The rubble exploded blasted back by a wave of pure force that emanated from the White Beast of Gaia. It shook bits of concrete out of its fur and it stood up towering over the two duelling opponents his body enlarging to a size of twelve metres, even larger than their previous encounter. Drool dripped from its jowls and its muscles flexed as it stood up. Its purple eyes focused on the Shirou and glinted with malicious intent as he seemed to recognize the man who had escaped him once before.

He took a step forward and he was immediately bombarded by a multitude of weapons, most glancing off the beasts hide but one piercing deep into its eye. The beast recoiled and fixed a single harsh glare on the Golden King its one eye glinting with rage.

"How dare a mongrel like you ignore the king," Gilgamesh said. He turned to Shirou. "I believe in situations like this it is customary to team up against the invading party."

Shirou nodded. "You know calling somebody a mongrel really seems to suit you," he said. "You should do it more often."

Gilgamesh gave a noncommittal shrug before turning his attention to the, now two-eyed, beast charging him down. A wave of his hand and a silver ornate shield materialised over him. The beast stuck the shield causing massive cracks to ripple over its surface but it ultimately held.

While the beast was charging Shirou used another one of his trump cards that he had appropriated from the Magic Association so long ago. The crest of the Emiya family remained on his heart and it only took a simple application of the fourth for it to respond to him. His father had mentioned that without Avalon he could only use it to decrease his passage through time by a factor of two before his body started breaking down.

This was not a problem for Shirou's body. "[Time alter square accel]," he said causing the world around him to slow down. Sprinting forward he felt his muscles strain and his body start to feel the pressure. But he could easily handle this amount for now. He jumped onto the shield of Gilgamesh and then leapt off it and over the head of Primate Murder drawing his pistol and with a pair of deft shots blinding the beast entirely. He landed on his back and stomped multiple times in quick succession leaving explosive runes all over the surface before he back flipped off the creatures back and took off running down the street.

An explosion occurred behind him and he could feel the beast physically focus its hatred on him that manifested as a slight crushing pain throughout his body but would have likely killed a human instantly. He ducked quickly around the corner with the beast hot on his trail stepping onto another street. When the beast was only a few metres behind him he surged prana to his hands and clicked his fingers.

Shirou had done his research on the surrounding area and found something interesting. An abandoned sewer ran under a nearby street and like a lot of these sewers in Fuyuki it happened to be large enough for him to try something different. Therefore as soon as the gesture was complete, strategically placed portions of the road exploded causing both him and Primate Murder to go tumbling into the cold water below.

Turning swiftly around he watched the giant wolf drift gracefully down to the sewer floor. Its eyes were fully restored and it stared up at Shirou through the clear water as if daring him to try something like that again. Where before it caused fear inside him not it only provoked excitement in the young magician. Channelling more prana he bent the water around him to his will bringing countless slicing crushing and piercing attacks against the hide of this monster.

Each attack broke against the skin of the creature and even his eyes this time remained undamaged. The creature gave an amused malicious snarl at the red-headed magician but Shirou just laughed to himself. "It feels pretty good to fight against an opponent I don't have to worry about hurting," he said as massive hands of ice crushed formed and punched at the dog sending him stumbling back.

The beast leaped at Shirou who dodged and forced it down to the brick and stone of the sewer by summoning a whirlpool beneath its feet. Accelerating his time again he blasted towards the form of his opponent moving faster than any creature of the sea. At the last moment he summoned ice around his hands and lashing out at the beast manipulating the water in his blood, bones and muscles as well as the surrounding water and ice to increase the force of his punch to the extent that a single blow could have ruptured a battleship.

The beast recoiled at the blow and Shirou could feel something break beneath the hide of the beast. But it forced itself up and roared at Shirou emitting a pressure wave that Shirou had to negate lest it damage his organs. Shirou once again manipulated the water to apply crushing force on the mutt but he was barely slowed down for an instant.

"[Cut]," Shirou intoned getting serious as he applied his magic to the water turning the entire underground body into a field of needles. The charging beast was caught unawares and for the first time its hide was breached turning the water bloody. This was only a momentary victory as its hide regrew back almost instantly. The creatures forced itself through the field of blades that the water had become and charged Shirou even as its hide was being cut up. Shirou prepared himself to unleash more of his power when the beast was intercepted by Nidhoggr who Shirou had left behind at the start of the fight. The beast dove into the water intercepting the White Beast of Gaia easily and driving its poisoned fangs into the beasts shoulder.

Primate Murder swiped at the beast with immense force causing the water nearby them to boil and the ice dragon to be cut in two. The creature turned back to Shirou and then he was struck by Nidhoggr again, the beast's tail cutting its throat. Infuriated Primate Murder lunged towards Shirou's creation and started tearing it into pieces ignoring Shirou's half-hearted attacks as he watched how his dragon would fare against humanities greatest enemy.

It would fare poorly it turned out. The dragon's teeth were able to pierce the beasts hide but the poison wasn't enough to actually put it down. On the other side any damage done to it by Primate Murder was immediately regenerated by the surrounding water. Shirou sighed in acknowledgement. His magic was the only thing that could put this monster down. He refocused his thoughts upon the beast and analysed it trying to think of a method to bring the thing down.

His thoughts were interrupted by a hail of blades piercing the hide of the beast. "You were going to use this trap on me," the voice of Gilgamesh said from behind him. "You always seemed to like dragging people down to your level and drowning them there."

Shirou turned to see Gilgamesh riding… "Wait what is that," Shirou said in utter confusion. The contraption he was riding looked to be some sort of submersible. It was gold with blue streaks along its fins and it had a bubble shape with fins and a glass cockpit in which Gilgamesh sat. The entirety of the contraption was covered in cuneiform runes that glowed.

"It's a Mesopotamian submarine," Gilgamesh said his voice travelling clearly through the water.

"No Gilgamesh," Shirou said angrily. "I can accept your ability to possess countless objects that may have existed or been imagined by humans. It's a clear effect that would be inscribed into your legend as a person who has the concept of [obtained everything in the world] etched upon your soul. What I cannot accept was that they had submarines in Babylon."

Gilgamesh just shrugged as his craft barely dodged an outstretched paw of the giant wolf. Moving his submarine in a zig-zag fashion he fired weapons that exploded on the skin of the wolf but failed to harm it.

"Can you hold it down?" he asked Shirou. "I've got something that might be able to terminate it if you can hold it down."

Shirou nodded his head. "Nidhoggr, entangle," he commanded his dragon. The dragon did as he commanded latching onto the beast before being shrugged to pieces. Then Shirou used his trump card mentally commanding the dragon to grow causing it to absorb the nearby water and freezing the beast to its body. The beast went berserk and it too started to visibly grow in front of Shirou's eyes. Thrashing at the ice dragon it finally had enough sending out a wave of mana that obliterated the dragon to pieces. It turned its head towards Shirou and loomed menacingly at the magician who just raised his hands and returned the beasts glare.

Suddenly Shirou felt a ripple in the water and felt something descending at a great speed towards the dog. Looking up quickly he noticed it was a massive sword that was taller than any of the skyscrapers. The beast noticed it as well and it attempted to move but Shirou generating immense amounts of his prana and channelling it all into his glove managed to hold the beast still for the scant few seconds that were required for the sword to come crashing down on the beast.

Gilgamesh and Shirou however were smart enough not to look away from the impact and it paid off as in the next moment a gigantic paw smashed into the submarine of Gilgamesh reducing it into rubble. The very next instant a wave of pressure sent Shirou into the side of the sewer. Quickly regaining his senses Shirou was astounded to see the beast reforming from damaged parts. Meat was physically stitching itself together and its halves re-joined where they had split.

"That is the third-toughest beast I've ever fought in my life," Gilgamesh said, his 'submarine' damaged but still functional. "And it's really going for that second ranking."

"What about first," Shirou said knowing quite well what the first ranking would be.

"Not even close." Gilgamesh said dismissively.

The beast was now thirty metres tall and its head stood above the water level. It turned towards the two with no emotion in its eyes. While previously it had displayed hatred and malice now its expression now showed no emotion at all. A thrust so fast that Shirou didn't feel any ripples in the water obliterated Gilgamesh's submarine. Shirou didn't have any time to worry about his friend because in the following instant the beast opened its mouth and roared and a wave of ripples came at him destroying the mana in the air as it went.

Shirou didn't have any inclination to hold back or play any longer. "[Amessunu Istenis]," he invoked drawing out massive amounts of prana and firing it directly at the beast. The two attacks met in mid-air, one that spoke of a death that killed everything in its way and one that symbolized the icy hell at the bottom of the ocean.

Neither attack triumphed over the other. As Shirou's attack crushed the beasts by summoning the ancestral memories of the abyss, the beasts attack killed Shirou's by drawing on the mortality inherent in the universe. Shirou could feel the reality of the world start to creak as the two attacks met both of them vying for dominance. What happened next the young magician would never know as he was saved by a literal deus ex machina, or would that be a dea ex machina.

A titanic hoof came crushing down on the White Wolf of Gaia's head at the same time as Shirou felt another chunk of prana leave him. This had two immediate effects. With the beasts mouth closed the howl of death had nowhere to go and the second was that Shirou's attack was no longer opposed. The terror of humanities head split like a ripe grape as the two attacks impacted on either side of its head.

The next second Ishtar swam down next to him. She looked slightly tired but it was honestly hard to tell with servants as they did not need necessities like air. She glanced at him and then turned back to face the form of Primate Murder. Despite all logic the body of the creature was rising again and a canine skull appeared followed by two purple orbs that stared at the two. Suddenly Shirou felt ripples at his side and he turned to see the form of Gilgamesh standing next to him. The beast scrutinized the three and then with one almighty leap it jumped straight out of the sewers and into the night.

Shirou turned right to look at Gilgamesh and he found him staring at Ishtar. The goddess returned the stare and after a few moments Gilgamesh left as well, simply rising out of the water and into the sky.

The remaining master-servant combo shared a look and then swam up into the open air. "That was pretty intense," Shirou said his lips curving into a slight smile as he contemplated the fight."

"Hey Shirou," Ishtar said looking at him. "Was that really a Mesopotamian submarine I saw?"

Shirou's frustrated cry rang out through the night.

xxx

Rin watched another room go down in flames from one breath of the dragon girl. For all her diminutive appearance she had the feeling that this berserker would actually be a nightmare to fight. The strategy that they came up with to invade was simple. Saber would go first as he was both resistant to magical and physical weapons. If the room was full of dead he would step back and allow Berserker to torch the entire room. If the room had only one or two enemies then he and Aoko would both step in and wipe them out. So far she had felt like a fifth wheel as she went along. She had stocked up on a huge amount of gems but had been advised by both Aoko and Shirou not to waste them until absolutely necessary.

They had just cleared out another room of the dead when they heard footsteps in the passageway. Stepping from around the corner stood a woman holding a wineglass. Her hair and eyes were matching scarlet and she wore the fashionable and trendy clothing of a high-class lady. Her high cheekbones and aristocratic features combined with the later gave her the feeling of an upper-class noble.

"How interesting," she said. "It appears we are being invaded." She took another sip from her glass and Rin realised that it was blood she was drinking."

"Rita Rozay-en," Aoko said as a warning for Rin. "The number fifteen Dead Apostle Ancestor."

"Aoko Aozaki,"the lady replied. "The fifth magician. I've heard you are a rather wild and vulgar person."

Still the vampire made no move to attack or even showed any signs of worry. She moved to take another sip from her glass.

Instantly magic bullets were fired at the woman in an uncountable number by Aoko. Rin flinched in surprise expecting to see the woman reduced to paste and rebuked herself for expecting it to be so easy when a dome made of blood surrounded the woman. Instantly a woman appeared alongside the vampire. She had white hair and a black mask and Rin found herself blushing as she took in what she wore. It was like some BDSM dress with red outer layering and high boots. But she wasn't her type. Not that she liked woman at all. No, she strictly liked guys.

The woman raised her staff sending bolts of magic flying towards them but Gawain stepped in front and the bolts dissipated as they hit his armour.

"Might as well use your Noble Phantasm," Rita said nonchalantly.

At this her servant immediately summoned what looked to be like an iron maiden covered in blood. Just looking at the thing gave Rin chills and she noticed that as soon as it was out Mist began to cover the room. "Master what target should I use it on," the woman said her voice sounding mechanical and devoid of life.

"Just kill the magician," Rita said.

The servant nodded and the iron maiden disappeared. Rin watched as Aoko dodged out of the way and avoided the torture device.

"Saber kill her," Rin instructed as she saw Aoko dodge once again to the left avoiding the trap. She watched as the magician's servant blasted the Iron Maiden with her concentrated flames causing it to melt before her eyes and the blood to splatter all over.

Gawain was at the Dead Apostle Ancestors servant in a moment slicing straight through her with very little resistance when the tides suddenly turned. A scream of pain was all that Rin heard and she turned back to the dragon lady clutching her stomach as she was stabbed through by a young girl with white hair and carrying large knives. "A second servant," the thought flashed through her head and she felt the girl turn her attention towards her. She vaguely noticed the Magician next to her convulse in pain.

"Do you know that if you time it correctly you can get two servants," the red-haired vampire said haughtily. "It doesn't work for catalyst summoning but if you use simultaneous circles you can pull it off." She scowled at the fading pieces of her dead servant. "Unfortunately sometimes you will not get a servant you particularly like." She raised her hand and a rapier of blood appeared in time for her to parry the blows of her servant. "On the other hand Jack's a real sweetheart," she said causing the other girl to blush.

"What did you do to me," Aoko ground out as she tried to stand up and collapsed to her knees.

"You just got a little blood on you from the coffin," she said and smiled wickedly. "You ought to be careful about playing with other people's blood," she continued. "You never know what you might catch," she said still fighting against the swordsmanship of Gawain. "Like a bit of death," she said flexing her prana causing the Magician to scream.

A second later she was back on the defensive against Saber. "That should have killed you," she said. "Jack finish her off."

The white haired girl nodded and leapt towards the downed magician only to be forced to dodge a fireball. Beserker stood bleeding and wounded but with fire in her eyes. "I'm not going to let you take a step towards my master," she said.

The assassin shifted holding up her blades only to be forced to dodge as an explosion of flame obliterated the spot that she was standing in. Rin stood holding up one of her gems that now sat useless in her hand. She discarded it immediately and drew another. "Gawain," she said. "Do whatever you have to swiftly win," she raised up her hand and one of her command seals faded.

Gawain nodded in acknowledgement as he felt his stats increase. He swung with more force trying to physically overpower his foe but the vampire proved to tricky moving backwards at a speed and dodging all of his blows by a hairs-breath. Meanwhile Rin and Berserker were having a harder time. Neither of them were primarily close ranged fighters and they were in a narrow corridor fighting against an Assassin and protecting a downed comrade. Fire from Berserker and all the elements from Rin managed to keep Jack away but they were still making no progress on taking down the child. She was simply too fast for their attacks and it was specifically hard to track her in the misty corridor.

Rin cast a family spell using her crest that coated the floor in a sticky substance. This briefly caused the girl assassin to get stuck and she was blasted by Aoko's servant in the next second the flames burning half her body. She retreated and disappeared into the mist putting both Rin and Berserker on high alert. The next second they heard a noise above them and they looked up to see the girl using the roof as a platform leap over their heads.

Turning around briefly in horror they noticed her going for Aoko who was now standing up unsteadily. Berserker looked in horror and then lunged to intercept. However her hands were just a bit too slow to grab onto the child. As the assassin lunged for the magician there was a flare of prana. "Berserker, help me," Aoko said raising her hand containing the command seals just as one disappeared.

The dragon girl appeared in front of Aoko intercepting the blow that was heading for her. Rin was momentarily horror struck as the knives stabbed into Berserker instead. In response to the stabbing Berserker unleashed a wave of flames that charred the girl and caused her to go stumbling back, right into a beam fired from Rin's gems. The assassin was flung through the walls and the room and all the way out of the building where she presumably fell to her death.

"I wanted to show you my dragon form," Rin turned back to see the figure of the dragon girl on the fading away. "You were going to be so impressed." She smiled and raised her hand but she was noticeably fading away as she did so and there were tears on her face.

"Come on Kiyohime," Aoko said grabbing the fading dragon lady in her hands. "You can get better. Come on Survive!" She yelled the last part.

"Use a command seal," Rin yelled out dashing towards the two.

Aoko momentarily floundered but then she caught herself. "By the power of this command seal 'live Kiyohime'."

The servant gasped as she felt the prana healing her. Slowly the fading stopped and she appeared to be getting even healthier. Aoko smiled down at her and Kiyohime blushed. Then the three of them all turned towards their last remaining foe.

Rita Rozay-en was visibly panting as she blocked the strikes of Gawain. Disengaging she surveyed the situation. "I believe there is very little chance for victory remaining," she said out loud. "But perhaps I can escape to fight another day."

"Personally I find that equally unlikely," a male voice came from behind her and she turned to see another servant and the White Princess cutting off her exit.

"I see," she said. "This is my curtain call." As she said that she recalled the events of the last few days prior.

xxx

"I won't be able to keep my promise Rita," her friend Sumire said.

Looking up sharply she examined the face of her companion and occasional lover. She was still clad in that bikini that she wore everywhere but her face had an uncharacteristic seriousness to it and she was for once in her existence stone-cold sober.

"Really," Rita said looking at her only friend in the world. "What could possibly make you want to break your promise?"

"I have an apprentice," Sumire said proudly.

"And you want to stick around to teach them," Rita said and immediately dismissed it. "No, I understand what you want."

She took another sip of the blood. "I hope that I get to see your apprentice before the end of the war."

"Why you don't think she will make it?" Sumire inquired. "Or you don't think you will?

Rita shrugged the motion looking unusual on for her aristocratic looks.

"Goodbye Sumire," she said warmth and sadness both showing in her tone.

"Goodbye Rita," Sumire said favouring her with a smile before she turned around and left.

xxx

"It seemed that I don't have much time left to 'live'! She said and put extra emphasis on the word live as a massive surge of prana enveloped her. Those watching eyed her warily but as the prana expenditure died down each observed her on her knees and gasping for breath.

"Well come on," Rita said to those surrounding her. "Let's not keep the devil waiting."

xxx

The tiny assassin felt tears run down her eyes as she escaped the building. She was on the brink of death when she heard her mother's words instructing her to survive. She wanted to go back there and stab, stab, stab all those who dared to take her mother away but her mother's last instruction forced her away from that place.

She suddenly felt two figures block her path. Instantly she noticed that one was a servant but the one that took up most of her attention was a small blonde girl.

"I can help you avenge your mother," the girl said holding out her hand dangling that tempting offer in front of the young servant. "All you have to do is join me."

After a moment's thought the young girl took the offered hand and felt herself refill with prana.

"Excellent," her new Master said. "I believe we're going to be the best of friends.

Author Note: Uploading this before work. No time for long Author note.