Onwards, to Chapter Seven!

So, where to begin? Well, I guess I should start off on what you should expect from this chapter. Simply, this chapter is hopefully going to be the end of the Fuyuki Singularity, allowing the next one to continue with simple world building back in Helmuth's home dimension before our heroes head off to assist Chaldea. So, we're going to have to get through a lot of things really fast in this chapter; specifically, the fights with the Shadowed Rider, Assassin, Lancer, and then Archer and Saber.

For the future, I'm hoping that the France Singularity will bolster some things that are different about this universe's Chaldea, as well as offer the potential for new allies to arrive. But, that's the future.

For now, y'all better strap in, because woah boy, Shuten is a drunken powerhouse, as well as Caster Chulainn backing her and Mash up.

I hope I can capture their personalities well…

Anyways, word count was a staggering 8,787 words, not including this and the ending ANs. Have fun slogging through that, because I did not while writing!

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"What did you expect?" – Talking

'A war like no other?' – Thought

"Der Teufel selbst?" – Very bad Google Translate, or emphasis on speech

'Or just a bad dream?' – Written word

~ Maybe it was nothing at all. ~ – Radio Chatter

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The new servant, Shuten Douji, Helmuth mused, was certainly interesting. She exuded feminine charms, that sickly sweet smell of alcohol, and an air of danger, that while not overtly worrying – she was on their side, thanks to Fujimaru – could possible raise some issues down the line.

For one thing, she was a horrible flirt. Upon her summoning, she had draped herself in the arms of poor Ritsuka Fujimaru, who burned a bright blush and sputtered incoherently at the act, until she withdrew herself from him. Her reason for doing so was simple: she was a creature of the moment, always behaving to her hearts content. The way and reasons she flirted was simply because she felt like doing so. Helmuth was, quite frankly, happy that she didn't chose to try and flirty with him, rather opting to inquiry with Fujimaru and Animusphere about the current ongoings.

The second thing that Helmuth had noticed about her was that she the damned best functioning alcoholic he had ever seen. Even upon her summoning, he could tell she was sloshed just enough to be perfectly fine, but acted like she was anything but. Damn near everything about her character screamed inebriation; the flask she carried on her back was filled to the brim with rice wine – rice wine potent enough to kill a human with its alcohol content alone, one might add. Hell, after undraping herself from Fujimaru, she managed to bring forth, or summon, a dish that she filled with her rice wine and began to imbibe from.

The scent alone was apparently enough to make Animusphere slightly dizzy before Shuten masked it with some sort of spell.

Yeah, it was safe to say that the Assassin was something else entirely.

Nevertheless, now the group had some down time. Time for rest and shoring up temporary defenses for the night before moving they planned to move out the next morning. With their recent summoning of Shuten, their connection to both Chaldea and GKI secured, and the weapon cache that GKI had sent for its two remaining operatives in the realm, it seemed that things were going to shape up for a bit. The weapon cache was quite a welcome surprise for everyone, coming equipped with military-grade MREs, medical supplies, clean clothes for both Helmuth and Hertzog, and an assortment of heavy weaponry.

Everyone – from Cu Chulainn to Mash – had managed to get something out of the supply, whether that be simply food, getting patched up by Hertzog, or in Cu's case: picking out a Yytusche Einheitsmütze to wear for fun. And then the two Yytuskians took a look at the weapon catalog supplied for them.

"Mein Gott im Himmel…" Helmuth muttered, looking over the assorted grouping of firearms. "That's a lot of weird looking things there..."

"I'd have to agree there," came Hertzog's reply, mouth slightly agape.

The weapons in question – other than a G4 rifle and a MG5 – were an oddball bunch of things. Weapons that looked like they belonged in a pulp magazine, or in sci-fi movies sat before them, almost beckoning them to reach out and try them.

"W-what even is this thing?" Helmuth asked, picking up what appeared to be a rifle, only with a claw made of copper wiring at the end.

~ Ah, I believe I can answer that! ~ Came a pronounced, but nasally voice through Helmuth's gasmask earphones.

Ahavniel ben Sherry, or Tekkie as Hertzog had started taking to call him, had been appointed their handler after re-establishing contact with GKI, and now served as their support if need be.

~ That was a weapon we managed to retrieve from D-002, ~ he began, ~ Our team managed to retrieve that weapon, as well as a cache of other weapons and tech that we managed to examine and reproduce. Your radio systems come from that tech, as well as some other nifty things you can check out when you get back. That weapon that you're holding, however, was classified as Experimentelles Modell 3A, Gewehr, Elementarwaffen. Its shorter nickname is just the Roehrgewehr. ~

Helmuth's eyebrows shot up as he inspected the rifle. "A lightning gun?"

~ In the technical sense, ja. ~

"And this?" Hertzog asked, picking up a smaller weapon shaped like a revolver. It was large though, and had a pulsing blue battery where the cylinder would be, while the barrel was about twice the size of a regular barrel with a threaded barrel jacket. It honestly looked like a caricature of some space-age pistol.

~ Ah, another weapon from D-002, except that one is from a subdimension numbered D-002-3. It was incomplete when we found it, and it took a bit of tinkering to get the whole thing running. It's called the Experimentelles Waffenmodell 15A, Pistole, Elementarwaffe, or as I like to call it: Winterheulen. The documents we found with it stated that it ran on an energy similar to the Roehrgewehr, but fundamentally different. Makes sense considering that we got the Roehrgewehr from 002-61, and that one from 002-3. ~ Ben Sherry explained, spilling off into a tangent.

"Different how?" Hertzog questioned, looking over the device.

~ Well, for starters – it's a break-open style by the way – ~ Ben Sherry began, pausing to help explain the device's action for Hertzog before continuing, ~ The energy that it runs on was classified as a specific element in that dimension's periodic table, while the Roehrgewehr ran on the same sort of energy that powers, say, this radio set. There were some tests conducted trying to use one energy on a different weapon, but that was a bust, so we've had to synthesize the element for that weapon. That's one of the reasons that it hasn't really be put into mass production. ~

Hertzog huffed, grabbing the holster for the weapon and handing it over to Helmuth. "Interesting to know Tekkie," she stated with a scoff, pilfering through the rest of the weaponry, "Anything in here I'd like? You know, like a regular firearm?"

As the two devolved into their own conversation, Helmuth studied the weapon that had been handed to him. Truly, the glance he had spared it earlier hadn't done it justice as it now sat in his hands. It was bulky, weighed about twice as the Midnight Queen nestled safely under his left arm, and he got the feeling that it should have been designed more as a rifle than a pistol. Nonetheless, he liked the feel of it. The pistol grip was snug for anyone to handle properly, and the wrist brace that acted as a grip guard helped support his aim as he brought it into a fighting stance.

Testing with only one hand – his dominant hand being the one he used to fire – the weight of the device was adequate, only a slight amount of weapon sway as he stared down the rudimentary iron sights atop the thing. Bringing his other hand up to steady his hand, and thus the sway, he grinned as it evened out nicely. A perfect two-handed pistol in his mind. A quick test of resting his left hand forward of the trigger guard – making it seem he was holding a small rifle – produced the same result, although he wasn't entirely sold on the safety of that method.

Satisfied with the ergonomics of the Winterheulen – or P15A, he decided as it was much easier – he turned his attention to the back of the weapon itself, where several tabs were, along with a vent on the top right side. Oddly enough, there was no safety on it, rather a ON/OFF tab, as well as a dial that went from eins to sechs – one to six – which he could only equate to the amount of shots the battery had, possibly? He'd have to check in either trials or combat itself.

It was an interesting weapon to be sure, and another sidearm to keep him safe in the coming battles ahead. Who knows what effects it could have on one of those corpses, or something worse?

Nodding approvingly, he attached the P15A's holster to the right side of his kit belt, and holstered it.

"Damn fine handling," he murmured to himself.

A quick glance around the room showed that Hertzog was still going through the weaponry in the supply crate, inspecting a G4 rifle with an under barrel granatwerfer. Off in the doorway was, surprisingly, Chulainn.

"Ach, hey there Chulainn."

"Ah, just call me Cu man," the Caster replied with a wave, "No need for formalities."

"My apologies," Helmuth responded sheepishly, "What brings you here?"

"Mm, not much honestly. Truth be told I'm getting a bit antsy," he explained, stepping into the room, "With the whole place warded like this, anything within a kilometer radius is gonna get picked up and alert me and that girl with the tsundere problem downstairs, but until that happens there's not a whole lot I can do."

"T-tsundere…?" Helmuth asked, cocking his head a bit, "I have no – actually, nevermind. Don't wanna know what that is. Anyways, if you'd like you can stay a bit. We've still got to get some things set up here after all, and I could use someone to shoot the shit with."

The Caster raised an eyebrow.

Helmuth paused. "Was?"

"Nothing, just, you do know who I am right?" Came the deadpan reply.

"Ja, ja, a Servant, some type of mythical hero or whatever," Helmuth responded, waving away any concerns. "Supposed to be super powerful, able to kill humans easily, blah blah. I could care less, honestly. This world makes no gottverdammt sense. People capable of magic, being able to summon things from space and time like no shit? I'm just here to do a job, and try and stay alive."

"Alright then, you're pretty damn easygoing for a human. Say, got anything to drink?"

Helmuth rummaged around in his pack, tossing the blue-haired caster a bottle of scotch. "Go nuts man, more where that came from later on."

Chulainn offered a thanks as Helmuth turned back to the 'luxury items' that had come with everything else.

Searching dutifully, he gave a small chuckle of surprise when he saw it. Underneath a set of clothes was a small, ornate box, with an iron cross on the lid. Gently lifting the box out of the container, he smiled as he heard Chulainn whistle off to the side.

"Now what's that?"

"Something special to me," Helmuth whispered, holding it close.

The box was about the size of a book, with golden oakleaves that surrounded the cross inlaid into the oak wood. Sterling silver legs shaped like eagles' claws that extended from the bottom corners to the lip of the lid, with the painted flag of Yytuskia on the left-hand side of the lock, and the Imperial flag of the Von Trotha family on the right.

Chulainn, now leaning over Helmuth to get a better look at the box, grinned. "That is a damn good work of art you got there."

"More than just art," Helmuth replied, unzipping the top part of his bodysuit to pull a necklace out from underneath, "An heirloom, and a safekeep."

Fishing the necklace – and the key attached to it – off his neck, he calmly unlocked and opened the box, revealing the contents inside.

The contents were, surprisingly enough, another smaller box that was rather plain compared to the one it was housed in, a medal, and a smoking pipe.

Giving another small smile, Helmuth immediately went about setting the box down on one of the nightstands in the room, and taking both the pipe and the other box out. Closing the more ornate box and stashing it away back where he got it from the supply cache, Helmuth went about filling his pipe from the other box.

"That's the heirloom, a pipe?" Chulainn asked, almost incredulously, "Jeez, there was all that buildup for almost nothing."

Helmtuh snorted, before replying. "The box, the medal, the photos underneath the medal, and this pipe are the heirlooms Cu. They were my great-grandfathers, Ägid Helmuth von Trotha, the man I get my name from."

"Oh yeah? Why's he so special?"

"He served in the Great War," Helmuth solemnly replied, placing the pipe between his teeth, "He served not only in the Great War, but in the two wars before it: the Kuhlfrosian War, and the Annexation War. But it was the Great War where he got that medal; became something of a hero for our family, a sense of pride."

"Great-granddad was always a stout monarchist, and didn't necessarily like the fascists being in charge back in the forties. However, he had a dedication to the idea of Yytuskia rather than its government, and so he fought in the Great War against Helvana. That medal is the Erstklassiges Eisernes Kreuz, mit Blattgold und einem silbernen Herzen, or the Iron Cross First Class, with golden leaves and a silver heart – to show he was wounded in action. He was one of ten people in the entirety of the war that earned that medal, and he was given it for his valour in the Siege of Essen-Rostov."

Looking Cu dead in the eyes, Helmuth plucked his great-grandfathers pipe from his mouth, and held it in firmly in his grip.

"During that entire battle, that five-year siege, he had this pipe." Helmuth stated, "Not once did he drop it, or lose it. Even when he was wounded and kept fighting, he still had it either in his mouth or his pocket. That's why its so important to my family. It shows our sheer tenacity when it comes to something we love. I'm just lucky that it got passed down to me."

"Well damn," Chulainn whistled, "Sounds like your great-granddad was the type of guy I'd have love to fight with. Ballsy fucker, wasn't he?"

"Actually," Helmuth began with a laugh, "from what grandpa said about him, great-grandfather was the 'stick-up-his-ass' sort of guy, you know? Stoic, quiet, bit of a hard ass?"

"Ah, that's one of the best types of warrior!" Chulainn replied, laughing as well. "The other is the complete opposite!"

"Anyways, I'm gonna have a smoke. You're welcome to join me." Helmuth said, heading for the door.

Cu waved him off, "I'll stick to your booze, thank you. Stay safe out there."

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Fully stepping outside, Helmuth smiled wistfully as he placed his pipe between his teeth. The night was calm, almost eerily so, with only the distant crackling and pops of burning buildings in the town below. The blood-red skyline – coloured by fire and smoke – was majestic enough that, if you didn't the tragedy that had befallen this world, you would call picturesque. The sun had set about an hour before, when everyone had been witnessing the summoning of Shuten Douji, and Helmuth lamented the fact that he couldn't see how many moons this world had.

Oh well, he could ask Fujimaru later on, he supposed.

For now, though, he had a pipe full of tobacco and a little special 'something-something' to help with his nerves later on. He struck a match, going to light the tabaco when someone behind him spoke up.

"Oho? What's this?"

He froze, lit match hovering just above his pipe. The voice was behind him, about ten feet or so, and was distinctly feminine. It was no one he knew, not one of the Chaldeans or their Servants, nor was it Hertzog. That could only mean it was someone from this realm. And that was something close enough to terrifying.

He hissed through his teeth, dropping the match. The match, of course, having slowly burnt down to the end as he was frozen in fear.

"Oh, your match burnt out," the voice murmured, now almost close enough to his ear that he could feel the woman's hot breath, "Here, let me get that for you, human."

A small flash of light – close to being like that of a flint lighter igniting – went off in the right side of his peripherals. A second later, an index finger wreathed in fire crept into his view, before dipping into the opening of his pipe. The scent of burning tobacco filled his nose, and he sucked back, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

The finger crept back out of his view.

"V-vielen danke…" he stuttered, speaking around the pipe.

A purr-like laugh was whispered into his ear. "Think nothing of it human. After all, isn't a nice gesture to allow a deadman one last smoke?"

"Problem is, I'm not exactly dead yet, am I?" Helmuth asked in return, untensing himself in preparation for a quick movement.

A flash of movement to his left, in the tree line, gave him pause, however, and he wondered if the being behind him had seen it too.

"Mm… That can be arranged quite quickly," the being replied, giving no indication that they had.

He felt something press against the back of his neck – a blade, or some sort of sharp weapon? – but his attention was now firmly on the treeline. A flash of metal there, was that a knife?

"Helmuth! Down!"

He moved, pushing himself backwards into the being behind him, catching them by surprise and managing to get them onto the grass below them.

Just in time too, as a pair of steel daggers whistled overhead just about level with where his head had been a second before.

Rolling off the person who he had pushed down, he withdrew Mitternachtskönigin from her holster and fired into the treeline. Tracer fire from Hertzog's G4 on the third floor followed suite, lighting up the night.

Reloading, Helmuth quickly cast a glance downward.

The being – a woman – was staring up at him, almost like she wasn't sure what to make of him. She wasn't a normal human, that was for sure, as her pink hair would suggest. Nor were her eyes, bright yellow with slits like a snake. And nor was the somewhat pronounced smoke-like miasma wafting off her prone form. An odd symbol, or was it a letter, was tattooed onto her forehead, just above her brows. Her clothing was odd too, bits and pieces of armor overtop of clothing.

Finishing reloading his revolver, Helmuth gave a casting glance towards the treeline, before back to her. Making his mind up, he thrust his left hand out.

"Come on," he stated, "We need to get to some cover."

"You would trust someone like that, so easily?" She asked with a hiss, challenging him.

"Were you expecting me to stab you? I'd rather trust the lady who lit my pipe than the person who tried to decapitate me with knives."

She hesitated, as if trying to make up her mind, when an explosion rocked the treeline. There was Caster, launching fireballs with his stave from the porch, while Fujimaru was beckoning to him.

"Now or never Miss," Helmuth asked.

She grabbed his hand. "Fine."

"Good to know," he replied, lifting her to her feet. "Now let's go before we both become pincushions, ja?"

The two raced across the yard, before jumping up the stairs where Fujimaru was waiting with Caster and Kyrelight. Chulainn cast yet another bolt of fire, before the group closed the front doors, and caught their breath in the foyer. That lasted all of five seconds before Caster caught sight of the woman.

Backing up with a curse, he leveled his staff at her, charging a bolt of fire.

"What the fuck man?!" He cursed, glaring at Helmuth as Kyrelight pushed Fujimaru behind her and her massive shield.

"What?" Helmuth challenged back, looking from Chulainn to Kyrelight.

"That's a fucking enemy servant, you dipshit!" He yelled, forcing Helmuth's eyes to widen in alarm.

Before he could turn his attention to the now-somewhat-identified servant, she was already behind him, wrapping her arms around him in a manner that would suggest lust or a close hug between friends, but the tightness of the hug told poor Helmuth otherwise.

The yellow-eyed servant laughed quietly, "My, my, how eager you are Caster! Are you so eager that you'd murder one of your allies?"

Helmuth struggled in her grasp, groaning as she squeezed tighter.

"And such a gullible human you are," she whispered to Helmuth, firmly keeping him between Chulainn and herself, "Do you really think I was in any danger? And now, you are the one in danger of death, so fitting for a creature of your pitiful race."

"I appreciate the compliments," Helmuth ground out, keeping his eye on Caster, "but it was more of a gentlemanly thing to do, rather than just ducking out of harms way by myself. My mother hammered it home that it is wise to be a gentleman, even when dealing with unsavory peoples."

The servant gave out a mocking gasp, removing one of her arms from Helmuth to cover her mouth. "Surely you don't mean me, do you little human?"

"Your words, not mine miss."

Before retaliation could strike him, however, several things happened in extremely quick succession.

The door to the right of them – the front door – exploded inward as the mystery servant that had begun the assault on the mansion earlier was thrown inside by Shuten. The servant, clad in black but with a bone white skull mask, and wrappings along their right arm, flew past the two warring groups inside the foyer, smashing into the kitchen farther down the hall on the left.

In the moments before the resulting distraction, Helmuth, who had managed to get his right arm free, had flipped the on button of the P15A holstered on his right thigh, and had been waiting to withdrawi it from its holster. His arm had been hanging beside him when the female servant had first captured him, while his left had been preoccupied trying to keep the servant's arm from choking him too badly. When the servant from outside came crashing in, the distraction had allowed him to withdraw the weapon, and fire it downwards at the feet of the servant.

A cold wind ripped through the foyer, emitting from the barrel of the prototype weapon as it froze the servant's feet firmly to the floor, discolouring her legs as it instantly caused frostbite to set in.

A scream from her echoed, and her grip lessened just enough for Helmuth to slip free, just as Caster fired the bolt of fire he had been holding.

It almost slammed into her, had she not twisted away at the last second. A blood-chilling sound rang – the sound of shattering glass, or ice in this case – and the servant howled in agony as her legs basically disintegrated at the ankle as she twisted away, collapsing in agony on the floor next to Helmuth.

And in the split second that he had as they locked eyes, Helmuth swore he saw sadness, anger, pain, and surprisingly acceptance flash through those yellow eyes, before Mitternachtskönigin barked in Helmuth's left hand. A quick splatter of blood, and those eyes lost all emotion to them, glazing over before her entire being faded away in a shower of golden dust.

All of this happened in the span of ten seconds.

Ten seconds.

And then Shuten Douji finally stepped inside.

"Ara, what's going on here? Why're you on the floor cutie?"

"Kid managed to bag Rider," Cu supplied, before turning his attention towards the kitchen, "Now we need to take care of that pesky Assassin. Alright Master?"

A knife – this one an actual carving knife – whipped past Caster's head as Assassin stepped into view at the end of the hall.

"FiNaLlY," the servant called out, raising his right arm, "yOuR dEaThS wIlL bE fUfIlLeD, aS pEr HeR oRdErS! aS sHe CoMmAnDs!"

Cuhlainn, Kyrelight, and Shuten all readied themselves, before Assassin made to move.

The Midnight Queen responded, surprising everyone as the powerful .454 literally ripped the right arm off the stunned Assassin. Another round afterwards splattered the servant's brain deep into the kitchen, before he too expired in a shower of golden dust.

"Die Königin befiehlt deinen Tod, du heidnisches SchweinI," Helmuth spat from the floor of the foyer, before gingerly standing.

"Holy shit," Chulainn muttered after a minute of silence, gobsmacked, "The fuck is that thing powered by?"

"Die Königin?" Helmuth questioned, lifting the revolver up, ".454 Gilding rounds, why?"

"Servants are extremely hard to put down, and that's by servants themselves," Animusphere answered from her upstairs hiding place, "It would be next to impossible for a human weapon to kill one, even if it were the weakest kind, like an Assassin."

Shuten huffed from the front door, "That Assassin was incredibly weak, even by Assassin standards. I'm surprised that he managed to survive in a fight with me for that long, even with him keeping mostly out of my range."

"So, I got lucky?" Helmuth asked, nodding at Hertzog as she and Animusphere made their way down from the second floor.

"Extremely."

"Gutt, now there's two less to worry about then."

"Yes," Hertzog added, glancing between the ragtag group, "so I figure now would be a good time to finish this whole shitshow. We've managed to get those civilians safe, we're slightly rested, and we've taken care of two enemies. Now, I'm all for adventures, but I'd rather get this over with. Caster?"

After a moment, Chulainn groaned, "Alright fine, let's go see an Archer about a Saber then."

Nobody gave Helmuth a second look as he stayed behind, staring at where Rider had been. He shook himself, before following after his allies. No use thinking now, they had a fight to finish.

And his lit pipe still rested between his teeth, while a fuchsia piece of cloth was quickly hidden in his breast pocket.

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The man grimaced.

Another failure by the others then. Failures he had to report to his King, although he was pretty sure she already knew. The loss of Assassin would've been manageable, but both he and Rider? Unacceptable.

And with Lancer already disposed of by Caster before those humans even showed up, as well as Berserker being a non-combatant basically, he was now the last line of defense for his King.

Damnit, things were progressing too quickly. He still hadn't found a way to shake off this gnawing corruption, nor a way to deal with that man yet.

Unless…

That'd have to work.

Allowing a smile to cross his face, he waited, watching from atop the temple roof. They'd come to him anyways, why not pull a page from himself and enlist them?

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"So, who exactly should we be expecting to face?"

This came from Hertzog, who directed the question directly at Cu Chulainn as the group progress through the ruins of Fuyuki.

"Well, with Assassin and Rider out of the way, I guess we only got to deal with Saber and her lapdog," the druid replied, resting his staff on his shoulders as they walked.

"Only two? What about Lancer, or Berserker?" Animusphere asked, looking up from her communications with Chaldea.

"Well little lady, that's rather easy to explain," Chulainn replied, grinning, "I took care of Lancer before you all got here. He was an easy small fry, and I managed to bait him. Now, Berserker on the other hand is still kicking about, but I don't think we have to worry about him."

Hertzog perked up, "And why's that?"

"Simple, he won't bother us as long as we don't get anywhere near him. And trust me, we aren't going near that big fucker anytime soon. And we should count ourselves lucky on that. That bastard wouldn't go down even if you managed to get a killing blow into him; he'd just get right back up to fuck your day."

"Say, speaking of fucked days…" Helmuth began from the front of the group, having elected – read: lost the draw – to take point, "How big would you say this Berserker is? About seven feet tall and made of pure muscle?"

"Yeah, why?"

"He's at the end of the street," Helmuth pointed.

And yes, there he was. At the end of the street, staring them all down.

At seven feet tall, and quite possibly five hundred pounds of pure, solid muscle, the corrupt servant stared at them. He was big, to put it lightly, and the dark grey colour of his skin tone, blood red eyes, and wild hair gave off an air of anger, and pure unfiltered hatred – pointed directly at them all. It didn't help that at his side was a massive slab of stone with a handle, which Helmuth assumed was the giant's weapon for choice. Behind him, the others remained stock still, just as he was, as they waited for their inevitable death.

But it never came. Rather, Berserker exhaled, and turned, leaving the stunned group completely alone.

The group remained motionless for another minute and a half, before Helmuth spoke.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I've had enough brown alerts for today. What say you that we just continue on, pretend that meeting never happened, and when we get home pray to every single deity that exists to thank them that we weren't absolutely slaughter. Because I think I speak for all of us when I say that man was all muscle."

"Agreed."

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The temple. The temple atop like, a bajillion stairs. That's where the last two enemies were supposed to be, and if what Romani said was true, the Holy Grail that was causing this singularity. Finally, they were on the last leg of their journey.

The temple complex was something interesting in of itself. Several small buildings, and the large temple itself all along a wide lane that offered only a single lane of approach. A damn good spot for a machinegun, or a sniper. And that's what they were basically dealing with. Archer stood on top of the temple at the end of that approach, bow hanging listlessly at his side. At any point he could've murdered them on their way up to the temple, but it seemed Archer had some form of sportsmanship at least, as he had waited for Helmuth to plant his foot just over the threshold of the main gate before blasting them with a red arrow.

Now they just had to take care of this prick, before moving on to Saber.

"So, care explain this to me again?" Helmuth yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice as he peeked from around the arch of the main gate. "Because I think I had a wad of Pferdemist stuck in my ear!"

Across the courtyard, Archer yelled back. "I already told you! None shall pass through that gate! My King demands it!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought you said," Helmuth murmured, before turning his attention back to the group, "So, Hertzog? Caster? Hell, Romani? Any ideas?"

~ From what I can tell of the topography of the area, ~ Came Romani's voice, echoing through the hologram that had shimmered into view from Fujimaru's wrist communicator, ~ There's at least two point of entrances to the cavern that holds the Grail. The first one is the most direct, the one in front of you, while the other will take time that we don't have. ~

"So, what you're suggesting is that we conduct a full-frontal assault?! Are you mad Archiman!?" Animusphere yelled, causing the cowardly doctor to shriek.

~ No, no! I'm just saying that's the only way you have! ~ He explained, waving his arms. ~ I mean, only Archer is there, and he can't fight everyone at once, can he? ~

"If we were to set up a distraction," Hertzog interjected, "say a smokescreen, or something to take his eyes from the group as a whole, then we could slip past him. I mean, we have enough people to do that."

"So, what're you suggesting then Miss?" Chulainn asked, leaning on his staff, "Because I'm itching for a fight really, and that bastard could give me a damn good one."

"I'm suggesting we split our forces," she explained, looking about the group. "We've got seven of us, three servants and four humans. We'll need at least two servants to fight Saber, so this could work. Helmuth, you, Chulainn, and Animusphere will have to distract him, while Douji, Kyrelight, Fujimaru, and I sneak past."

Helmuth grimaced, while Animusphere paled considerably.

"Uh, no way!" She exclaimed, stammering, "I'm not going to fight a servant, are you kidding me! I'll get killed! I – I have to stick with Mash and Fujimaru, to make sure they know what they're doing!"

"Gott im Himmel, fine," Hertzog replied, shaking her head. "Sorry Helmuth, it's you and Chulainn against that guy then."

Helmuth sighed, casting a glance towards Chulainn, before looking back at Hertzog. "Fine, lemme grab your sniper then. This'll be a battle of range, and my weapons don't work that well at long distances. Fuck it, we might as well take some time to get ready anyways, right?"

Hertzog shrugged before unslinging the marksman rifle she had picked up from the supply cache earlier. "Might as well, ja."

Grabbing the rifle from Hertzog, Helmuth turned to Animusphere as the group settled about checking themselves over before what could be the final battle.

"Direktor Animusphere," he began lowly, reaching into his rucksack. "Here, I have something to give you, could help."

The Director looked up, still quite pale, as Helmuth withdrew Muhlkampfs ARL that he had scavenged at the beginning of the day.

"What… What is that?" She asked, looking it over as Helmuth handed it to her.

"It's something the scientists back home cooked up," he explained, "They call it the 'Active Relay Locator', or something along those lines. Look, all you need to know is that if you truly think you're going to die, like, one hundred percent, you stab that thing into your chest, and press the plunger here. It'll activate the device and send you to my world. Think of it as a failsafe, ok?"

"Why would you give this to me?"

"Well, you're the Director of Chaldea, right?" He replied sheepishly, "The death of a leader is always a moral killer. It'd be better to have you alive and safe somewhere, rather than dead, right?"

"I… Yes." She sniffed, looking away, "Thank you."

Helmuth smiled, "Think nothing of it. Now, let's get this done."

He turned back, heading back to the gate. It was now or never.

Taking his place next to Caster, he looked behind him.

Behind him, in groups of two, were Shuten, Kyrelight, Fujimaru, Hertzog, and finally Animusphere. Hertzog flashed him a thumbs up from where she was, slightly hidden behind Kyrelight's massive shield, and Helmuth grasped at the smoke grenades at his webbing.

Now or never.

Nodding to Caster, he pulled the pins on all four canisters, tossing the first one just inside the gate. Waiting for the putt of the canister smoking up, he and Chulainn sprinted forward, Helmtuh throwing more canisters ahead of them, obscuring their vision as the group made their way into the compound. Behind them, the five others were sneaking around the inner side of the wall, Hertzog popping her own smoke to cover their flank around Archer's position as they made their way to the cave.

A whistle sounded overhead, and Helmuth flopped prone.

A bang a second later, and a shower of dirt, told him that Archer had just missed Chulainn and him by a few inches. Damn he was good.

Getting back up, he rushed into the nearest temple building, taking cover behind a halfwall to catch his breath. Gripping his rifle, he made no move to peek as the smoke dissipated. With luck, Hertzog and the others had managed to get to the cavern undetected, and it was now just Caster and he verses Archer.

Sneaking quietly, he winced as the whistle and detonation of another arrow sounded, father in the complex. Hopefully that hadn't been them. He couldn't find Chulainn, which meant – hopefully – the blue-haired druid was the one that was engaging Archer, but he couldn't be sure.

Verdammt, he needed to get a better vantage point for this to work. The first time had been luck, sure, but he was going to make sure it wasn't luck this time around.

The rifle he gripped was no mere rifle. It was the G98k, a bolt-action rifle chambered for the 7.92mm Lange round that was the standard round for the Yytusche military. A weapon like this – one that had over a hundred years of military service – was something special. It was a first-pick for Yytuskian snipers and marksmen, both for its exceptional range and ballistics, and its ruggedness. And hell, with an 8x optic, one could sufficiently hit a target out past a kilometer if need be.

Now, Helmuth wasn't a marksman, nor a sniper – there were surprisingly differences between the two – but he was still a skilled shooter. He just needed to make an opening for Caster to get Archer, and be done with it all.

And that would be easy, if the two weren't flinging fireballs and explosive arrows around like drunken punches at the local bar.

~ Helmuth, Helmuth! Do you read? ~ Hertzog's voice rang, out of breath.

"Copy Hertzog, you okay?"

~ Roger, we've managed to get into the cavern unseen. Thanks for the distraction. ~

"No worries," Helmuth replied, slipping out from his cover to some shrubbery, "Glad to be of service."

~ I'll keep you posted on how we're doing, but for now we'll keep radio silence. ~ Hertzog explained as Helmuth dove into a ruined building. ~ We don't want to alert the enemy if we get close. Hertzog out. ~

"Roger that Hertzog," Helmuth hissed. "Ich wünsche dir viel Glück."

He needed a higher vantage, somewhere with enough cover to fire from. The building he ducked into had had a second floor, although it appeared that half of it was missing due to the ongoing combat between Archer and Chulainn. Perhaps he could make use of it.

Groaning as he lifted himself up from some rubble and through a hole in the floor, he grinned as he spotted an opening wide enough to slip the barrel of the G98k through, as well as have enough room for the telescopic sight as well. Laying himself down flat, and hiding in the shadows, he peered through the rifle's sight to the outside. Now all he needed to do was be patient and wait for Archer to fill his sights.

More explosions rattled the building. Damn, it was like a warzone out there. Fast movement caught his eye, and through the scope he saw Chulainn land on the roof of an undemolished building farther off, facing his way. A split second later, Archer landed, much closer, but with his back turned. Perfect.

He had only a split second to do this, and so he exhaled. Putting the crosshairs directly on Archer's back, he gently squeezed the trigger.

The rifle barked, punching Helmuth's shoulder as it did so. In the split second that it had, it rushed towards Archer who, at the last possible second, twisted his upper body to dodge. The bullet merely grazed his shoulder as he turned, but it had done its work.

As Helmuth quickly vacated his spot after firing, Chulainn's cast bolt of fire smacked into Archer, throwing him from the roof.

Racking the bolt as he exited the building in a dead sprint, Helmuth slid into another piece of cover as Archer stood in the middle of the pavilion. Caster, surprisingly, did the same, jumping down from his roof to stare at the enemy servant.

Helmuth raised his rifle.

"Hey kid," Cu called out, keeping his eyes on Archer, "You can get going. Go help out the others, I'm good here."

Helmuth paused. He wasn't serious, was he?

Caster merely kept staring at Archer, before speaking again. "Come on man, a two-on-one fight just isn't fair, so go on. I got this."

"You've got to be kidding me," Helmuth whispered to himself, before sneaking off, keeping his cover between himself and Archer as he made his way to the cave.

When he was safely standing at the entrance to the place, only then did he yell. "Viel Glück, du verrückter Bastard!"

And the second he did so, explosions once more rang out, and Helmuth charged into the cave that housed the Holy Grail.

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The scene he found when he entered the antechamber was something of chaos.

The chamber was massive, and lit by an eerie purple glow that was reflecting off the roof of the cave from a large rockwall, some hundred meters into the cavern.

Hiding behind a rocky outcropping were Fujimaru, Animusphere, and Hertzog. Hertzog had been wounded, considering the bandages wrapped around her chest, while Animusphere tended to her. Fujimaru, on the other hand, was watching the battle in front of them play out, a look of fear on his face.

The fight was interesting, as Shuten Douji and Kyrelight were parring and attacking a woman wielding a black sword. She was interesting to look at, wearing a black dress with pitch black bits of armour covering her forearms and chest. The dress didn't impede her movements at all, as each swing she made cut dark beams of energy into the ground, or were reflected off Kyrelight's shield. Judging by the cuts in the ground, they had been at it for a while.

He glanced towards Hertzog. He didn't know how injured she was, but still, priority one was that servant: Saber.

Kneeling into a crouch, he raised his sniper once more, and fired at the Servant, who had been parried back by Kyrelight.

The bark of the rifle echoed just as loud as the clangs of steel through the cavern, and Helmuth squinted as Saber merely raised her blade and fucking hit the bullet away from her.

"So, yet another worm crawls out of the woodwork, hm?" Her regal voice called out, turning her attention that was hidden behind some sort of face guard to Helmuth. "You would dare disobey a King?"

"First off," Helmuth began, lowering the G98k, "I'm no worm. Second, and more importantly: ihr seid nicht mein Kaiser."

"Very well then," she replied, entirely disinterested, before she turned her interest back to Kyrelight and Shuten, "I shall enjoy it as I remove the flesh from your bones once I am finished with these weak servants of yours."

All the luck to you, Helmuth thought as he quickly made his way over to Fujimaru.

Sliding behind the rock, he looked at the young man, and Animusphere.

"How is she?" He asked, motioning to Hertzog, "And what happened?"

"She's okay, for now," Fujimaru answered, keeping his eyes on the battle, "She was the first one Saber attacked, and she managed to get her arm. Director stabilized her with your medical stuff, and I stuck with morphine like she asked, but she's gone comatose. As it stands, I think only Mash and Assassin have a good chance to finish Saber. What happened to Caster?"

"As far as I can tell," Helmut said, "he's still fighting Archer. He wanted a one-on-one, so he told me to take off. Do we know where the Grail is?"

~ Apparently, it's within Saber herself. ~ Supplied Romani, ~ So we'd have to defeat her to gain it, but that'd be hard to do…~

"What about their Noble Phantasms?" Animusphere asked, "Surely Assassin could use hers? Fujimaru! Why haven't you asked her to use it yet?!"

"I don't even know what that is!" The young man replied angrily, "How in the Hell could I ask her to use it if I didn't know what it was?"

"Gott, give me strength…" Helmuth muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just fucking yell it man! Should be good enough!"

Fujimaru blanched. "R-Right! Assassin! Er, use your Noble Phantasm to defeat Saber! Please?"

"Thought you'd never ask, Master!" The demon laughed, before taking a sip from her wine cup.

Helmuth stared in slight amazement as a cloud of energy rose from the petite servant, who had taken position behind Kyrelight.

Sighing in delight as she finished sipping, she then lifted Kyrelight up by the nape of her neck while pouring the remainder of her wine onto the rock floor below, which blossomed into a rainbow of colours. Almost blinded at the sight, the group of humans watched in amazement as the puddle grew and grew, almost encompassing the entirety of the cavern floor.

Saber tried to jump out of the way of the quickly spreading liquid, but Helmuth stopped her by firing at her with his rifle, forcing her to try and rush both Kyrelight and Shuten.

With a burst of energy, she made it about halfway to the two, before Shuten shouted out "Senshibankou – Shinpen Ki Doku!" and the colourful wine exploded into even brighter brilliance. Saber let out a guttural scream as she fell face first into the liquid, writhing on the stone floor. Any attempt by her to stand was futile, as she just merely fell back down limply.

Helmuth grimaced. Whatever that stuff was, it was painful.

Pity wormed its way up into his chest, and he raised his rifle. It barked once more, and Saber's pitiful thrashing was stopped as she exploded into a shower of golden dust. As soon as she was gone, Shuten waved her hand, and the wine disappeared from the floor.

A small, sparkling chalice lay where Saber had once been, and Helmuth heard Romani gasp as he made his way over to it.

~ The Grail! You guys did it! ~ He exclaimed happily, before pausing, confused. ~ But, why am I still getting signals that the Singularity isn't collapsing? Something else is powering it! Hey, watch out! Somethings coming! ~

Helmuth paid him no mind, as he stowed the Grail into his rucksack, resting the rifle on his shoulder. He looked over to Shuten and gave her a thumbs up. Before he could congratulate either her or Kyrelight, a slow clapping filled the cavern.

Behind him, Animusphere screamed. "Lev! You're okay!"

From atop the rockwall in front of them stood a man. He was dressed in a green overcoat with black fur lining the cuffs and lapels, a matching top hat, and black pants and boots. His curly hair cascaded down the front of the overcoat, and he smiled warmly down at the group.

"Ah, how nice it is to see you all, Olga, Mash, Master 48, and is that Romani I hear?" He began, ignoring Animusphere as she started blubbering about how everything had gone wrong so far, and how he could fix it. "My, my, I wish I could truly say that it is nice to see you all here, ruining my plans, but then again I didn't expect you to survive. After all, those bombs were meant to kill everyone at Chaldea, but obviously not."

"Was…?" Helmuth muttered as the man's smile turned sinister.

"Yes, how could I expect it?! Was it due to my own fault?! Romani, you were supposed to be in the control room, and yet you never arrived! I had hoped that another blast would get you, but it seems that I was wrong in that regard! And you, Candidate 48! You weren't even supposed to be here! You were meant to have been locked out of the Rayshift room, and yet!" He yelled madly, before turning his attention to Helmuth. "And yet! There are even more problems that not even my King could have foreseen! Intruders from another world! Did the Wizard of the Second Magics put you up to this?! In an attempt to stop my King's work!?"

"It matters not!" He continued, calming himself. "It matters not. Even with you all surviving, you can't stop what's coming. None of you can."

~ What do you mean Lev…? ~ Romani asked cautiously, while Fujimaru tried to hold Animusphere back from running towards the man.

"What I mean, Doctor Romani," Lev began, "Is that your work is all for naught."

There came a gasp from Romani, as what best could be described as a rip in space folded open in a shower of gold beside Lev, showing a blood red orb held in a group of rotating rings.

"Is that… Chaldea?" Kyrelight asked from beside Helmuth.

~ This should be impossible! ~ Romani yelled, ~ There's a tear in the space beside the CHALDEAS system! My God, is that…? ~

"Correct Dr. Romani!" Lev yelled madly, as he pointed to Animusphere, "Take a good, hard look at SHEBA Olga! Look at what has become of your collective future thanks to your actions! Humanity has no future!"

~ He's right! SHEBA is reading no human life past 2016, what is this?! ~

A scream from behind Helmuth tore his attention away from the hole in space/time, and he gawked as Animusphere steadily rose into the air like magic.

"Now then, poor, poor, Olga," the madman began, cackling as she drifted ever closer to the rip, "Since you love your beloved Chaldeas so much, would you not care to join it? After all, you body already rest there!"

"WAS!?" Helmuth yelled out as the Director of Chaldea floated above him.

"Oh yes, it's a shame that you're here," the man rambled on, "After all, the bomb did go off directly under your feet where I planted it. I believe the Rayshift brought your spirit here, but I can assure you, you will expire when you return home. So why not let you join Chaldeas, at the most fundamental level?"

Thinking fast as she drifted ever closer to the glowing orb on the other side, Helmuth called out to her.

"ANIMUSPHERE! The ARL! Use it!"

She flailed for a second, before hearing his words and grabbing the battery-like object. With a grunt, she stabbed it into her chest, before pressing the plunger down. To everyone's surprise, however, the device gave a loud beep, flashed green, and fazed away in a flash of blue light – with Olga still where she was, floating ever closer with every passing second.

"Mein Gott…"

"No, nooooo!" She yelled, thrashing wildly now as she passed through the portal, "Lev, please! I can't die! I haven't done anything meaningful with my life! I was supposed to do great things! It can't end like this, please! Nononononono-!"

Her head snapped back, seconds before her body came into contact with SHEBA, and her body fell limp. The distinct bark of the Mitternachtskönigin rang throughout the cavern, and everyone's attention turned from the Director's body to Helmuth, who held the revolver firmly in his grip.

Olga Marie Animusphere, Director of Chaldeas, had been mercy-killed by Helmuth's hand.

"Oh, well that's disappointing." Lev commented, closing the rip in space. "Here I thought I was going to enjoy the sounds of her screams as she touched the molten core of SHEBA, and you rip it away from me."

Another shot rang, only this time the round merely passed through the madman with no indication that it ever hit him.

"Tsk tsk, is that any way to behave human?"

Helmuth seethed. "My name is Helmuth von Trotha schwein, learn it. Because the next time I see you, I will rip your entrails out, rend the flesh from your bones, and USE YOUR SKULL AS A SOUPBOWL! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?"

The man merely laughed. "I like your enthusiasm, human. Know this! I am Lev Laniur Flaros! 56th Demon Pillar of my King! The next time we see each other, we will fight!"

Helmuth fired again, only for the man to fade away. The next second, the cavern began to shake, sending fragments of stone down.

~ What?! The Singularity is destabilizing! Hold tight, we'll get you out of there! ~ Romani announced the second after Flaros disappeared.

Helmuth cursed, ripping his wrist computer off and tossing it to Fujimaru.

"Hold on to that! We'll be able to find you from our world if you do!" He yelled, before calling out to ben Sherry. "Sherry! Pickup needed for myself and Hertzog, now!"

~ Roger that Operative! Teleportation in five seconds! ~

"Got it! Hey, Fujimaru!"

"Hai!"

"Möge der Echtkaiser auf Ihren sicheren Reisen lächeln!"

Helmuth heard no response as the familiar flash of light and knives filled his being.

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Holy cow, that was… A lot.

Like, not only was that a lot of words for me to write, but damn it was a lot to unpack.

Sure, the fights with Rider and Assassin might be rushed, but like Helmuth said, he got extremely lucky. Headshots will kill basically anything with a brain, and .454 caliber is no joke either. Plus Hassan of the Cursed Arms is literally the weakest servant. His only saving grace is his Noble Phantasm, which he needs to get close to use.

What happened to Archer and Cu Chulainn? Well, the fight goes the same as in the game, there's just no one there to witness it and he doesn't get there before Saber gets wrecked by Shuten's NP. Which is also OP, but is an AoE type.

Now though… Now what? What's going to happen with Helmuth? Why didn't the ARL work properly on Olga Marie? Was it because she was just a soul?

Only I know.

So, once again, read and review, leave a comment please, and if you haven't already, follow for more!

See ya!