were...

Laughing iddly at the smallest things... Maybe at the end of the day, this was what they needed... Maybe this was what pushed them out of their current states of fear...

It was all unbelievable really... If it wasn't for their master's voice... If it wasn't for his short words of encouragement from earlier, intentional or not... Then their own fears would have probably continued in consuming them.. if it weren't for those words that reached out to them, If it was't for that small little push that he gave them...

Then they would probably still be frozen in fear right about now...

And speaking of their Master, he was currently streaking through the night sky... like a dazzling shooting star... Heading towards the enemy's direction...

After observing him for a few fleeting seconds, the group quickly narrowed their eyes in resolution... Gone was their earlier smiles, gone was their earlier light-heartidness... Now, they're faces donned a mask that was filled with heavy tension... A burning resolve was soon etched into their flaring eyes... After sharing silent glances with one another...

A certain twin-tailed space goddess soon stepped forward, while wearing a familiar, -and mischievous-, smile that made Arturia reminisce of a forgotten past...

"Well then... let's begin shall we?~ Arturia... Regroup with you're counterparts, we'll handle things from here on~! "

After a brief exchange of nods between everyone and the blonde saber, Space Ishtar then began to chant... Her cheery voice resounded throughout the land like a song-filled mantra...

Soon, a bright pillar of three -distinct- colors manifested around the Avenger. The shine itself was garnering a luminescent glow of blue, crimson, and pink... That same light soon enveloped her body... Transforming her feminine appearance to a more priomordial one... The avenger's eyes glowed as bright as the blue sky, while her hair soon began glowing in an even brighter light. A light that was as brilliant as lapiz... Then, a scaly-like mantleof blue and red soon ensnared her figure, like it's properties were from a dragon's body...

That's right, at this moment in time, at this very second... She was undeniably a symbol of all beginnings, a resolute image of a "progenitor"

She was the being known as "Ashtoreth"

The once primordial goddess who existed in the chilled outskirts of the galaxy, during a time so far in the distance that it didn't even get recorded as a memory.

And soon enough, the divine star-like being began to speak... Her voice began overlapping like a unified choir... And if you listened close enough, you could hear two other -distinct- voices, echoing in the background...

"Stars, Align... Cosmos, Align... Shine you're light towards the furthest edges of the universe!"

After that, her body began pulsating in a strange cosmic power... Her body then began flowing vividly, like an exquisite painting of the stars and cosmos... Almost as if her body was a direct mirror to the universe, and the great beyond...

"Edin Shugra Quasar!: Royal Crown shining in the Primeval Universe!"

After her great cosmic mantra, space-ishtar soon released a beam of highly concentrated power... A power that felt lack-luster compared to her usual prowess... It wasn't quite what you would call her "100%"... If only she could use her full power... But the given the conditions of everything, this was the best she could do... She was already quite proud of "herself" in all honesty, that she still managed to muster out this much power...

And with an uncharacteristic grin from her, - a smile that was unbefitting for a goddess-, she soon willed the streaking beam to head towards the dark entity's position...

The avenger's smirk soon transitioned into a more feral one, she would teach this thing to not under-estimate a being such as herself...

...And while all this was happening, the others from the group soon followed in tow... Getting ready to deploy their own noble phantasms...

... Whatever maybe the outcome of these circumstances, one thing was for certain...

... They would see to it that this plan of theirs would succeed...

... Their entire home was at risk here...

... Chaldea was at risk here...

"I am not a warrior that abides by the sword... And neither am I a swordsman who is drawn by fame... I am merely a blacksmith, striving to create the perfect blade..."

After a certain auburn-haired saber closed his eyes, the area around him soon went up in infernal cinders... For now, this was all he could hope to achieve... Despite his already exhausted state, he still managed to find the will for one final attack... A last ditch attempt, as Muramasa would call it... But still, this was more than enough for him... He could make do without his vessel's untamed world of glass... In fact, he should be thanking 'him'...

If it wasn't for this body's reserves... then Muramasa could only hope to manifest a dagger in this point of time, and that was already him being too optimistic about it if that were the case...

Amidst the blacksmith's inner ramblings, the small scorches of flames soon began gathering at his right hand at a tremendous rate... It was as if fire itself was swirling around at the palm of his hand...

"Born out of the fires of a long sought out dream, Manifest yourself once more... And alter fate itself!"

Soon, those very same cinders began forming a concrete image, an image that was more like a realization rather than anything... In a moment's time, a simple blade, a simple red katana soon appeared in his hands... Leaving behind a trail of flames in it's wake, almost as if the steel itself was born out of hellfire...

Then the katana started to glow in a bright red, and after the trail of flames encased it's bladed ridge...

"The heart of the blade is right in front of you! Tsumukari Muramasa!"

The Blacksmith then swung it towards the direction of the blackened sky... The slash itself was soon followed by numerous pillars of flame... All of them ascending simultaneously towards the dark entity's contorting figure...

Muramasa simply smirked at the work he had just done... This alone won't even make a dent in that thing's defenses... But at the very least... It could add fuel to the fire, The Blacksmith nodded earnestly.

However that smile soon dissapeared when he felt his pride being shoved right beneath him... Or more specifically, when he heard a familiar, -and eerily annoying-, laugh that came from a certain King's mouth...

"How mildly unexcepting... Is that all you could do Blacksmith?"

The King of heroes simply snorted at his own work... His grin practically grew by leagues when he felt his weapon's power grow larger and larger by the second...

The afformentioned sword began rotating like a vicous storm, althought this wasn't as merely as destuctive when used with it's usual capabilities... The brewing sword began sparking in motes of red and black, mana and prana of the most concentrated form were being swept within it's swirling tip...

And without missing a heartbeat, Gilgamesh decided to taunt his "aquaintance" one more before firing off his "grand" and "magnificent" noble phantasm.

"Behold Fake- Mongrel! this is what a "perfect" sword truly looks like!" Behold my Power and grovel beneath it! Tear through the heavens and the earth!... Enuma Elish!"

Soon enough, Gilgamesh's weapon fired off a concentrated , -and vicous-, tempest of black and red energy... The beam then began overlapping with Muramasa's own flame pillars, much to both of their displeasure's. Making the sight before them look like a streaking fire work show...

And along with their own weapons, came with the entrances of multiple others...

...

"Honestly, I think I should tell him off later..."

A snake like deity sighed from up above them, her oni-like perplexion made it hard to differentiate wether she's annoyed, or just blatantly concerned about her "friend's"well-being. He shouldn't really be fussing over such a trivial matter on a time like this... The last thing they needed was discord in this assault...

"Just let them be Ibuki, look at it this way! At least they're not fighting this time!"

A certain black haired saber simply smirked beside the Oni-woman, while fluttering in the wind with his twelve glimmering swords floating behind him, The blades themselves were spreaded out like feathers... Their steel glowed in a bright sky-blue hue, making it look like the bright wings of a raven...

It made Charmalegne appear like a mechanical war-angel amidst the bleak and ruinous sky...

"...Indeed! Indeed!"

A certain ally of theirs agreed with the noirette's notion. Bellowing in laughter like a boastful emperor... An emperor that was practically coated in gold and red, signifying his royal affinty for a certain...

"Now! Let us begin my fellow allies of Roma! For the glory of Rome!

...country...

"Lancer, can you please focus?! We're wasting time!"

His enthusiasm however wasn't received well by a certain altered berserker... Arjuna Alter was right, they couldn't afford to wasted anymore time... Who knows how long this thing will remain in the sky... It could be very well be planning to escape, again...

That said... The Lancer still couldn't help but be irked by the fact that his fellow colleague still couldn't call him by his true name. They've known each other for years now! The least he could do was address him properly! With a resigned sigh, the golden lancer decided to just admit defeat and listen to what he had said.

Calling Romulus by his given name was probably the least of their concerns right now...

"Mhm you're right, Have the others taken their positions? "

"Yes, they have"

Charmalegne responded briefly by his side, while his winged-like swords started to glow in a brilliant blue light... The others started to charge their own attacks too, waiting in tense trepedition for a certain pair of foxes to give them the signal... And like the sharp wind that grazed their skins, their onslaught began after two distinct colors of pink and red shined in the near distance...

"Ara~ Sorry to keep you waiting~! Here it goes!~ Ready other me?~"

"Fufu~ Always~!"

Grasping each other's hands, while pressing their body with one another, almost as if they were dancing... The pair of vixens then began to chant in a unfied manner... Their voices were barely distinguishable from the mere sound alone... The twins' bodies soon started to glow in an ivory pink starlight...

"Crackle like thunder, Descend like flames! The voice of the world shall exalt your arrival! "

And in a moment's time... A streak of pink twilight soon broke through from the dark heavens, accomanying a descending fox-like deity... A being that came crashing down in flames, almost like a meteorite...

"Tunguska Urova Drive~!"

...

The entity narrowed it's eyes at the sight... Something like this wasn't merely enough to damage "it", much more scare it... If they thought this was going to make it back off... Then they had another thing coming... They were sorely under estimating it's prowess...

With a cynical glare from underneath it's mask, the entity soon manifested one of it's large and shadowy like hands... A dreadful arm that had no real hollow matter from within it... All it had to do was destroy this descending "abomination"... Something that proved to be easy considering that it only came by itself... And judging by it's p̴̬͗͘r̸̮̜̃́i̵͍͎̇̍m̶̺̘̈́͠e̴̖͉̓ signature...

This pathetic excuse of a mutt was but a mere drop in the well compared to what the entity had already seen...

But unbeknownst to the entity, the servants were just getting started...

From out of nowhere, a colorful glimmer of light was seen, along with the loud voice of a certain saber... Streaking through the night sky with his traveling swords right beside him...

"Joyeuse Ordre!: Exemplify the King's great heroics! O' Traveling twelve swords!"

Soon, Charmalegne's figure was encased in a brilliant blue gleam, making him travel faster and faster like the speed of light... His trejectory was clearer than day... The saber was coming for "it"...

Unfortunately for him, the entity's reaction time was much more faster. With a simple turn of it's body, it narrowingly avoided the saber's collision...Only leaving the entity with a deep cut on it's right side... Still, it flinched from the pain...

However, this was only the beginning...

Soon enough, the entity heard another loud roar... This time... coming from behind his rear...

"Cut down the evil that lurks, bring Justice to this world: Mahpralaya!"

Multiple black-hole like orbs was sent flying at it's direction, along with a peculair blade that was shot like a bullet towards "it". The entity tried raising his shadowy like hands, to prevent the shooting black-stars from coming anywhere near it... But it failed to no avail when the enitity's attention was, again, redirected by other incoming attacks...

From behind "it", it could see a vicous storm coming near his left rear, along with a pillar of fiery flames accompanying it's ascent...

Next, just from the corner of it's eyes, it could see a pure and concentrated blue beam of energy coming from it's rear... Not to mention the fact that "it" still had to deal with that pesky fox-like being in the sky...

And just as the entity was about to do something about it... From seemingly out of nowhere, it suddenly heard a malicous laughter... A demeaning laugh that was more befitting of a woman's voice

"Dear Oh Dear~ Did you really think you can still get away?~"

Upon further inspection, the entity grew displeased at the sight beneath him... An array of long and slender snakes were constriciting his legs... The vipers hissed when they came in contact with the entity's body... Despite their skin being made out of divine properties, it was still melting like they had just touched molten lava for the first time... Nevertheless, the ivory-like vipers held on... Constricting and tying the entity even further at it's place, while the futile goal of suffocating "it" played eerily at the back of their minds...

Seeing as the entity couldn't escape, it tried to take on the incoming attacks head on... But before the entity knew it, in that short period of time, it's bleak figure, that was as empty as the sky, was already surrounded from every possible direction...

" Uha!, Kyufufufu! Know you're place! Shinken :Kusanagi No Tachi!"

"Artemis...you're- Imean... you're loves too heavy... Ack!- Artemis Hagnos!"

"Mhm! Mhm! Now! Let our arms cut a path across the universe!: Per Asera Ad Astra!"

"Good Grief, Let's get this over with already... Lie like Vortigern!"

"O' spear that abides by the sun, pierce my enemy's heart like flare!: Vasavi Shakti!"

"Kyahahah! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!... Kyouran Dotou: Akuryosafou!"

"Reduce these Epiphonys into Cinders!... Cut this world open, and Devour it all!... Gram!"

It had to come to terms with the inevitable truth, that right here, right now... Right at this very moment...

The entity was sorely out-numbered...

Time seemed to move slowly as the entity watched on... it's sight was covered in an array of multiple brilliant lights... And from beneath the entity, a black and dreary fog suddenly accumalated... And just from the corner of it's eyes, it could see a tall and imposing figure standing amidst the dark smoke...

"Thou has chosen deliverance, Bare thy neck! Azrael: The angel that seeks for you're death"

Then the entity's line of sight was covered in darkness... Now, the entity couldn't even see the incoming assault that was previously right in front of "it"...

But as if fate wasn't done playing, a sudden pillar of light pierced through the entity's contorting figure... A beam of light that came directly from below "it"...

"Give birth to these dreams... Allow this phantom to make one last desire! Boundary of emptiness... Severe the karma that opposes me! Mukishiki: Kara no Kyokai!"

The entity merely winced in slight pain... While it widened it's eyes at the sheer scale of everything... However, to everyone's surprise... The entity simply glared back at them, it's eyes gleamed in a cynical purple light...

|-"̴̙͠Ḙ̵̓n̸̹͐o̶̰͓̎̍u̴̥̠͑̋g̶̨̿ḩ̴̔̈́.̷̣̹͋"̸̯̩̔-|

Truly, all of their efforts were valiant, but in truth, they mistook "valiant" for "adequate"... All of their efforts weren't merely enough to stop it's thirst for destruction...

Just as their attacks were about to reach the dark entity, a large and powerful wave of dark energy soon resounded throughout the world... Almost like an echo...

In the blink of an eye... the group's efforts were reduced to nothing, it went back to the state of "zero"...

For example,

The earlier pillars of flames were reduced to mere embers, until it eventually died out... The mass amount of energy from earlier had all seemingly dissapeared from the world, leaving no traces of it...

The vicous storm that tore through the grounds subsided in the mere seconds that followed... The sky returned to it's bleak and dreadful atmosphere... Inevitably, the servant's noble phantasms started to lose their shine, their body's grew weaker and weaker... Until it got to the point where they had to kneel on the ground due to the sudden exhaustion, even the ones flying couldn't help but crash back at the land like falling corpses...

Everything was rendered obselete, eveyone was rendered speechless...

But the entity wasn't finished, not yet...

After a few, and excruciating seconds... A mass amount of ghastly like hands soon emerged from the entity's shadow... Then, they spreaded throughout the land, searching and scanning for the life forms that had dared to wound "it"... And after a moment of waiting, the shadowy-like hands brought back a fleet of servants, all while choking them under it's dreary grasp...

At a bare minimum, the entity had atleast brought back hundreds of them... "It" knew, that there were probably still some left... But for now, this would be enough... At the very least, he got the ones that were most troublesome...

The entity especially made sure that they wouldn't escape, not after all they did to oppose "it"...

Honestly, what a troublesome Streamline, the entity denoted mentally with a heavy sigh...

Holding all of them up above the ground, with their lives hanging on a thin piece of thread, the entity decided to take them hostage... Knowing that "it" could end their fates at any given moment... They're lives were both figuratively and literally at "it's" hands right now...

But before the entity could even have fun with it's new "toys"...

A pillar of golden light suddenly exuded from a near distance... sending a reverbetating shockwave towards the land... It's arrival was practically deafening, like the proud roar of a lion in the midst of a den... And just from the corner of the entity's daunting eyes... It could see the small figure of a blonde girl... No, that wasn't right... there was more of them...

What the entity was seeing, was an entire group of blonde servants... All of them resembled a similar face, and had strikingly familiar feautures...

But that wasn't the only thing the Monarch saw... The small group was holding something in their hands... Together, they were holding up an odd and eerily familiar golden sword... Their eyes did not betray an ounce of mercy for the entity, their solemn and delicate faces only exuded one emotion...

A simple emotion that welled up from the bottom of their hearts... Anger...

They were angry alright, like a furious den of lions peering over their prey... This abomination took everything they cared for... It took the only thing they had left...

Never mind the planet, never mind their own well-beings... This thing had dared to take away the one thing that they had fought so hard for... A place that was built upon their blood, sweat and tears. A foundation of hope that they were proud to call their "home" ...

And this "thing" had dared to take it away from them... And that's exactly the reason why they could never forgive "it"... Their eyes began to narrow at it...

And then, together with their clear resolves...

The group began to chant in unison, their fragile voices began to echo throughout the world like clear water...

"Release the constraints of this holy blade... Nullify the seals that binds this sword's power... Shine you're light once again O' revered steel... Show us the path to hope..."

"Seal: Release... Start..."

Their eyes then began to close...

In their own mindscapes, a dark space that seperated reality and fantasy, several figures manifested before them... Their soul-like bodies resided within the blade like wandering spirits... A physical manifestation of the seals themselves, desires that came from the ones who put their constraints on the holy relic... And from their spiritual residues...

Out came Excalibur, or rather, it's true form... It began to descend in a glowing white light... And then, like a long-sought out realization... It finally began to take it's real form... Manifesting before the group's bare hands...

Together, Arturia and her other counterparts gripped it tightly... And after a fleeting moment of silence... The seals themselves began to chant in an automated way, almost like A.I's that had no real will...

But just from their voices alone, you could clearly tell... that these weren't just physical manifestations of the seals themselves, no... They weren't just the limitations that were placed on this blade...

No, far from that actually... They were desires, desires from their allies, desires from their friends... desires from the only people that they could call "family"...

And these wishes weren't just tellling them to move forward... No, they were also telling them...

To give it their all...

~Cue Final Ost: Shikisai~

|-"The enemy must be more powerful than oneself"-|

...'I Bedivere, approve'...

|-"The Battle must be one on one"-|

...'I Palamedes, approve'...

|-" The enemy must not be an elemental"-|

...'I Lancelot, approve'...

|-"The battle must be one against evil"-|

...'Crush them Father!'...

|-"The battle must not involve personal gain"-|

...'I Galahad, approve'...

|-"One's comrades in arms must be courageous"-|

..."I Perceival, approve...

|-"The battle must be an honorable one-"-|

..."I Tristan, approve"...

|-"The battle must not be against one pure of heart"-|

..."I Gawain, approve"...

|-"The battle must not be against humanity"-|

...'I Gaheris, approve'...

|-"The battle must not be inhumane"-|

...'I Gareth, approve'...

|-"The battle must be for truth"-|

...'I Agravain, approve'...

|-"The battle must be to live"-|

...'Go getem' sis!'...

|-"The battle must be for peace"-|

...'I Vivanne, approve'...

|-"The battle must come from the heart's desire"-|

...'I Guinivere, approve'...

|-"The battle must protect everyone"-|

...'I Morganna, approve'...

...

...

...

But then, just as the prayer was about to end, another soul manifested in their mindscapes... This time, it was that of a little girl's... They couldn't quite see her face, but her small figure had one distinguishable feauture about it...

She had the most beautiful white hair that they'd ever seen in their lifetimes... From a mere glance alone, they could see just how soft and silky it is... Her elegant snow-white strands were quite honestly unreal... Like they were intertwined by the clouds themselves...

Soon, the little girl stepped up towards them with a huge smile, a smile so innocent that they almost mistook it for an angel's... Her eyes then laid at a certain blonde saber in the group...

The woman's emerald eyes met with the little girl's sapphire-like orbs in a fleeting exchange...

|-"The battle, No... You must take hold of a dream..."-|

...

...

...

"...S.b.r..."

...

...

...

|-"The battle must be to save humanity!"-|

..."I Arthur Pendragon, Approve!"...

...

"Excalibur!~!~!: ǝnɹʇ"

~This is a battle to save the world!~

...

Like a shining realization, like a golden crystalization... like an absolute resolution... everybody's hopes and dreams began to fully manifest, in motes of blinding golden light... The whole planet ascended into a state of golden brilliance... Their eyes were blinded by the sheer radiance that Excalibur was emitting... It's golden steel soon asended towards the heavens... breaking through the dark glass that encompassed the world... until it reached the dark fabric of the prevading cosmos... It had seemed that the very fabric of the universe was going up in a blinding golden light...

Then... without an ounce of hesitation, without a trace of resignation... Their hearts began to beat as one... Their breathing was in perfect sync with one another... almost like they were the same person...

How very ironic...

The group of blondes then swung the brilliant sword... towards their enemy's-, towards the entity's direction... The golden pillar started descending towards the dark entity... Disintegrating everything that stood against it, the land, the sky and it's clouds, the air, everything... Nothing hindered it's glorious arrival... The world could only hope to cower under it's golden and exurbant pressure...

... This was it... This was the decisive moment...

This was the only thought that ran through everyone's head...

But fate already had other plans laid out...

The entity then did something unexpected... No, it did something unimaginable... Something so absurd and unheard of that it completely took everyone off guard...

"̷̻̜̲͙̍̈Y̵̭̠̯͎̎é̶̗̗͘ş̶͉̈̇͋!̶̩̫̥̾̆̔ ̵̮͕̿͛̚Ỷ̷̪̮͆͐͠e̶͉̠̒ŝ̴͉̺͎̞́!̷͙͍̲̗́͗̚ ̴͍͎̔̒̇͛͜Y̷̨̨͇̗͗̉e̶̞̖͒̈̾s̶͖̱͐́̇!̴̰̊͑ ̷̘͆͋͝T̶͍͗̒h̴͚̳̦̊̆̀i̶̲̮͑s̸̙̀̈ ̷̪͊͛̎̔i̵̪̪̥̾̀̽ş̵̮͉͎̇͋̓ ̶̡͚͍̗͗͒͑̓w̶̮̒̂́͝ḩ̷͇̖͕̽̋̈́͝a̷͇̐͛t̶̩̼͖́ ̵͚͉̐̽̅̕I̸̖̅͆ ̴̛͕̞̼͐̒̽ͅẃ̶̹͕͔ͅả̶̱͉̹̼̕s̵̯̃͐͛̀ ̵̣͆ļ̵̩̞̙̓̈́͆o̶̰̘͓̺̿̈̚ŏ̷̫̕k̶̨̐i̶̭̳̰̭͋͠n̵̢͈̪̓̚ǵ̵̠̼̫̙͊̀ ̷̼͂̓̈́̈́f̸̗͛̂͛o̷̳͖͌͑̓r̴͈͖͕̝̔̉!̷̡̰̀͜͝"̶̛̙̣̯̑̍

The dark-being then began to cackle like a maniac, like it had lost all sense of it's reasoning... But, unbeknownst to everyone... The entity was far from delusional... In all actuallity, from underneath it's ghastly mask... It was actually quite cynical... It's tyrannical nature was precisely the reason as to why this "being" was so dangerous...

Then from behind the entity's dreary silhouette, another shadowy like hand manifested from behind "it"... Only this time, it's size was far more greater... It was so big that it's size was comparable to that of a planet's...

The dreary hand then began to move in an ecstasic manner... Moving towards the descending pillar's direction... And when it finally came near it's golden light... It's shadowy like complexion didn't burn under it's golden radiance, unlike the other forms of matter that had dared to hinder it's glorious descent unto the world...

In fact, it seemed to be attracted to it...

But the entity simply glared at it in a dreadful light, like the sword's mere presence was nothing more than a bug from underneath it's foot...

Then, the dark-being did something unexpected... Something so unexpected that it could be considered as "inconceivable"

The shadowy like hand began to grab the descending golden pillar... It's shadowy like features began to intertwine and take hold of the golden pillar of light... like it was actually tangible... like it was simply a stick that was meant to be snapped...

After the entity took hold of the golden pillar of light, it's grasp at it began to tighten... Preventing the pillar from moving any further...

And then that's when it happened...

Everybody widened their eyes at the horrific sight...

The golden pillar of light... began to break... it began to crack...Until eventually... It shattered into a million broken pieces, almost like an array of fractals... almost like broken glass...

How deeply ironic... The power that was said to be a crystalization of humanity's-, of the world's hopes and wishes... That very same legend shattered under a greater force's grasp...

To the enitty, this was nothing short of "natural" for it... But to the ones watching... It was like gazing at their hopes and wishes, it was like watching a reflection of themselves... It was like watching an all too familiar mirror break in front of them...

It was like watching their only, and last, form of hope... slip away from their grasps...

The entity couldn't help but laugh in a crude and merciless manner, it's harrowing voice echoed throughout reality like a devil's orchestra... The land soon returned to it's dark and dreadful state... Almost no traces of light could be seen in the surroundings... The earlier golden prominence had already vanished, leaving no trace of it in sight... The blackened sky could ony grow heavier with each passing second...

And with each passing moment... the servants could feel an unsettling feeling of dread well up from the deepest parts in their hearts... Deep down, they knew... that this was it...

that this was goodbye-

"̶H̶e̷y̴ ̶J̷a̴c̸k̷a̶s̷s̷!̴ ̷D̵i̷d̵ ̴y̶o̷u̴ ̶f̶o̸r̸g̴e̷t̷ ̷a̵b̶o̸u̶t̷ ̴m̶e̵?̷!̷

Amidst all their inner-despair, unbeknownst to all of them... A shining streak of light suddenly appeared from behind the dark entity's shadow...

The entity widened it's eyes in sudden fear, it turned around instantaneously. Faster than a bullet, faster than light itself... But when it did turn around... The dark-being knew... that "it" was already too late...

What laid before "it"... was the shining figure of a certain master... and it could see his fist at point blank range... There was nothing "it" could do now, not it in this very moment... it had next to 'zero' chances for an escape... The entity's face was already wide open... The noirette had already closed the distance between them... The entity could only narrow it's eyes in rage before being met with the gleaming man's super-charged fist...

That little piece of shit... When did he get close to it?! How?! Was he hiding?! It could've sworn that it never detected his presence! So how?!... These were the thoughts that swirled in the entity's head while he tried to cope with the sudden pain... If it wasn't for the entity's mask, then he could have broken something very "valuable" in it's forehead...

And while all this was happening, Ritsuka couldn't help but feel curious at his sudden action...

When his punch did land at that bastard's face... He could feel something crack underneath his hand... Like he had just shattered something brittle, like he had just broken something he wasn't supposed to... Something that felt fragile, something that felt more akinned to a crystal than anything... A Gem perhaps? He knew that he had atleast broken it's mask, but Ritsuka could feel it... He knew that he almost shattered something from beyond that thing's mask...

For now, Ritsuka digressed... He knew one thing for sure though...

The impact must have hurt "it"... A lot... Considering that the entity began shrieking all over the place like a dying animal...

"̴▂̷▂̶▃̷▃̶▅̵▅̶▂̴▃̵▅̷▅̵▂̷▃̵▃̶▅̸▅̴▂̸▂̷▃̴▃̸▅̷▅̸▃̶▅̸▅̴▂̷▂̷▃̴▃̷▅̶▅̶!̷ You'll pay for that!̷!̷!̴!̴"

The entity's line of sight soon resurfaced back to reailty... But when "it" opened it's eyes... What the entity found shocked it to it's very core... A sight that made even the entity gasp in silent terror...

Everywhere he looked... Every corner, every space... The entity was surrounded by countless servants... If "it" had to do a rough estimate... There were atleast a thousand them... Some were fluttering in the air... Some were charging at it from below... And some were coming for it's head from up above... And all of them had their noble phantasms deployed and ready...

These bastards... When did they get here?... How did they manage to corner "it" in such a short amount of time? It could've sworn that at least a large portion of them were under his grasp earlier... The entity could've sworn that at least hundreds of them were under "it's" grim-filled palms...

And that's when it hit the entity, all of a sudden... everything made sense...

"It" suddenly remebered the impact from that punch earlier... The sheer force of the collision must have made the entity uknowingly let go of it's hold on them...

The sheer force of the impact must have made ""̵̻̓h̴̺́é̶̮r̵̝̂"̸͉̌" release the grasps on"̵̻̓h̴̺́é̶̮r̵̝̂"̸͉̌ hostages, on all of them...

The entity then glared menacingly at the sight before "̵̻̓h̴̺́é̶̮r̵̝̂"̸͉̌", finally allowing her feminine-like feautures to be bared witness by everyone... The latter however, could only respond with victorious smirks... They had this "thing" cornered...

Time seemed to move in a slow and steady motion...

Due to the conditons of everything, their weapons weren't as powerful as they had hoped it would be, let alone their own conditions... But to them, that fact wasn't a hindrance in any way, shape, or form... No, it didn't bother them at all...

The all too familiar pain only fueled their rush of adrenaline...

Afterall... What they were actually doing... Was but a mere distraction...

From out of nowhere... The entity caught a slight glimpse of a shining light in the near distance... But "̵̻̓h̴̺́é̶̮r̵̝̂"̸͉̌" eyes didn't follow the direction of that new-found light...

...Because right now... The entity's eyes were solely focused on the people that stood before"̵̻̓h̴̺́é̶̮r̵̝̂"̸͉̌"...

In addition to that suspenseful standoff...

Amidst that fleeting moment, amidst the countless group of servants... There laid the glowing figure of Ritsuka Fujimaru, of their master... And in that moment, in that instance... The young man couldn't help but grin in an all too familiar manner...

"̶W̷h̸e̸r̸e̴ ̴d̷o̸ ̵y̴o̴u̵ ̶t̸h̸i̸n̷k̸ ̵y̷o̷u̷'̷r̶e̵ ̷l̴o̶o̸k̵i̷n̷g̴ ̵a̷t̵?̸!̵ ̷R̸i̴g̷h̴t̵ ̷n̸o̶w̷.̶.̷.̸ ̷y̵o̷u̵'̵r̴e̴ ̵f̸i̴g̴h̴t̵i̷n̵g̴ ̷u̴s̵!̷"̸

...

...

...


...

...

...

{Fifteen Minutes Earlier}

...

...

...

All of their attempts were seemingly for naught... Every time they would launch an attack towards the dark entity, it would undoubtedly counter with it's own frontal assault...

Bit by bit... Their numbers were being chipped away...

Every time they would send a group of servants to distract it, they would all be sent back towards the land... In a bloodied trail of smoke... If it were not for the servants that knew healing magic, - the casters to be more specific-,... Then they would have all been left in a pile of corpses...

... So the ones in charge all made a joint and collective agreement... This has to end now...

And amidst all the casualties, amidst all this despair... Here laid the serious figure of Romani... Standing cautiously on top of Chaldea's last remaining building... On top of the place where it all started...

"Romani Here... Da vinci, Have all of them taken their positions?.."

The Caster spoke through their shared link in a hesitant trepedition, while an obvious glint of determination shined bravely amidst his contrasting and fear-filled eyes...

-{"Everyone is ready... Ritsuka has already gathered with the others and are currently distracting the entity with their noble phantasms, but this will only last for about fifteen minutes...It's now or never Romani..."}-

With a solemn look towards the bleak sky, Romani could only send a silent prayer up above it... Hoping that it's plea would break through the glass like a shooting star... He hoped that this wish would shatter the glass that encompassed their world... It was once an atmosphere swirling in wintery peace... Now, It was a dark plague that turned their once peaceful world into a dreadful and empty wasteland...

Hope, speaking of it... That was the only thing they could rely on at this point... Romani hoped that this prayer, that this wish would bring about a miracle... Because right now... They could only wait for a miracle to happen...

No, something about that just didn't sit right with him... If they wanted a miracle... If they wanted to find this conclusion that they were searching for... Then they would have to realize it with their own hands...

They couldn't wait for a miracle... They needed to make one right at this very moment...

...And so, with one last resolution towards the glossy dark sky... Romani finally decided to look ahead... To face the imposing threat known as the 'present'... They needed to end this right now... Even if there was the possibily of killing himself, again... He would gladly take that chance than risk losing their home, again...

After many denotations... After the many hesitations that plagued his mind... Romani finally decided to give them his go-signal, but not before giving his goodbye to a certain pair of brunettes...

"And Hey Guys..."

-{"Yeah..."}- A pair of female voices muffled out through his earpiece, both of them were trying to hold back their tears... But had ultimately failed to do so when they're restraints broke after hearing his lighthearted reply...

"Make sure to put my cupcakes in the freezer"

-{"I-Idiot... j-just g-go a-alrea-WAHHHH DON"T LEAVE US AGAIN ROMA-"}-

With a short and stilled laughter, Romani decided to throw away his ear piece... Nonchanantly, he added.

Da Vinci's younger version could be so emotional at times... He had to cut off their communication before she began bawling her heart out... At least, that's what he told himself... He debated about it for a short-while really... Was cutting her off just an excuse for him to stop any threats of hesitance? To stop any possibilities of him changing his mind? Was Romani that afraid to realize that he was leaving them again? That this was actually a goodbye, rather than a 'see-you-later'?...

...Romani's lack of a decisive nature consequentially made him feel even more torn than he initially thought... One thing was for sure though, his welling tears proved to be more painful than what he thinks he is actually feeling...

No... He shouldn't be crying at a time like this... He couldn't afford to...

After he finally wiped away his prevading tears... Romani steeled himself once again... His posture started to exude a regal and serious aura... His eyes were now devoid of any emotion whatsoever...

And after a fleeting moment of silence... Romani began to speak in a more transluscent way... Free of anything that chained his heart... Free of anything that almost made him say otherwise...

In a small matter of seconds, Romani's eyes started to flash in an amber white... While his usual Doctor-like attire soon transformed in a gleaming robe of red and gold... Golden motes of energy started taking over his body, until it finally stretched out all across his figure in a sporadic array of golden light... His skin's usual-light complexion soon turned into a darker one... Even his usual patches of Honey-blonde complexions soon started blending in with his hair's dominant white color... Until all of 'him' finally left 'his' body, leaving no trace of his old self's appearance...

And with a silent prayer... The King of all Magic began to chant in a fervent, and sincere voice...

~-|"The Time of Rebirth is upon us, I am the one that masters all"|-~

...

~-|"The Time of my crowning is upon us once again, I am the one who begins all"|-~

...

~-|"And- The time of parting has come, I am the one who seeks to take hold of it all"|-~

...

"Ars Nouvelle: The start of something new, I seek to protect this world"

...

And soon, after that prayer was finally realized... The lasts of Chaldea soon accompanied it's ascent, like an elegant column of floating pillars... While the familiar sight of a certain temple laid in the middle... Shining in all of it's temporal glory towards the world, like it was embracing the start of something anew...

An inevitable warm light that soon encased the world in it's gentle tutelage...

Author's Note

And yes before you ask, I copypasted most of that TVT, and while we're here I'd like to adress a few things

1.) First and foremost, -and i cannot express this enough, thank you for reading this story... especially since it's in its early development. Let me explain, the reason why this story took so long is because of one simple concept

World building.

I fully intend to create something that is original, and so, because of that... it takes time. Not to mention the fact that this story is supposed to be on the grander scale of things. So I really appreciate all of you who stuck by with me. Really, I'm truly am thankful.

2.) and yes dont worry, this part or should i say "arc" of the story is finally coming to an end. The next chapter would be the final one before the arc break... And for the next arcs, it would be relatively short, since they focus more on developing the story, I dont really wanna spoil much.

And as we speak, I am currently working on the first half of the next chapter... and it's going to be... long... to say the least...

3.) Some of have asked... Is this an arg? ... Perhaps.

4.) Some of you were also confused of the first half of these chapters... Because of how vague and non-conclusive it is. So i will begin to say it, these are merely memories, glimpses of another life... And yes, I am fully aware that these don't make sense now... But soon, hopefully, it will... Who knows? This might just be tidbits of another story I'm working on ;)

5.) Ah before I forget, I also noticed that there were certain reviews in the comment section. And honestly, I'm not bothered... And so should you guys too. If it's his/her opinion just let him be. If he/she wants to use crude words, let him/her be... But don't get to affected by people like these. This site/app is a safehaven for all of you to enjoy.

So don't let that sour grape ruin the fun!

Wellp with all that heavy stuff out of the way,

Happy reading!