Saber walked out of the car as they stopped in front of the Church. The holy building still stood intact but not without its battle scars. Littered across the courtyard were signs of battle as the pavement was all smashed up and the greenery had been ruined, but the church was left untouched.
"Saber are you alright?" Irisviel asked as she walked up to her.
"Yes Irisviel, my mind is still on edge from my fight with Maria."
Nodding her head, Irisviel smiled. "Well let's go inside already, Kiritsugu and Maiya are already inside and I'm pretty sure that the others are waiting for us." Taking Saber's arm, they entered the church.
Upon entering they noticed the other servants and masters that were waiting for them. Risei and his son were at the front of the altar, discussing Assassin's recon on the city. The furrowed brow on the Church leader's face showed that all was not well.
Off to the side Lancer and Tokiomi were trying their best to nurse the injured Kayneth back to health. The once comatose Kayneth was now awake but in serious pain from having lost some of his magical circuits. His face would tighten in pain whenever Tokiomi tried his best in trying to heal the injured master while Lancer would fret over him and ask forgiveness for failing him and Sola-Ui.
Opposite from them was Rider and Waver as they were having a little teacher and student moment. Iskandar saw fit to teach the now changed Waver about battle tactics and philosophy that the boy was eating up with glee.
Kiritsugu and Maiya had chosen to stay at the far corner of the church, avoiding everyone else as much as possible. Kiritsugu was smoking a cigarette as he stared off into the distance while Maiya was cleaning her rifle.
And finally, off to a window, was Archer. He was looking out into the Fuyuki night sky, lost in thought over something. It was rare to see such a rattled look on the King of Heroes' face.
Kirei noticed their arrival and welcomed them. "I see that the last servant has arrived," Motioning for everyone to come with him, he walked over to the wall behind the altar. Muttering a chant, the wall dissipated to reveal a hidden door. "Let us commence this meeting," he said before walking in and everyone following behind him.
A downward passageway had revealed the secret room that the Church had originally used to coordinate any magus-related operations within the city and oversee the Holy-Grail War. Now it would be used to discuss on how to beat Caster. The room was fairly plain, a typical Magus Workshop that held a giant map of the city in the middle.
Each person present took a seat around the giant table as Risei walked to the head of the map. "Due to Caster's violation of the Holy Grail War I, Risei Kotomine, hereby declare an alliance between servants and masters in favor of defeating Caster," Finishing his declaration, he motioned for his son to continue the debriefing.
Standing up and taking his father's place, Kirei continued right as Assassin materialized right next to him. "I am the master of Assassin and allow us to formally apologize for the deceit we pulled off." They both bowed to the assembled masters and servants as in order to get through the night they needed to work together and so any wounds and grievances needed to be addressed.
Finishing their apology, they moved on to the actual meeting. "Assassin has done recon on the entire city and will now share what they have found on Caster's army."
Holding a hand up, Rider asked a very serious question. "And what of Berserker and his master? If we are holding talks then should they not be present for this?"
"Regrettably Berserker and his master have been taken hostage by one of Caster's hunters. We could not intervene in time before they were taken." Explained Assassin as Rider put his hand down while the mood of the other servants and masters became tense. Already a master and servant had fallen victim to Caster's forces.
Walking up to the map, Assassin begun to disclose the information they had found. "Caster has effectively blocked the entire Fuyuki City from the outside world," Trailing a massive circle that looped around the entire city, including the mountains and farthest reaches of the land that showed the extent of the trap. "We've had no luck in trying to break free from the trap and any attempts to communicate with the outside world have had no luck."
"We have identified four key strongholds that Caster has set up," Assassin trailed their hand first around the Fuyuki CIty Hall. "We believe that this is Caster's main base, the number of defenses and hunters that Caster has protecting the place suggests this."
"Then if its Caster's main base what are we waiting here for?" Impatiently asked Archer as he glared at the Fuuki City Hall where Caster was probably at. He was probably thinking on how to get his revenge on Caster for the little trick he pulled.
"Unfortunately, the fortress is protected by this strange boundary field that we are unable to break, similar to the next stronghold." From the Fuyuki City Hall Hassan pointed to the Ryuudou Temple. "This is known as the Choir's headquarters. We believe that this is some sort of prison as both Berserker and his master were taken there. Also, it was the last direction that the Wraith that stole Rin was heading for."
Irisviel looked to the side to see Tokiomi was trying his hardest to control his anger. Having had his daughter stolen and knowing the location of where she was but unable to help was testing him. If Illyasviel were in Rin's stead then she would on the edge of her seat as well.
"Sharing the same boundary field as the City Hall, it will be impossible to mount an assault without knowing how to dispel the field."
From the Ryuudou Temple, Assassin addressed the Fuyuki Clocktower. "This location serves as Caster's watchtower. The multi-armed being has an un-impeded view of the city and will bring down anything that comes too close. Rider has experienced this first hand." At the memory of the cosmic bombardment they came under, Rider chuckled.
"Not to mention that the Clocktower serves as the hub for the various hunters that we have encountered," Taking a deep breath Assassin moved onto to explaining the various hunter groups.
"Defending the Clocktower we have two groups," Throwing two photos on the map, Assassin explained them. "On the right we have Djura, Leader of the Powder Kegs. His group are well-equipped with firearms and explosives and have also set up various Gatling gun and cannon emplacements that lockdown any approaches from the air." Motioning for the left they revealed a new group that no one had fought yet. Garbed in a heavy looking Church garb, the most noticeable thing was the big gold pyramid helmet that the person wore. "The only information that we have for this group is that they are known as the Executioners."
"Caster must've had more than a single day to prepare all of this," Diarmuid marveled at just how much Caster had at his disposal.
"In truth Lancer we believe that he was summoned a month before this all happened." Shock was on everyone's face with how long Caster was given to prepare. A Caster's Territory Creation skill made it so that a Caster was at their strongest in their territory. The longer a Caster had to utilize their Territory Creation, the more of a threat they would become. Often Caster would be the number one servant to get rid of at the start of a Holy Grail War.
Risei spoke up about explaining Caster's appearance. "A month ago, a police call was given about the whereabouts of the crazed murderer, Uryuu Ryuunosuke. They got a call about a possible location for him and once the police arrived, they found his mangled-up corpse at one his murder sites. The police wrote it off as vigilante work but some deep digging revealed that his arm was left intact before they burned it. On that arm is what was once believed to be Caster's Command Seals."
Having had Risei explain Caster's arrival, Assassin threw four more photos on the map. "These groups should be familiar to some of you already," They pointed to the first picture. "This is the Bloody Crow, leader of the Cainhurst Knights. These knights are Caster's elite guard and the most dangerous of all the groups, they are the closest match to a servant." Lancer nodded his head at how much of a threat this group was.
"Here we have Irene of the Choir," Pointing to the innocent smile of Irene, Assassin shuddered. "Under no circumstances should you be captured by her or the Choir, they delve in arcane arts and we met the remains of one of their experiments." Seeing a magus that they were meant to rescue had been transformed into this strange blue, cosmic kin quickly cemented the fact that the Choir was the one to say far away from. Kayneth clenched his fist underneath the table. He had been too weak and now his beloved wife was now at the mercy of the Choir's crazy experiments.
"Next, we have the Yahar'gul hunters, this group is by far the most numerous in numbers, they make up the basic foot soldiers of Caster's army however they are the weakest group and masters can take them on in a fight."
"Finally, we have the Hunter of Hunters which we will be referring to as the Crows for their beak helmet and crow feather cloaks. They are the assassins of Caster's army and we have had several skirmishes with them when trying to scout the city. I have lost some of my personas already." Already they had lost some of themselves to these crow hunters.
"I am to presume that we are all that stands against Caster and his mini-army?" Rider asked with a hand to his chin after seeing what they were facing. He smiled at the thought of how unstoppable his army would be if Caster had joined his army.
Tokiomi spoke up this time, "We would've had some magus that I allowed to stay in the city as help but Caster has hunted them all down. Every Magus is either missing or dead in their workshop."
As the others continued talking about how to deal with Caster, Saber was drawn in by a stronghold that Assassin forgotten to mention. "What about this Assassin?" She questioned as she pointed to the Fuyuki Sea.
"Ah that place Miss Artoria, we have no idea what this place is meant to serve as, the sea is covered by this strange mist that we can't enter through and the only thing we know about this place is the strange singing that eminent from within."
Even as Assassin dismissed the sea, Saber had this nagging feeling that something important laid there. "The Orphan shall drown you in a sea of sorrow," Repeating what Maria had said to her before she left, she spoke her mind.
"Before Rider picked us up, Lady Maria mentioned a way to end this, by seeking a Lady Rom we could end this hunt." Her statement drew everyone's attention
"And you believe the word of the 'Lady Maria'? The word of an enemy?" Sneered Kayneth.
"It is something to go off of rather than us having nothing," Argued Waver.
"Then it seems that her advice matches with what my opponent said," Kiritsugu spoke up for the first time as everyone's attention shifted to him. "If we have any hope to transcend the hunt deal with Amygdala. That must mean that the muli-armed eldritch being is Amygdala" He quoted the words of Eileen she gave him.
Asssassin nodded their head at their statement before addressing the map once more. "Then it seems that the advice you were given is consistent with our findings." They began trailing a hand from the sea to the clocktower. "There seems to be an entrance into the sea, an opening that the mist has not blocked off. It is the main Fuyuki Sewer Tunnel." They drew a little circle where the main sewer tunnel emptied out into the sea.
"However, there is a problem with accessing the tunnel." Their hand trailed up before stopping at the clocktower where a mini drawing of Amygdala was. "It is that the only entrance exists right under the tower, any other access points are covered by the same fog that covers the sea,"
"I am not the only one that sees that this is a deliberate trap by Caster," Risei pointed out the obvious trap.
"It is not a trap if we know it is one, we can prepare for whatever Caster has planned for us," Iskandar said.
"Then we agree that our first course of action against Caster will be a direct assault on the Clocktower?" Looking around everyone nodded their heads in approval until they looked at Archer. He was the strongest out of all of them here but for his arrogance over that fact would test if he could work with them willingly.
"Hmph I suppose that I could lend my hand to you pitiful mongrels against Caster, after all he dares to proclaim that I am inferior to him." It seemed that whatever event that had shaken him up had seemingly passed as he was back to his old ways.
"This must be an attack that has to be planned perfectly, otherwise Caster can just swarm us with numbers." Tokiomi warned.
Smugly Waver patted Iskandar's shoulder. "Well it's a good thing that we have a Noble Phantasm that can tip the odds in our favor."
Irisviel had read a bit of myths before the Holy Grail War so she had an idea of what Waver was referring to. "You don't mean..."
"Yes, my vast army that once marched across the sandy dunes of Macedonia, Ionioi Hetairoi!" Rider proudly proclaimed.
"But Rider won't such a Noble Phantasm be draining for your master?" Inquired Lancer.
"Under normal circumstances yes, but here Caster's entrapment fulfills all of the necessary requirements to act as a pseudo Reality Marble to support my army's materialization."
"And the Church will allow Waver Velvet to utilize our spare command seals to maintain the army," Offered Risei.
"Then let us strategize on how we begin our first attack against Caster," And with that they began to plan out the attack of the Clocktower.
Meanwhile at the City Hall, Caster was having a conversation with his trusted hunters. He was sitting alone in the Diet Chamber where politicians would debate over various issues. He was the only one in the room as he was having a telepathic conversation with his hunters with his eyes closed in concentration.
"Logarius how goes the defenses of the Clocktower?"
"It is well milord, Djura has set up multiple Gatling Gun and cannon fortifications and my Executioners stand ready."
"Very good Logarius , I shall send Gascoigne and Brador as additional reinforcements. The Bloody Crow will join after his objective is done as well. What of you Ludwig, how goes the Choir?"
"We are good over here as well at the temple. Lady Rin sleeps peacefully and Sir Kariya is being nursed back to health. Sir Valtr is very adamant about staying by his side."
"Understandable those two share so much in common. Simon how goes the sewer defenses?"
"Rest easy my friend the traps have been set and Lady Rom is well though I do wish my partner wasn't Patches though."
"Even if I find his cowardly nature to be annoying at times, he is a master trickster whose skill is matched by none."
Feeling an unwanted presence enter the room, Caster quickly ended the meeting. "Very well report if anything goes wrong."
"Yes, your majesty," They all said before leaving the conversation.
Taking a deep breath Caster addressed the unwelcomed visitor. "I was expecting my dear Maria to show up but..." Opening his eyes he glared at the incorporeal mystic woman that stood opposite of the room. Her body was in essence not a true body but just pure prana molded into a body. While the being in front of him looked harmless, she was so much more than that; the power rolling off of her was a testament to that fact.
"Why are you here..." Standing up he released some of his power to show that he was not joking around as the woman released her power as well, both of their powers clashing. If anyone was present in the room, they would've died from how suffocating their presences were.
"Gaia," He said with distaste as the now identified Will of the Earth returned a glare of her own. The primordial entity looked less than pleased as the two deities stared each other down.
The Will of the Earth, the representative of the Earth's desire to survive. She once loved humanity, as she did all living creatures, until they went off and begun destroying the planet in their selfish quest for power. For a human to ascend to her status of godhood was the greatest offense.
The other was a human who ascended to Godhood, once impossible for humanity's feeble origins. It was his human origins that made him foster humanity past its childhood beginnings. The arrogance that Gaia exhibited over her status made dealing with her a pain for him.
In the Church's planning room, the masters and servants were strategizing on how the assault was going to go. Each person needed to execute their roles perfectly lest they drag everyone down. All was well until Irisviel slammed the door open as she stormed into the room with a distressed look on her face.
"Iri what's wrong?" A worried Kiritsugu held his beloved in his arms as she whispered the problem to him. His face paled before he started to rummage through his pockets to find a certain item.
Seeing the feared Magus Killer panic had Waver in panic mode as well. "W-what happened!?" He fearfully asked.
"Caster is much stronger than we thought, much stronger," Irisviel was pacing around the room, her pacing putting everyone on edge.
"Well spit it out already!" Kayneth shouted as he couldn't handle the tension.
Kiritsugu answered them in a low tone. "We started this Holy Grail War at midnight...Let me ask you how long have we been fighting for?"
Realization slowly creeped in as Tokiomi put the pieces together. "No, you don't mean..." A good six hours had passed now that he realized it. The first rays of the sun should've been shining over the horizon by now.
Kiritsugu fished out a pocket watch and showed everyone what time it was. The last puzzle was shown to them and the horror finally now begun setting in.
On the pocket watch the hands were still stuck on the number twelve. The hands had yet to move since the battle between Lancer and Saber at the Mion docks.
Caster hadn't just trapped them in Fuyuki City.
He had trapped the city in an alternate dimension altogether.
And no ordinary heroic spirit had that ability, not even a divine spirit had that ability. Maybe in the Age of Gods such a feat would have been possible but that time had long passed. Now divine spirits were only capable of a fraction of what their myths said about them.
So...
What in God's name was Caster supposed to be?
Chapter 9 is finished! I wanted this chapter to set up the future chapters and set the hype for them. The idea of Iskandar's Noble Phantasm clashing with Caster's was actually not originally planned but the addition of the Executioners made me realize that Caster could just flood them with hunters. Next chapter will all be Caster and Gaia (Hopefully all of the chapter will be about them).
A great little insight that I found about Maria's Noble Phantasm is that Bloody Tears is coincidentally the OST name for Castlevania.
Still surprised by all the support that this story is getting! If you're new and enjoy the story leave a review or drop a favorite/kudos as they inspire me to think of even better ideas for this story.
Welp that's all for now and as always...
May the Cosmos Shine in Your Favor This Day!