Chapter 8: One's Own Heart

And here is another chapter! Hope you all enjoy, and remember people, it is anyones game right now...except...

Well anyways, I guess I was particularly inspired today. And I left you something to look forward to next chapter too... :)

Present Day:

"We have confirmed the presence of Lancer approaching the Greater Grail!" said one student in the former computer lab, and now tactical hub for the Black Faction Forces.

"Ford's group is holding up! But we are recieving fire from the Mage's Association! Barriers are at 20%, but with this firing, they will end up involving innocent civilians! What are they thinking!"

"They aren't. They are desperate" one glasses wearing middle schooler named Yuma Tokorori said. "They are desperate to stop the dream, the wish, of Toko Kiragime-sama".

As such, he stood up and ounded his chest, much like a salute. Others did the same.

"They are afraid of change, of unknowns, and of hope itself. For too long, Mages have lived in darkness, done dark things. They seek to plunder our spoils and stop our advances, mesmerized by what we can achieve. It is Toko-sama who will advance us to victory!"

"Then, is it time?"

"Yes! Prepare that! It is time to show them the spirit of freedom! Of hope! Of adventure! No matter what the risks and dangers may be, it is time!"

However, that was when the door was kicked open, and Archer of Red appeared in the door, though heavily injured.

"Not...so fast..."

Back to the story:

Horus felt his eye burn as more images of the future revealed themselves to him. In addition to one fairly concerning scene, he also saw other images of obscurity. Once again, the images of a river of blood, and a sea of corpses. But others appeared to him...including Lancer of Red, blooded and standing over a corpse, as well as an image of the Assassin and Castor Class Cards. And finally, a grey flag.

"Toko! Get out of here!"

"I am trying! I am trying really hard!" Toko shouted, as he kept running. "BUt its like both Berserkers are after me! Wherever I go, the battle follows me!"

"The battle is following...Ren!"

Horus immediately looked over at Ren, but she was not making any odd movements, and she had all of her Command Spells. The Eye of Horus was useful for predictions for sure, but it was not sureproof. Furthermore, it was only for the sense of vision, although sometimes it did give him smell and hearing, they were not common and only for moments of extreme significance.

Still, something about Ren bothered him...it felt like Berserker of Black was trying to get Toko targeted, but there was nothing direct to suggest it.

"Still, I cant let anyone get in the way...of Master's wish!" Toko shouted, drawing several arrows and firing them across the region inbetween the group and Ren. Although Ren had the same confidence that Lancer would not expose her secrets, from all the Mad Enhancements, Horus realized that there was no way Lancer would be sane enough to recognize or relay Toko's abilities. "You are clear!"

"Good!" Toko said, enhancing his legs and body and rushing forward with more speed. However, this seemed to catch the eye of Berserker of Red, who charged right up next to him and tried to punch him. Toko was just barely able to dodge, but then got caught up as Lancer of Black made an attack with brutal force that hit them both. Toko was still concerned, but...well, he remembered the lesson the vice principle taught him.

"Its okay to be an inexperienced idiot when you have the advice of friends to pull from".

"Right...and what Sho-kun said..." Toko said, remembering the words of Horus while also not carelessly saying his True Name on the battlefield.

"Its okay to use your Trump Cards".

There was probably some paraphrasing there, but that was besides the point.

"Very well..." he concluded, as he looked at Berserker of Red, and then its Master up above. And then, he looked at the waxing moon. Suddenly, massive amounts of mana appeared in his hands. "Activate Artificial Noble Phantasm: Moonscale Swords!"

And there, in his hands, a pair of black and white swords appeared in his hands, the mana making it look illuminated and glowing. Furthermore, just by glance, an experienced warrior could tell they looked strong.

Meanwhile, Simon who saw this in the sky, didn't have a good feeling about this.

"Now! Moonscale Crossslash!"

And Toko unleashed a powerful attack at both Servant and Master...

"You really thought you could do this, didn't you girlie!"

"Stop calling me girlie, you oversized stormcloud!"

"What the hell did you just call me, you serving wench!"

"You thunder breath!"

The two sabres continued to sling increasingly idiotic slurs at each other as they clashed. Sword to sword, lightning to fire, strike to strike. AN epic battle had started, but the two did not seem evenly matched. The fact was, Archer was supporting Sabre, while Berserker held off Lancer.

Although, in truth, it was Lancer that was getting chased around by Berserker. Simply put, Berserker was so fast and vicious in her attacks, she was not givng Lancer any time to get into form or use a Noble Phantasm. She just kept coming and coming. Lancer tried to knock down a streetlamp to get in her way, and she tore it apart without losing speed. He tried to knock a car into her way, but she avoided it...then it transformed, and started attacking him, which was odd. He stopped trying to use cars that way after that.

And meanwhile, the fight between Sabres picked up intensity.

"To think...you would require me to use my Noble Phantasm! By the storms of the gods, by the power I hold at the seat that leads them, by my name as Zeus...Godsmite Thundershock!"

Zeus brought down a huge storm of lightning on Mordred...however...

"Avalon! Protect me!"

"What?! Both Excalibur and Avalon?!"

"And Excalibur! Attack!"

"Two Noble Phantasms at once?! You dare raise such arrogance against a god!?"

THe shockwaves created by their fight got worse, to the point that things started to flash around them. Their Noble Phantasms colliding against each other, at full force for all to feel.

And these shockwaves threatened to destroy the bridge. No, it should be considered odd the bridge was not already broken. It had taken repeated impacts and shockwaves from Zeus and Mordred, there was no physical possibility for it to be standing at the moment.

"Now! Thunderer!"

And Billy shot even more attacks into Sabre while searching for Archer of Red. Meanwhile, the target Zeus had been ignoring the Archer so far. It was kind of insulting to be honest. But Berserker was too occupied to help...

"Why the hell is the mutt so hell bent on killing...me?"

The moment he called her a mutt, she used several Mad Enhancements on herself and charged at him with even more force and strength. He managed to deflect a few with his weapon, but it seemed he had managed to really piss her off.

"I apologize! Please calm down!"

But of course, this was a Berserker. That was a foolish thing to ask.

"Fine then! Activate Noble Phantasm: Spear of Ajax the Lessar!"

As he shouted that, his spear gained tremendous power and he threw it right at Berserker. Berserker, on the other hand, put all her strength into deflecting it, but found it to be much tougher then she thought and it grazed her. Meanwhile, Lancer was surprised that she was able to deflect it at all, but he supposed the Berserker class was always made of monsters.

And so, she chased him down while the Sabres continued their own fight.

"Take this, you ugly, blue eyed, cucumber god!"

At this point, the insults they were giving didn't even make sense anymore. The people who were listening just wanted to shake their heads at this whole exchange.

"You silly dressed, arrogant, virgin!"

"The hell?! Now you will pay!"

Meanwhile, at the command post...

"Suzuki-sempai...what is a virgin?" one of the talented elementry schoolers who was a member of the Support Club asked her.

Suzuki suddenly found herself in a position far more scary and dangerous then the one Sabre was in right now.

"Its a grown up word. You will learn it when you get older".

"But...what is it?"

"...how about this. Never mention it ever, in fact, erase it from your memory and never think of it for at least ten years, and I will buy you a lot of ice cream".

"Okay~"

The child was distracted and satisfied, and Suzuki was saved from a near fatal situation.

"Well, that was close..." she said, when she noticed something overhead, flying under the stormclouds. But, she was sure it was not a bird. "Archer sighted. He is scouting. Probably looking for this command post. Mika-chan, since Zeus was so nice to provide us with stormclouds and rain, would you mind making use of it?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Yes yes, its down that street, near the plaza, and...what the?!"

Icarus, who had been scouting, thought he was far enough away from all the servants...but then, he got attacked from the one angle he was not watching. Above.

Yes, massive shards of ice rained down on him. He deflected some of them with his wings, but others cut him and tore through him. He was forced to dodge around, expending mana to accelerate his speed and leaving a trail of light as he sped towards safety and freedom.

"What is this...is it, that girl?"

Using his eyes as an Archer, he spotted one girl using her magic circuits rather strongly. To think that a girl like that was able to use such Magecraft at that distance...and it was through taking advantage of an enemy Sabre's own power.

"Is the Black Faction just full of monsters?"

And down below, they were thinking the exact same thing, seeing an Archer that could fly in the sky.

"No matter! Assassin, I have to pull out! Its all on you! They are on an elevated plaza, its name is Obsidian Plaza!"

"Got it!" Set replied, as he jumped off a rooftop and right toward the plaza. "I got you now! Target sighted, the Black Team Commander!"

He came down while in full pressence concealment, drawing his daggers and going right for Suzuki Subaru. And right as his daggers were about to touch her...a powerful barrier stopped him in his tracks.

"Well tried, Assassin of Red" she said as she looked towards him, and a Spell Array appeared in the barrier. He was then shot backwards into the building behind him, impacting the side of it but managing to land on his feet. He jumped down, and looked at Suzuki. Other students had come to her aid, manifesting swords, spears, bows, and guns.

"That sure is a lot of manifestation ability users".

"Who said that was all we had?" she said with a smile, as Assassin of Red was suddenly impacted with multiple fireballs from afar. On a rooftop nearby, several students of the middle school and high school branches were holding staffs. And as it ended, two elementry school levelers suddenly charged at Assassin with summoned blades. Assassin went to block and attack them, but the moment he did, his arms were hit with sniper rifle fire and he was forced to duck down and dodge.

Assassin quickly used pressence concealment, and went back in to break through the barrier and get the commander. He came out with daggers and tried again, but this time he was again by the barrier, and repelled once more.

"Damn it...I guess there is no choice..." Assassin muttered.

"Master, we have an issue. She has a barrier. I need more power".

"Understood. By the power of this Command Seal, tear through her barrier and eliminate the leader of the Black Faction".

Set's blades became charged with mana, and he shot forward with that power. Suzuki seemed to realize what he was doing, and reinforced her barrier. This time, when his daggers made impact, sparks flew as the shockwaves send air pulses around them. Behind Suzuki, several of them were working together to reinforce her barrier...and in addition, what appeared to be mana circuits moved through the very city itself to Suzuki, replenishing her barrier with mana from across the entire city. In other words, the entire city...it had been designed to fuel her.

If Toko was a Servant Class human created through brute force and mass production, then Suzuki right now, was a Servant Class Human created through the hard work and teamwork of every mage within the city, all of them pouring their mana into this device which has supercharged her magic...and allowed her to take on Assassin.

"My turn..." she said, as she drew the sword at her waist. "My blade is righteous and true. My soul is steadfast and hardened. I will fight for my people, for their dreams and desires. And so, Activate: Artificial Noble Phantasm Hero's Edge!"

The moment she released it, Assassin was knocked backwards, despite hte power being given him from the Command Seal. But what he was seeing was just ridiculous. They had networked all of them to the city, and likely the Grail itself, to supercharge certain individuals at the right time. This entire city...was a giant magic item they had engineered for the purpose of giving mages Servant Class Strength.

Suzuki suddenly charged forward, but Set was still powered up by the Command Seal and was able to block. Suzuki slashed and slashed with rapid and precise strikes, utilizing a sword style Set had never seen before. He deflected, dodged, and blocked, and then finally he saw an opening and counter attacked. She managed to dodge by jumping back, but he continued the pursuit, which made her keep dodging until she was able to block with her sword in a way to throw him off balance. At the same time, she then unleashed a beam of light from the sword and blasted Set even further back, before charging forward with Servant Class Speed to strike at him.

Thankfully as an Assassin, Set also had speed that would let him dodge that, and did so successfully. However, he could feel the pressure for sure.

And then, she accelerated even further. However, she was still clearly not used to it, because it only took him a minor dodge. His arm still got knicked pretty badly, but it was not lethal. That said, it was enough pain, plus the existence of the others around him, to realize this was not a situation he could win, and retreated.

"Sorry, but I have to save my strength for my brother. Maybe we can play again another time".

As the battle concluded, Suzuki looked around for a bit first, but became content he had run away and sheathed her sword.

"Excuse me, Suzuki-sempai!"

"Yes?"

"We are detecting a huge collision of mana in the north! We also have reports that Lancer is up there with Ren, and that along with them Toko and Assassin have engaged the enemy. However, we cant gain any more details, as something is blocking us. Some sort of black smoke. That said, the spike of mana...its almost like a Noble Phantasm..."

"I see...so he is fighting strong then..."

"Sir, we have detected a massive spike of mana in the north!"

"Inuzuka!"

"I understand, you dont have to tell me. I will have Archer investigate".

Inuzuka really was starting to feel suffocated, under all these people from the Mages Association. Apparently, they were there after a previous incident with the first Red Faction in the first Greater Holy Grail War, but...they were just smothering them at this point.

It made him wish he could switch places with Archer, just to get away from them.

"Alright, I got it! Anything to get away from those crazy peo...HEY! I am too far away! Stop taking pot shots at me!" Archer replied to his master, though he got distracted by the sniping club occasionally taking shots at him. However, as he turned around...for a moment, he could have swore he saw something large move above the stormclouds... "Either I just saw a giant black dragon...or Zeus is about to unleash another powerful attack...ima bet on the latter".

And so, Archer began to fly towards the battle in the north...when he recieved more attacks. At first, he thought it was the students again, but...

"Archer of Black".

"Archer of Red".

The two archers locked eyes.

"Sorry Master, but...iv been flagged down by Archer of Black. I am going to be occupied for awhile".

Archer summoned his bows and fired arrows like crazy, but each one was intercepted by Billy the Kid's bullets. He then made a counter attack, but Archer was able to fly at high speed and dodge them. He had more arrows drawn and fired, but Billy continued to shoot them down. They both kept trying, but...thanks to their accuracy, both of them were able to shoot down or dodge each other's projectiles.

"Care to give up Rider? If you change sides and join us, you will have much better odds".

"Like hell I will!" Rider replied. She had already disabled four robots, disabling their limbs and destroying important circuitry. That said, at first she seemed annoyed they would let children do something so dangerous, but after an accident she learned the cockpick was the heaviest thing about them, due to the armor, and understood it was strong enough that she would need to score a direct hit with a Noble Phantasm to break it.

"You know, I am getting used to these toys! You cannot hold me back forever, Castor!"

"Oh please. Do you know how many students there are at this Academy?"

At those words, from every dark corner, more headlights turned on.

"OH COME ON!" Rider yelled, considering every possible option that could be achieved to torture Castor and make him suffer. "JUST HOW MANY ROBOT FANATICS ARE THERE?!"

"And these are just the elementry schoolers. We have middle schoolers and even high schoolers".

"AHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGG!"

Rider was losing, not in a battle of strength, but in a battle of attrition where her endurance, as high as it was, would be strained.

"DAAAMNNN YOU CASTOR! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I WILL MURDERIZE YOU!"

"And these are only the ones we have awake. Some of them are off duty, asleep. So please keep it down, or you will wake up even more people to fight you".

Rider really, REAAALLY, wanted to kill Castor now. But even using a Noble Phantasm would not do much at this point, not with the enemies surrounding her, using heavily armored mechas, and being driven by people far more insane and enthusiastic then any enemy Rider had faced before: children living their dreams.

The battle had already been decided most likely, but Rider refused to accept it and pushed forward.

"Well now" Dr. Warren mentioned, as he took steps towards the location of the anomaly. "Time to see this boy with my own two eyes".

He took steps forward, and that was when he saw it. As he entered the town, there were two massive scars as if something had melted the road, and then in front of him...there was Lancer of Black and Berserker of Red, the former having used the latter to sheild themselves against the attack. And at the edge was the boy, who appeared to be at the origin of the blast, looking exhausted.

"Well, I suppose that makes sense. Heroic Spirits are hardened by the Grail to be able to use their own Noble Phantasms. My guess is, he used Artificial Noble Phantasms while still lacking the experience, and ended up weakening himself. Still, its probably because he is not good at controlling the power yet, but this Noble Phantasm clearly possessed a large amount of strength. Simon, are you here".

"Yeah, I am" Simon said, coming down from the sky and landing next to Dr. Warren. "He tried melting me too, but his accuracy was off and I escaped. As for the big guy..."

Suddenly, Berserker of Red, who should have been dead, came to life and thrashed about, throwing Lancer of Black far away into the forest and inflicting more damage to it. Simon raised his hand and revealed a burnt out Command Spell.

"I had to use one of those. The attack cut right through my Berserker, and severely damaged Lancer of Black even. I doubt he meant to do that, although certainly Lancer of Black was not doing him any favors either".

Meanwhile, at the other end, Toko was breathing heavily as he regained his breath. He was well aware he put too much strength into that attack, but it was so vast...so overpowering, he lost some of his control.

"Sorry about that Sho-kun" he mentioned. "I dont get many opportunities to even test these, let alone use them, so the power of my Artificial Noble Phantasms is still hard to use".

"No problem. Lancer of Black was getting in our way anyways. Maybe even trying to hurt us".

"Well, I still have the Noble Phantasms themselves, but lets try to rest".

"I dont think that will be possible..." Horus replied, as he pointed out the people approaching them. "It seems we have visitors".

"...oh, great..."

As Toko got his strength back and took a fighting stance, Horus got a bit concerned when he saw a man in glasses approach Toko.

"Stay back. Who are you, and what do you want?"

"Well, simply put, we wanted to invite you to join the Red Faction, Homunculus".

"Oh really...and why would I want to join you?"

"Well, for one thing, we can make you whole...we know how to complete the process, we have the notes".

"I think I am fine as is. Also...I absolutely don't trust you".

"OH come now. I dont think dropping out of the race would be difficult. After all, surely we can help you achieve your wish just as easily..."

As Ren, a few students, and others came to see what was going on, Golems from both the students and the Mages Association also came by.

"No. My wish can only be granted by the Greater Grail. Not even a Lesser Grail would be capable of it".

"What? What makes your wish so different from all the others?"

"Simple. The very nature of wishes themselves, and what people think of them as, is different" Toko said, as he looked towards a side street. "Are you here to also judge my wish, Ruler?"

"Well done, sensing my pressence" Ruler complimented as he stepped out of the shadows. "I suppose I will ask the key question. Toko Kiragime, what is your wish?"

"Well, if you ask like that...in that case, let me tell you...what my wish is".

AN: I can feel the cringe, the hate, and the suffering. To make that the cliff hanger...well, three chapters in one day has seriously drained me. But now, you should all be very happy and excited for next chapter, when Toko's wish is revealed...