Fate Grand Order: Blessing of the Fortuity Shard

by FGO-BoFS

Meetings are something that most people experience often. They can be either frivolous or life-changing. Or anything in between. But there is a type of meeting that is rarer than any other. The type that has occurred scarcely more than a few times throughout Human History. A meeting between two people that could decide the future of Humanity itself.

10. Chapter 10

Summary:

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And thus, Chaldea's mission to correct the Singularities begins in 15th century France. While they meet their foes soon enough, a new ally also joins their cause as they learn an extremely valuable lesson about Singularities:
[No matter what you expect to actually change history within a Singularity, the real answer is always crazier.]

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Chapter 10: The Great Wyvern Swarming of 1431

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'

'

Just like in Fuyuki, the endless whiteness that filled her vision dissolved in an instant, leaving Ritsuka to gather her bearings. Blinking her dazed eyes, she could at least tell from the endless hazy green that she was in a forest, and from the feeling that she stood on solid ground. So far so good. "Mash, are you here?" she asked while rubbing her eyes.

'

"Yes, Senpai," came a confirming voice from her right, prompting the redhead to turn, a relieved sigh escaping her lips as she saw Mash's very distinguishable outline with her recovering vision. Putting the outfit aside, that shield was impossible to miss. "It appears that the Rayshift was completed without issue, at least on my part. Does anything feel off?"

'

"No, I'm good," Ritsuka nodded, her vision now restored enough that she could see the relieved smile on Mash's face. "The whiteness messed with my eyes a bit, but otherwise everything feels fine."

'

"Excellent. Then the transfer was without incident. Your Mystic Codes appear to have been outfitted perfectly as well."

'

Blinking in surprise at the words, Ritsuka looked down to realize that Mash was indeed right. She was wearing her usual Chaldea Mystic Code with the black robe on top and the Combat Mystic Code under it. Raising her gloved hands to observe them, she could tell that absolutely nothing was out of place. It was pretty crazy how perfectly she had been dressed up, but it just went to show the precision of Chaldea's instruments. "...Yeah, everything's good."

'

"I'm here too, you know," a voice suddenly called out from behind the Master, prompting her to turn around to reveal Lemminkäinen, grinning as confidently as ever. "Come on, Pomo. Where's the concern for the presence of your ever reliable Saber?"

'

"If I manage to summon someone fitting that description, I'll be sure to let you know," Ritsuka shot back with a smirk of her own.

'

The Saber let out a laugh, slapping her on the back. "Hah! Good to see that the Rayshift didn't mess with your head. Your tongue is as sharp as ever." Talking a few steps away from the girl, Lemminkäinen smiled as he took in the scenery. But unlike his usual, excited and somewhat annoying smile, this once he seemed genuinely fulfilled. "Aahh... It's nice to be out and about for once. The Simulator is fine and all, but I've missed walking around in an actual forest."

'

"Yes..." Mash mumbled from the side, marveling at the scenery now that it had been brought up. "It really is something."

'

Ritsuka smiled at the childlike wonder the other girl was showing. Thinking about it, this really was her first time seeing an actual forest. The Simulator was great and all, but knowing it was fake dulled the magic a bit. She'd need to be sure to show Mash all kinds of things when they had the time. But, that didn't change the fact that they had an unbelievably crucial mission on their shoulders. While she hated to burst her bubble, she gently called out to the Demi-Servant while pointing at the two backpacks at their feet. "You're free to admire the forest, Mash, but let's make sure that everything is ready first."

'

"Ah!" As if she were a kid getting caught doing something bad by her parents, Mash snapped back to reality in an instant, looking at the redhead apologetically. "Yes, of course, Senpai. Right away."

'

But as the Shielder crouched down to inspect their belongings, Ritsuka's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as the movement revealed what had hidden behind Mash. Or more accurately, who had hidden. While she was busy gawking in disbelief, Lemminkäinen hummed in amusement. "Huh. Looks like we've got ourselves a little stowaway."

'

"Eh?" Blinking in confusion, Mash turned around to see what the two were looking at, and...

'

"Fou!"

'

Nearly fell over from shock as the familiar, white critter greeted her. "Fou!? Did you tag along again?"

'

"How did that even happen?" Ritsuka mumbled, still in complete disbelief. How could he not have been noticed during the Rayshift. "Did he slip into one of our coffins?"

'

"Most likely, yes," Mash nodded, though she didn't seem all that sure herself. "But given what happened in Fuyuki, we know that he at least has aptitude for rayshifting, and since the transfer was completed perfectly fine, I don't see an issue with him being here."

'

"I suppose..." Ritsuka contemplated the situation. Fou being here was unexpected to say the least, but not unwelcome. During the fire in the Command Room and before she met up with Mash in Fuyuki, the critter had been genuinely helpful as a companion, so she definitely didn't oppose having him around. Still, there were some things that had to be made sure. Crouching down next to him, Ritsuka put on a stern expression. "You're welcome to join us, but be sure not to wander off, Fou. We don't know what we're dealing with here, so we'd prefer not to lose you in a surprise attack or something."

'

The critter sat cleanly on all fours, straightening his back and looked at the redhead right in the eyes. "Fou... kyuu, kyao..." Unlike his usual admittance, this at least seemed genuine.

'

Faced with such sincerity, Ritsuka couldn't keep her stern expression. Smiling gently, she pat Fou's head. "Alright. Good to have you on the team, little guy."

'

"As long as he understands," Mash smiled gently, giving him a pat as well, before turning back to the backpack. "Now, let me get everything." Opening up the container, she pulled out the last thing placed in it before departure. "Here are your bow and arrows, Lemminkäinen."

'

Taking the offered weapons, the Saber looked them over satisfactorily. "In prime condition too."

'

"And these are for you, Senpai."

'

"Thanks, Mash," Ritsuka smiled as she took the offerings. The Multi-Appliance needed for communication, and the piece of Sampo to hopefully bring her some luck. Placing the charm's string around her neck, she felt the familiar warmth from it as she secured it beneath her clothes. The feeling always managed to make the redhead feel hopeful and this time was no different. Next, she wrapped the Multi-Appliance on her wrist, making sure it was nicely tight. Losing it would be just ridiculous.

'

Taking out the last of the immediate equipment, Mash handed her two more trinkets. "And here we go, Perception Guises and Translation Amulets for both of us."

'

"Thank you, Da Vinci. These will definitely come in handy." Looking at the talismans on her hand, Ritsuka couldn't help but to be impressed with Chaldea's resources once more. The Translation Amulets were self-evident in their usage, and quite common in modern day, but the Perception Guises were a grade above. Anyone who wore them would seem completely unassuming and plain, no matter their true appearance, to anyone observing. Seeing how their clothes, especially Mash's, were just hilariously out of place in this era, these would be absolutely crucial in avoiding any unwanted attention. Of course, the effect itself wasn't one-of-a-kind, but its strength was just absurd. Even your average mage would be fooled, to speak nothing of a regular person. Ritsuka was quite sure that she wouldn't even realize if she were to come face to face with someone wearing one of these. Putting the charms around her neck, much like the shard earlier, she could already feel them taking effect. Mash did the same with her own.

'

"Don't I get any?" Lemminkäinen complained from the side, seeming less interested in the trinkets themselves, and more miffed at being left out.

'

"Your appearance doesn't stand out too much, and you can go into spirit form if the situation calls for it," Ritsuka countered flatly. "Plus, being a Servant, language barriers won't be a problem for you."

'

"Meh, fair enough," the Saber shrugged.

'

With everything immediate out of it, Mash picked up the backpack and put it on before turning to Ritsuka. "Now, we should confirm the time axis coordinates and establish contact with Chaldea."

'

"On it." Turning her Multi-Appliance on, the redhead was pleased to see that the first things visible were their location and the exact time. Had to love this kind of straightforwardness in software. "Year is 1431, so we're definitely in the right time period, location seems right too." As her eyes moved to the upper right of the screen, a smile spread on her lips. "Nice! We're getting a signal."

'

Lemminkäinen yawned while stretching his legs. "While you two take care of that, I'll go scout our immediate area. Never know what you can find in unfamiliar territory." Ritsuka barely had time to give a confirming thumbs up before he was already gone. This man really was starved for some action.

'

A few seconds after the Saber had run off, a familiar screen appeared in the air, Roman's relieved face filling it. "Yes, we're connected! Mash, Ritsuka, there were no problems with the Rayshift, right?"

'

"No, we're all fine over here," Ritsuka confirmed, with Mash waving in the background. "Lemminkäinen went off to do some scouting, and when he's back, we can head out to Domrémy."

'

"Great. The village should be around half a kilometer north from your location, so you should reach it quickly. Hopefully we can get some information this early to our mission."

'

"Hopefully," Ritsuka agreed, turning as she felt her Servant's presence approaching again. "Oh, he's back already. Wonder what he...?"

'

Her voice cut off upon noticing the rare, serious look on the man's face. Lemminkäinen landed next to the two, motioning back to where he had come from. "Pomo, you definitely want to see this."

'

Exchanging a curious look with Mash, Ritsuka began walking. "What is it?"

'

"Seems I've found our first clue to this mess," the Saber said, nearly causing the redhead to fall over. She and Mash shared another look, one of shock this time. Things were moving far faster than anyone had anticipated.

'

"Already!? Seriously!?" Roman gawked, his disbelief shared by the rest of the staff as well, judging by the chatter from the background.

'

Lemminkäinen just shrugged, his expression difficult to read. He almost seemed... impressed. "Yeah. Though 'found' is kinda an exaggeration in this case. It's really hard to miss this."

'

"What do you mean?" Ritsuka questioned, but the man just shook his head and motioned them to follow.

'

"Trust me, it's way easier to just show you. The only reason we didn't notice it immediately was because of the trees blocking our view."

'

The Master's curiosity just kept growing at the ambiguous description. "Wow. You're really hyping this up. It better live up to... Uhhh...?"

'

Ritsuka's mind went blank as she saw the clue Lemminkäinen had spoken of through the trees. She couldn't even register Mash tapping her shoulder in concern. "Senpai? What did you... Huh?" The Shielder soon shared her Master's reaction, staring at the sky mouth agape, while the Saber stood by their side.

'

Offsetting the brilliant, blue sky and the white clouds covering it was an enormous ring of light. ...That was the best description Ritsuka could dome up with. Things like 'what exactly it was?' and 'where it came from?' didn't even cross her mind. She was far too busy just registering its existence. Trying to figure out exactly how big it was and how far away it was only led to a headache, leaving her with the observation that it was stupidly massive and that it was floating really high.

'

"Jesucristo..." Dio groaned from somewhere over the transmission. "Can someone please tell me that I just got stupid drunk without noticing?"

'

Ritsuka herself was willing to throw her lot with a mass hallucination, but regrettably, Da Vinci burst that bubble immediately. "...Unfortunately not. We're all seeing this." Yup, this was actually happening.

'

"A ring of light...?" Roman mumbled, the shock on his face matching the girls' perfectly. "No, some kind of magecraft ritual cast over the satellite orbit?"

'

"That's just... That's just stupid. At a quick estimation, the damn thing is as big as North America." Dio's clarification was just shocking enough to bring Ritsuka fully back to the conversation. It was nice knowing that things were even more absurd than she thought.

'

Although, she still lacked context to make a proper, intelligent reply. "This has to be majorly related to the destruction of humanity, right?"

'

"Honestly, if it's not, I'm eating my coat," the Spaniard confirmed before adding: "And I don't say that lightly. I love this coat."

'

"Hell of a thing, ain't it?" Lemminkäinen laughed, shaking his head. "I'd been wondering what kinda scheme someone could pull to actually incinerate human history, and this..." Pointing at the ring, he seemed practically impressed. "This'll do it."

'

"Do the rest of you Servants have any other constructive observations?" Roman's voice was weak, his question almost sounding like a beg.

'

"We're much the same over here," Cú Chulainn answered through another transmission. Judging by his tone, his reaction to the whole thing was similar to the Saber's. "Hell of a thing that is."

'

Some agreeing mumbles filled the background as the Servants knowledgeable in magecraft discussed the situation amongst themselves. Most of it went over Ritsuka's head, but at least she understood Brynhildr's observation. "For something of that scale, the preparations alone would've taken centuries at the very least. Just how long was our unknown enemy planning this?"

'

The Master took a deep breath to calm herself down. Alright, she'd been awestruck long enough, and now it was time to get to work. They knew that something completely absurd would've been needed to incinerate humanity, so this ring, whatever it was, was something they'd technically expected to exist. Now they just had to figure out what to do with it. "I... What do you want us to do, Doctor?"

'

Typing away at his keyboard, Roman was hurriedly going through files before turning back to the screen. "Hmmm, no records show such phenomena occurring in 1431, so it's without a doubt one of the reasons for the disappearance of our future. We'll have to analyze it on our end..." Putting on a determined face, he gave out his orders after a short pause. "First we need information. You guys concentrate on surveying onsite and searching for a leyline, while we do our best in trying to study that... ring."

'

Yes, of course. That was among their primary tasks in the first place. "Right. We can't make any effective plans without information." Turning to her two Servants with a smile, Ritsuka pointed towards the north. "Then, to Domrémy we go."

'

"Yes, Master!" Mash nodded, straightening herself to appear more like a soldier. While she was still clearly bewildered by their discovery, her usual eagerness helped push it aside. The redhead really admired that feature.

'

Lemminkäinen on the other hand was far more casual, sauntering on towards their destination without much stress. "Sure thing." Ritsuka simultaneously hated and admired the fact that he could just go with the flow in a situation like this.

'

"Good. We'll start running theories over here on the nature of that ring," Roman confirmed before giving a final wave. "Chaldea, out."

'

As the screen disappeared and the group headed towards their first destination, Ritsuka began working on a foundation of a plan. Just waltzing into a village and asking questions would be somewhat odd. Even with their disguises, they needed to appear at least a bit more authentic. "Alright, this is it, guys. This is where our mission really begins. First let's try to find a road and follow it to the village. That way we can look like ordinary travelers to avoid rousing suspicion."

'

"Good idea, Senpai," Mash nodded with an eager smile, seeming strangely excited suddenly. "Subtlety is the key to any low-profile investigation."

'

Ritsuka raised a brow at the curious choice of words. It was a bit different from her usual eagerness. Did Mash like stuff like this or something? Still, it was hardly bad in their situation. "Hmm... In case someone starts asking questions, maybe we should try coming up with fake backgrounds or something..."

'

Suddenly the party came to a halt as Lemminkäinen raised his arm in front of Ritsuka so abruptly that she nearly smashed her nose into it. The annoyed Master was about to demand an explanation... until she saw his face. His eyes were like that of a bird of prey preparing to strike, while his mouth was a thin, narrow line. There wasn't the slightest hint of joviality to be found. She'd never seen the Saber this serious, except during her explanation of their mission after the summoning, and his voice mirrored that perfectly. "...Mash, stay close to Master and keep your wits sharp."

'

Her expression growing serious as well, Mash materialized her shield and moved right by Ritsuka's side, to the point where their shoulders were nearly touching. The Master crouched slightly, preparing to move to the cover at the slightest hints of an attack. "What is it, Lemminkäinen? An enemy?"

'

"Maybe," he said, voice low. "Hard to tell until we get closer."

'

For the next minute or so, the group slowly moved forward, senses sharp for any sort of hostile reaction. As Ritsuka looked at the girl by her side, Mash was like a loaded spring, ready to pounce to her defense at the slightest sign of trouble. But, no attack ever came. Instead, the girls were soon met with the scent that had caused the Saber's reaction in the first place. An unfortunately familiar scent. Ritsuka felt a chill running down her spine as she saw the orange glow through the bushes in front of them. It wasn't the sun, considering that it was still high in the sky, and the loud crackling basically confirmed the only other possibility. "...Something is burning. Lots of something."

'

Lemminkäinen gave a silent nod as Mash shot a worried glance towards her. This was just their second singularity, and it was already uncomfortably similar to the first. As the group emerged from the foliage, they came to face the exact sight they had feared. "...That's Domrémy, isn't it?" Disquieted Mash asked, even though she was well aware of the answer. "This is awful."

'

"Yes... Yes it is." Ritsuka knew she should've expected something like this, but it still didn't make the sight any easier. In front of the trio standing on a hill, the burning ruins of a village were withering away by the moment. Most of the houses were already little more than the stone foundations, but the ones that still had material to burn were blazing brightly. And the worst of all, there were plenty of bodies around. Most were just skeletons charred completely black, but the ones that hadn't caught on fire still had flesh on them, the blaze scaring away any scavenging animals. Her hand shaking slightly, the redhead pressed on her Multi-Appliance. "Roman, you see this, right?"

'

"We do. That is indeed Domrémy, and it has been burned down almost completely." The Doctor's voice was as troubled as the girls', yet he still managed to stay calm despite the horrific sight. Something seemingly not shared by everyone else, judging by the faint chatter in the background. "This is also something that shouldn't happen in 1431, or ever, seeing how Domrémy is inhabited even to this day. This is like what happened in Fuyuki, but on a smaller scale."

'

Mash nodded, her expression pained while trying not to stare directly at the bodies while looking over the area. "...Indeed. There has clearly been a battle here."

'

"No." It was then that the third member of the party spoke up, having fallen silent upon seeing the ruins. Unlike the disturbed girls, Lemminkäinen appeared to stand somewhere between remorseful, and completely seething with rage. "This wasn't a battle. It was a straight up massacre."

'

"Huh?" Mash blinked in confusion at the words, mirrored by Ritsuka. Had the Saber really picked up on something they hadn't in this brief time? "What do you mean?"

'

"There's several signs," he noted, pointing towards the fields by the village's outskirts. "Most importantly, there and there."

'

Following the man's finger with their eyes, the girls thought that he was just pointing at more corpses, but upon closer inspection, Mash's eyes widened. They were definitely corpses, but not ones belonging to humans. "The animals have been killed as well...?"

'

Lemminkäinen nodded, his eyes further scanning the area. "Horses and livestock are valuable, so any attackers would almost definitely want to keep them around. And even if they decided to put the animals down, they would've taken the best parts of them to eat, but even the ones away from buildings are mostly burned to death." It was then that his eyes locked onto another target. "...But, that's not the worst part."

'

"There's more?" Ritsuka asked, almost afraid of the answer.

'

Pointing again, Lemminkäinen focused on a specific target. "Look at that cow over there. See the size of the gashes left in it?" Oh, the Master definitely saw, and held back a gag at the sight. It was honestly pretty horrific. The poor animal had been cut in half, and judging by the size and shape of the gashes, it had been incredibly painf... Ritsuka's thought process came to a halt at the realization. Oh God, she just figured out what he meant! "Those aren't from swords, but from teeth. The cow was bit in half by something big. Something with jaws way bigger than even the largest bear could have. At least, as far as normal beasts are concerned."

'

"He's right," Dio confirmed. "Judging by the size of the bite mark, unless a group of hippos decided to migrate to France for summer, no regular animal could've done this."

'

"So this village was massacred by phantasmal beasts?" Mash confirmed, sharing a troubled look with Ritsuka. "Something like that definitely shouldn't exist in this time period."

'

But to their surprise, Lemminkäinen shook his head, his anger seeming to rise. "Not just beasts I'm afraid." As he pointed once again, Ritsuka followed the man's finger to- Ugh, a dismembered arm. And after that... A group of corpses that had large holes going through their entire length... She might seriously have trouble sleeping tonight. ...But, at least the sights got the point across. Somehow this tragedy just kept getting worse. "The slash on that arm is too clean to come from anything but a really sharp bladed weapon, and those puncture wounds don't make sense for teeth and claws either, so they're most likely from spears or something similar."

'

"Could be a Rider with a carnivorous mount," Emiya noted through the comm. A suggestion Ritsuka very much agreed with, given the evidence. Kintoki himself had a bear if he was summoned as a Rider, so it was entirely possible. Hell, it could even be a giant boar or something, since those were actually far more common than people expected. But, that didn't narrow down the list of possibilities anywhere close enough for them to begin figuring out a conclusive suspect.

'

"That's a safe bet," Lemminkäinen nodded, the grip on his sword tightening. "Would need a real bastard of a Servant to do something like this, though." ...Unfortunately, people like that weren't exactly rare either.

'

"Any clue on what kind of beast we're dealing with?" Cú asked.

'

The Saber shook his head, clearly frustrated with the result. "No. Plenty of claw marks and craters, but ash and rubble have covered any proper tracks. No sign of it struggling either, like fur or some special blood. Not that normal villagers could deal with something that causes this kind of damage."

'

Returning to her earlier observation, Ritsuka took a closer look at one of the least mutilated corpses. Due to a lack of scavengers, they really were well preserved. "And judging by the lack of decomposition, whatever did this, did it only a day or so ago."

'

"Yeah, so there's no point in us loitering around here. We can't get any more information from corpses." Lemminkäinen started walking away from the ruined village, motioning the others to follow. "Come on, girls. This ain't a sight anyone should be looking at for long."

'

With a sigh, the redhead followed after the Saber, only to come to a halt when she didn't hear footsteps following behind her. Turning around, she found Mash still staring at the burning buildings despondently. Walking back, she took the other girl's hand and began leading her along gently. "Mash, come on."

'

"Fouu..." the critter on Mash's shoulder snuggled against her cheek in an effort to comfort her, but if it actually had any effect, she wasn't showing it.

'

"But... shouldn't we still check...?" the girl silently muttered, eyes still on the village. Ritsuka bit the inside of her cheek, understanding the sentiment well. In one way, this was even worse than Fuyuki. At least in the city, there were no corpses anywhere. All the living beings were just gone without a trace, leaving no point in searching for survivors. Here on the other hand, the possibility at least existed, but with the state of the village, the answer was obvious.

'

"No," Lemminkäinen said with absolute firmness, getting Mash's gaze to finally snap away from the destruction. "The attackers were thorough as hell, so anyone surviving was really unlikely. And even if someone did, they'd have escaped far away from here by now. There's neither proper food or shelter here, so there's no point in staying."

'

Ritsuka gave Roman on the screen a questioning look, hoping he'd at least have some good news through Chaldea's scanners, but the Doctor just shook his head apologetically. Cursing wordlessly, she rubbed the discouraged Shielder's shoulder. "He's right, Mash. At this point, the only thing we can do for these villagers is try to make sure that what happened here won't repeat somewhere else."

'

Without a word, Mash leaned against Ritsuka's arm. With the redhead comforting her on one side, and Fou on the other, she seemed to be able to calm back down after a moment. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head, some firmness returning to her eyes. "...Right. You're absolutely right, Senpai."

'

"And don't you worry. We're absolutely getting whoever is behind this. Count on it," Lemminkäinen added, the grip on his sword tightening again.

'

"...Yeah." Ritsuka had a bad feeling on that last part. Stopping whoever was behind this would be good without question, but revenge was hardly as sweet as it was imagined to be. With a sigh, the redhead turned back to Roman, really just wanting to move on. "Now, what about the local leylines? Are they good for use?"

'

Much to her disappointment, he shook his head. "No. Not really. Fortunately for us, Fuyuki had overall excellent leylines, which was most likely the reason it was chosen to house the Greater Grail. But unfortunately, the ones here aren't up to our standards. While we could technically use them, it'd be like... Umm... What's a good example?"

'

"Like driving a car with tires that aren't properly full," Dio suggested. "Sure, you can do it, but it's inefficient, not to mention dangerous."

'

"Yeah, that's a good one. So, as long as you aren't having a hard time supplying the Servants, we would recommend searching for another spot. France is a large country, and there are definitely excellent leylines around it."

'

"Alright, if you say so." Well, that was definitely disappointing, but at least Ritsuka wasn't having trouble with the Servants at the moment. Sure, they weren't doing anything that cost notable amounts of energy, but the drain was still barely noticeable. She could definitely handle a fight or two without a leyline, as long as Noble Phantasms weren't used. Yet, that still presented a new issue. "But the question is, where should we head next? I know we talked about Orleans, but it's pretty far, so the news of this might not have spread all the way there."

'

"That's true," Roman agreed and started typing. "I can check our database for any other nearby settlements, so give me a minute and I'll-"

'

"Too slow." Interrupting the Doctor's search with his words, Lemminkäinen turned to Ritsuka with a wink. "Give me a sec, Pomo." With that, he stepped a few meters away from them, crouched. and began muttering something inaudibly.

'

The girls and Roman could only look in disbelief. "Is he seriously...?" Yeah, he totally was. As magical energy gathered on the man's legs, the ground shook as he shot up like a rocket, making Mash's jump in Fuyuki look like a tiny hop. In just a few seconds, it was getting really difficult to see him due to the absurd distance, but Ritsuka could tell by strengthening her eyes that Lemminkäinen was slowly spinning around, trying to locate anything interesting in the horizon. The Doctor let out an impressed whistle. "Man, the heroes from the age of gods really are something else."

'

As the Saber came back down, his descent noticeably slowed a dozen or so meters before the ground, allowing him to land without any trouble. Ritsuka withheld a frown. Age of gods magecraft was just cheating. Straightening out his coat, Lemminkäinen pointed towards the northeast. "There's a fortress a good distance that way. Looked pretty beat up, but not totally deserted."

'

"A fortress?" Roman confirmed before clicking a few buttons as he looked at a screen to the side. "That would be Vaucouleurs, then. I'm not seeing any other settlements closer to your location."

'

Ritsuka nodded and gave the Saber a thumbs up. "It's the best place to start right now. Nice job, Lemminkäinen. How long do you think it'll take us to get there?"

'

In response, the man rubbed his chin while muttering something inaudibly for a few seconds, before giving what sounded like his best guess. "By walking, a few hours. If me and Mash run, maybe twenty minutes."

'

Ritsuka pondered on the words. The distance wasn't a problem for her to jog, especially if she reinforced her legs, but it would still take a while. On the other hand, having the Servants carrying her was much faster, but it would use magical energy if they went really fast. Although, running shouldn't use that much energy, and time was of the essence... Sure, a rough battle at this point would be unlikely, but not impossible. Ugh. Hopefully she wouldn't regret this later. Turning to her Servants, the redhead gave her orders. "Alright. We're heading to Vaucouleurs at full speed. Lemminkäinen will carry me, while you take care of Fou, Mash."

'

"Yes, Senpai," the girl nodded, moving Fou from her shoulder into her arms.

'

"You got it, Pomo." Before Ritsuka could even properly grasp what was happening, Lemminkäinen picked her up by the waist and held her under his arm, turning towards the northeast. "Here we go."

'

For a second, the Master couldn't say anything, her limbs just hanging towards the ground in his grasp. Then, her brain caught up with the absurdity, prompting her to shout. "Wait, what the hell do you think you're doing!?"

'

"Carrying you," the Saber noted, as if there was nothing wrong with what he was doing. Oh, she hated him so much right now.

'

"Like this!? The hell you are!" she growled, her long legs kicking in the air as she tried to position herself. "I can accept it in an emergency, but don't you dare carry me like literal luggage when we're just traveling!" Ritsuka twisted in his grasp, pushing against the arm holding her, but just trying to bend the limb was like trying to bend a steel beam. With a frustrated sigh, she blew her bangs out of her face and gave up on using force. This was still a Servant she was dealing with. "Just... carry me on your back."

'

Lemminkäinen groaned, as if he was the one being degraded at the moment. "Fine, fine. Just stop it with the wiggling." With shocking ease, he threw Ritsuka in the air with one arm, then bent over slightly while positioning his arms against his sides like loops. And before she could even think of anything, her legs slipped through said loops, which then tightened around her thighs, holding her in place. The Master was once again silenced by the sheer absurdity of the display. Lemminkäinen had just placed her in a perfect piggybacking position just like that. Was he used to carrying people or something? "Better?" he asked, prompting her to nod soundlessly. "Good. And, before we go, just let me cast a little something to protect you from the wind."

'

And just like that, his words took her speechlessness away. That wasn't something she could afford to ignore. "No need. I can do that myself," Ritsuka proclaimed, getting a raised eyebrow from the Saber, which prompted her to frown. "What's with that look? I may not be a powerful magus, but wind is still my specialty."

'

Lemminkäinen just turned his head back forward. "If you say so." Ritsuka withheld a snap at his unimpressed tone and just focused on the spell. Nothing could be gained by getting into an argument with him.

'

Roman looked at the situation with amusement, but was wise enough to at least hold back any comments. "Alright... We'll be using our instruments to check the route in front of you, just in case something pops up."

'
"Thanks. Ready to go, Mash?" Ritsuka asked, getting a smile and a nod from the Shielder. Good. Her barrier was in place as well. Pointing towards the northeast, the Master gave her order. "Then, let's head out!" And with the sentence barely finished, Lemminkäinen blasted off, prompting Ritsuka to immediately wrap her arms around him. Within seconds, the Saber had already left the destroyed village behind him, and was now weaving around trees in a dense forest with speed any sane person would question. She could barely keep her eyes open during the wild ride. It was like poking her head out of a car moving really fast, but way bumpier. Ritsuka could only thank God making wind barriers was one of her specialities.

'

'

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---

'

'

Just as Lemminkäinen had estimated, in around twenty minutes, the group reached the outskirts of Vaucouleurs, taking cover in the shrubbery along the treeline to observe the fort. As Mash let Fou down, she felt slightly... conflicted. Even if this wasn't her true time period, she was, for the first time, actually walking outside in nature. While she had of course seen them through the Simulator, it was like the Servants had said, that there really was a difference, no matter how small, between it and the real thing. She wished she could've spent some time taking this all in, but considering the importance of their mission, she understood the need to rush along. Still, being able to run across real forests and fields was an experience she never thought she would undergo, so she happily took it. If there was a moment of respite during all of this, then she would be more than glad to take the chance to observe the environment closer.

'

"This is the fort, huh?" Ritsuka noted while observing the structure. "The outer wall is more or less intact, but there's some notable damage to the towers in particular." Indeed, but the damage itself was strange to Mash's eye. Like her Senpai had said, while there wasn't that much damage on the walls, the towers all had... burn marks on them. Why only them?

'

Lemminkäinen nodded in agreement, eyes focused on the towers as well. "That at least rules out the possibility of a Servant attacking here. Unless they're a real weakling, busting through a wall like that wouldn't be that hard. Besides, the soldiers are still alive, even if they're roughed up."

'

"Then they would definitely have at least some information..." the Master muttered while rubbing her chin. After a few seconds, she snapped her fingers and pointed towards the road emerging from the forest. "Alright, we're approaching the fort from over there. Seeing us walking like regular travelers should definitely calm the soldiers down a bit, so they at least won't attack us immediately."

'

"Good idea. We'll let you know if we detect anything unusual," Roman noted, getting a hesitant nod from Ritsuka.

'

"Only if it's crucial. Hearing sounds out of nowhere is definitely suspicious, so don't contact us unless it's so, and try to keep the volume low if you do."

'

The Doctor nodded in agreement. "True enough. Alright, Roman out."

'

As the screen faded away, Ritsuka started walking towards the road while motioning the others to follow. "Come on, let's head in."

'

"Yes, Senpai," Mash nodded as she and Lemminkäinen joined their Master's side.

'

Suddenly, looking as if she'd remembered something, the redhead turned towards Mash, or more accurately, the one riding on her shoulder. "Before we go any further. Fou. Sorry about this, but could you hop over?" she asked apologetically, getting the critter to tilt his head questioningly. "We're trying to avoid suspicion, but you're just too cute to go unnoticed. I'll hold you under my cloak so that the Perception Guise keeps you practically invisible."

'

Mash felt like she'd missed the most obvious point imaginable as she looked at the critter in shock. "Ah! That's right." She was just so used to having Fou around at this point, that she hadn't even thought of him standing out, and apparently, neither had Ritsuka until just now.

'

Looking at the arm extended towards him, Fou seemed to ponder over the situation for a few seconds, until his ears and tail drooped. "Fouu..." While he didn't seem pleased with the situation, he still complied and hopped over to Ritsuka, who proceeded to give him a few compensatory pets.

'

"I know. We'll get you something tasty later as an apology." With that, she wrapped her arm around the critter before lowering it to her side and covering it with the cloak. None would be wiser to the presence of the fluffy animal.

'

After moving onto the road out of sight, the group started heading towards the fortress, trying to look as much like regular travelers as possible. At this point, the two guards at the gates noticed them as well, one nudging the other while pointing at them and saying something. Unfortunately, they both started looking nervous while gripping their spears, giving Mash a foreboding feeling. Would they be facing trouble before even getting into the fortress? Suddenly, Lemminkäinen gave Ritsuka a quick nudge, his face taking on a more serious appearance. "Pomo, you mind if I handle this?"

'

"...Fine," she confirmed after a second of thinking. Then, she shot a light frown at the Saber, as if to give a warning. "But if you mess this up by saying something stupid, there will be consequences."

'

"Ah, such cruel words," Lemminkäinen shrugged, already back to his usual, easygoing attitude. Rubbing his throat lightly, he then started doing something akin to voice exercise. "So, french, huh? Ahem... This should be right." Suddenly there was a barely noticeable distortion in his voice, like Mash was listening to it through a good transmission or something. That must've been the translation magic taking effect. With a dashing smile, the Saber greeted the guards with a wave. "Hey there, friends. Mind if we exchange a few words?"

'

The guardsmen exchanged surprised looks. They were still cautious, but their tension had dropped considerably thanks to the greeting. "Who are you? What do you want?"

'

"We're just travelers making our way away from all this nonsense. But, even in that condition, a fort is still a lot safer than just the woods, so we wondered if we could spend some time resting here before heading back out again?" Lemminkäinen continued, his confident smile doing wonders for the mood. And while he was speaking, both Mash and Ritsuka did their best to appear as amiable as possible by his side.

'

By this point, the guards seemed convinced enough, motioning them towards a door by the gate after a short moment of contemplation. "...Alright, you can enter. It's not the most comfortable spot to rest, but it's definitely safer than just a forest." And so, after one of the guards unlocked the door, the trio walked into the fort. As expected, the tall stone walls surrounding them had a notable ambiance. Being here in person was... quite exciting to Mash, say the least.

'

"That was... shockingly easy," Ritsuka whispered after they had taken some distance from the guards, and before they came to hearing distance of any more of them. Something Mash very much agreed with. It had been tremendously easy for them to enter.

'

The Saber just nodded stoically. "Those Perception Guises definitely helped, but we're not the only ones taking refuge here, so they weren't too suspicious of us."

'

The Master's expression faltered for an instant, only to turn stoic. "...Yes, well, good work either way." This only served to confuse Mash. 'They weren't the only ones'? She hadn't seen any signs of other refugees.

'

But as they entered the courtyard, what Lemminkäinen had meant immediately became obvious to her. "This is..." Wherever they looked, there were people. Most were huddled together in the courtyard, with some stragglers here and there. Men, women, young and old, but not soldiers, since they lacked weapons and uniforms. These were just normal villagers. And to make it all the more troubling, this was clearly far more people than the fort should hold. A large portion of the courtyard was far too much to spend on housing people.

'

Ritsuka rubbed her shoulder comfortingly once again, making her feel slightly better despite the new, depressing sight. "It's awful, but we need to gather information. The refugees are having a really rough time as they are. Let's try to find a soldier who looks to be in good enough condition to answer questions."

'

Mash leaned on the hand, grateful for the continuing care. "Yes, Senpai." She did her best to close the awful sight away from her mind. She had to remember: The fastest way to help these people was to recover the Grail and put an end to this Singularity.

'

"There, him," Lemminkäinen noted, pointing towards a lone guard leaning on some crates. "He's tired, but pretty calm, especially when compared to most of the others here. Definitely seen his share of battle before."

'

Ritsuka nodded approvingly. "Good catch. I trust you can take the lead on this one too?"

'

The Saber flashed her a thumbs up before beginning to walk towards the man, waving at him upon getting close enough. "Hey, you there. Mind if we ask something?"

'

"Hm?" The guard looked towards him in slight surprise, only to relax again upon actually seeing the caller. "Sure, I don't mind."

'

"Can you let us in on the current situation? We've obviously heard bits and pieces as we've traveled, but having a reliable source like a soldier makes it easier to separate truth from just rumors."

'

The relaxed expression vanished in an instant. "Yeah, figures it'd be something like that," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "...Where the hell do I even begin? Ever since the king died, everything has been a complete mess."

'

"Huh?" Mash shared a surprised look with Ritsuka, her widened eyes revealing that she too understood the strangeness of the words. "Dead? King Charles VII is dead?" That was without a question wrong. Charles VII was supposed to rule for another thirty years, until his death in 1461. Together with the destruction of Domrémy, this was the second great deviation from history they'd come across.

'

The guard just shook his head in disbelief. "So you don't even know that? The king was burned by a witch's flames."

'

"A witch, you say?" Lemminkäinen raised a brow, seeming a lot more interested in the topic now.

'

Nodding, the guard's expression fell, his face paleing somewhat as he continued. "It's 'Jeanne d'Arc'. She has risen again as the 'Dragon Witch'. England retreated quite a while ago, but where have we to run to? This is our home, but there's nothing we can do."

'

The man was beginning to sound truly desperate at this point, but that fell to the wayside at the moment as Mash heard a particular name. "Jeanne d'Arc is a witch and has been resurrected?" she repeated, sharing another concerned look with Ritsuka. So the famed saint being involved in this Singularity's distortion turned out to be true after all.

'

"Yes. I took part in the siege of Orleans and the ceremony, so I remember it well. Her hair and skin color are different, but there's no question that she's the saint from the past," the soldier confirmed, easing some doubts. Mash had wondered if what he had said was just a rumor at first, but him having seen Jeanne d'Arc personally did make the case more convincing. There would be much for their group to discuss later. Though considering how pale their informant had gotten at this point, maybe sooner would be better than later. "Hearing that she'd been captured by the English and burned at the stake, we trembled in fury. But, she was resurrected. And through a pact with the devil, no less!"

'

"The devil?" Ritsuka repeated in disbelief, getting a nod from the now frantic looking soldier.

'

"Yes! And now she has occupied Orleans, using it as a base of operations to attack the rest of the country! While there's been some resistance, normal soldiers are no match for those beasts she brings with her..." As the soldier fell silent, he leaned against a crate while covering his eyes. From his strained breathing, it wouldn't be a surprise if he passed out at any moment. Feelings of unease kept rising in Mash's heart. The man had seemed so calm when they first laid eyes on him, but now... After a few moments of silence, the soldier had calmed down enough to stop gasping for breath. Giving the three one final, tired glance, he began to walk away. "...I'm sorry, but I need to get to my post."

'

While there was certainly more information he could provide them with, none of the Chaldeans even attempted to stop the troubled man. He had answered more than enough of their inquiries. "Well, that was comforting," Ritsuka sighed, giving the soldier one final appreciative glance before turning back to her Servants. "But at the very least, we got plenty of information. Though I'm betting that instead of it being literally Lucifer who resurrected this witch, it's almost definitely the grail's work."

'

"A witch, huh?" Lemminkäinen muttered, rubbing his chin. In comparison to the frustration he had shown back in the village, there was now a spark of insight burning in his determined gaze. "That would explain it. Even if they're not a Rider, summoning Phantasmals is definitely something a powerful witch could do."

'

"You've got plenty of experience with witches. Any suggestions?" Ritsuka asked, looking at the Saber hopefully.

'

Unfortunately, he just shrugged. "Tough to say. Witches vary a lot when it comes to strength. In the best case scenario, this could be one that specializes in summoning, meaning that taking her down in direct combat shouldn't be too hard."

'

"And the worst case?" Mash asked, almost fearing the answer.

'

As Lemminkäinen started grinning, his being full of confidence, she got hopeful of his answer. But... "The witch is an extremely powerful all rounder. Someone that doesn't need to summon beasts, but does it because it just makes things easier and quicker." Hearing the words, Mash felt... extremely conflicted. While the possibility of what he said should have terrified her, the confidence on the Saber's face somehow managed to completely nullify it. The only logical explanation she could think of, was that it was because he had full confidence in his ability to defeat this witch, no matter how powerful she may be. Frankly, Mash had always found Lemminkäinen to be quite strange, but in a situation like this, his unshakeable confidence was just the thing she needed to truly believe in their chances of victory. Judging by the smile spreading on her lips, Ritsuka felt much the same by her side. And, there was still a plausible chance that the witch could be of the first variety, giving Mash some more comfort as she started smiling as well.

'

But it was then that the Saber's eyes widened suddenly, his body tensing as his head snapped towards the east. Startled by the sudden movement, both of the girls shared a look as Lemminkäinen started to chuckle, his grin spreading wide enough to threaten to split his face apart. "Well, damn. Master, Mash, get ready."

'

Ritsuka shared another confused look with the Shielder before turning back to Lemminkäinen to demand an explanation. "Huh? Wha- Saber!?" Only for the man to blast away as he hopped on top of the fort's wall in a single bound, leaving the Master standing there, mouth agape. As Mash shifted her gaze between the two, Ritsuka clenched her fist, air hissing out through her grit teeth. "No now hell..." By the faintest distortion in her voice and the absurdity of the words, Mash could only conclude that she had actually spoken in Finnish. With a deep sigh, Ritsuka moved right by the Shielder's side, wrapping her arm around her shoulder. "There's almost definitely trouble heading our way. Let's follow him, Mash."

'

Realizing that wrapping the arm around her shoulder was a cue for her to carry Ritsuka, Mash quickly crouched and placed her arms around the redhead's thighs and upper back, lifting her off the ground. "Y-yes, Master!"

'

Hoping no one would spot them, she hopped on top of one of the buildings of the fort before ascending to the wall itself, only for Roman's anxious voice to suddenly erupt from the Master's Multi-Appliance. "Ritsuka! There's some serious trouble!"

'

Landing on the wall, Mash let Ritsuka down and they started running towards Lemminkäinen, still staring towards the east. "Yeah, Saber already noticed. What's going on?"

'

"One kilometer from your location is a great number of large lifeforms! They're moving towards the fort fast!"

'

Ritsuka's seriousness grew, moving to the Saber's side to try and see what he was looking at. "Probably whatever destroyed that village."

'

"More like definitely, because holy shit you can't be serious!" Dio's astonished yell rang from the communicator, slightly disturbed by the increasingly loud background noise from Chaldea. It seemed like the entire Command Room was getting unsettled by whatever was approaching them. Put together with the Spaniard's shocked tone, the Demi-Servant was hardly filled with confidence in their situation. "When that guard said 'Dragon' Witch, he wasn't kidding!"

'

As she also joined her two companions, the Shielder followed their lines of sight until her eyes picked up the faint, moving dots on the horizon. "Visual confirmed on likely hostiles!" Mash exclaimed upon spotting the forms of the approaching creatures. But as they got closer and she realized what they were, the Shielder genuinely doubted what she was seeing. Something like this would've been impossible in basically any era, let alone in 15th century France. "But that... It can't be..." In terms of size, she estimated them to be comparable to a saltwater crocodile, which was fitting, seeing how they appeared to be fellow reptiles. But, there were a few key differences. First were the horns growing from their heads, while the strange, mace-like tips of their tails were the second. And of course, the most obvious difference: Their front legs were replaced by large, leathery wings.

'

"Wyverns..." Ritsuka muttered in equal disbelief, confirming to Mash that she really wasn't seeing things. There really was a group of large, flying reptiles heading their way. "There's seriously wyverns, and that many too!"

'

"Twenty of the damn things." Lemminkäinen let out an impressed whistle as he kept eyeing the beasts. "So these are wyverns, huh? Like I've heard, they're basically big lizards that traded their front legs for wings." Mash's disbelieving stare now moved from the wyverns to the Saber. In the face of these terrifying creatures approaching him, he was admiring them like a botanist would a rare flower. She could only wonder where that confidence stemmed from. That is, until his expression suddenly turned grim. "Seeing what they did to that village, this fort would be basically doomed. Regular soldiers are no match for them. If there were just one or two of them, maybe, but they can't hold out against that many."

'

As if on cue, bells started ringing in the fort's belfry and a terrified voice began shouting orders. "Wyverns! The wyverns are here! Soldiers, men, take up your weapons! If you don't resist, they'll eat you! Women and children need to hide! You'll get burned!" For a moment, Mash had to wonder if her translation was off. The soldiers were planning on fighting the wyverns? That was insane! Like Lemminkäinen had said, normal humans would be of no match to this horde. Looking around, she could tell that every single one of the soldiers was absolutely terrified, so why were they still preparing to fight? Why weren't they preparing to evacuate? But then, grim reality set in as she turned her attention to the wyverns again. By her estimation, they would reach the fort in less than a minute, meaning that evacuation of any kind would be absolutely impossible. While a horse with a single rider might be fast enough to escape the wyverns on favorable terrain, a carriage carrying refugees would stand no chance. Fighting was quite literally their only hope for survival, no matter how slim. Lemminkäinen had realized it immediately, and judging by the troubled look in Ritsuka's eyes, she understood it as well. All of which lead Mash to her next dilemma: What should they do? Should they stay and fight, or escape? The conflicted expression on her Master's face told her that she was thinking of the exact same thing. Of course, Mash wished to help the people of Vaucouleurs, but this wasn't like the Simulator. There would be permanent, lasting consequences for any injuries here, especially for Ritsuka. She was the last Master humanity had to offer, making her life incomparably valuable to everything else, while saving the people here would ultimately be accomplished by the restoration of this era. Not to mention that the wyverns, with malice and ferocity oozing from them noticeable even from this distance, were absolutely terrifying. Faced with such fierce beasts, Mash doubted she would be able to defeat that many of them in a straight up fight. Certainly, the only sensible option would be for them to take Ritsuka and retreat as far away from here as possible... Even as... the people here... would be eaten alive...

'

But, all that was pushed out of Mash's mind as Lemminkäinen suddenly started laughing at the top of his lungs, her and Ritsuka staring at him in disbelief. "Well, I did say that this fort 'would be' basically doomed." Once more a mountain of confidence, the man took the bow off his back and nocked an arrow, aiming at the approaching horde without a hint of fear. "But unfortunately for the beasties, it currently has two Servants occupying it!" As one of the wyverns opened its mouth, flames gathered in its throat as it prepared to unleash a blast of fire upon the group. But, while it would have been enough to both frighten and kill any normal human, the attack was currently aimed at a Servant. Specifically, a Servant from the age of gods, famous for dealing with several creatures beyond the comprehension of common man. Lemminkäinen grinned wildly as he pulled the string of his bow to its very limit, his bulging muscles visible even through his coat as magical energy flowed into the tip of the arrow. "If this ain't the job for a hero, then I don't know what is!"

'

The arrow was released with enough force to send a shockwave through the air, flying too fast for the human eye to see. Before the targeted wyvern could even comprehend the attack, the missile dispersed the ball of fire in its mouth, pierced the back of its throat, and blasted out of the back of its neck. With a geysir of blood and a sickening gurgle of a roar, the beast rapidly lost altitude until impacting with the ground, leaving only a corpse in a crater. Mash could only blink in surprise. "You... You got one." The beasts had seemed so fierce, so powerful, yet one of them had died just like that...

'

Lemminkäinen just nodded casually, clearly enjoying the angered reaction he received from the remaining wyverns. "Obviously. No matter how fierce they seem, they're beasts just like any other. They'll die if their vitals are pierced by steel." Turning to face the Shielder, the man wore a serious expression. "Mash, I'm leaving Pomo's safety to you. Think you can handle that?"

'

A question that snapped Mash out of her astonishment. That's right! Even if she wasn't as capable as the others, she was a Servant as well, so no matter how terrifying the wyverns looked, she still had a chance of beating them. If nothing else, she would protect Senpai from suffering any injuries. Materializing her shield, she mustered all of her determination into her reply. "Y-yes! No harm will befall Senpai, I swear!"

'

"Nice answer," Lemminkäinen grinned, giving her an approving thumbs up. With that, he hopped on top of the parapet as magical energy began gathering on his legs, winking at the two. "Well, I'll see you in a bit." And before either Mash or Ritsuka could say anything, he blasted towards the wyverns with astounding momentum and a questionable amount of flips. "Wooohooo!" As Lemminkäinen cheered, the beasts seemed just as shocked as the girls, giving him a further edge in the conflict. With the speed of his strike accelerated by the flips, the Saber brought his sword down into the head of the first wyvern, killing it almost instantly. But, before the beast could even lose altitude, Lemminkäinen pulled his blade free and ran a few steps on its back, leaping sword first towards the next wyvern above him. Due to the sudden attack and positioning, wyvern number two didn't fare much better than the first, its flailing legs missing the target as the assaulting Servant plunged his sword deep into its guts, spilling them out as he slashed forward. As blood and organs rained down around him, the Saber just grinned like a madman, already moving towards his next target. Mash could hardly believe her eyes. Lemminkäinen was without a doubt having the time of his life.

'

"This guy..." Ritsuka chuckled while shaking her head. However, seriousness quickly took over her features as she turned to her other Servant. "But, he has the right idea. Mash, while he's going wild outside, we're protecting the people here by making our stand on this wall! Don't let a single wyvern through!"

'

Encouraged further by the clear orders, Mash nodded with a smile. "Yes, Master!" Slamming her shield down, she made sure to position herself so that nothing could get between her and Ritsuka. As Ritsuka raised her arms, Fou hopped down from under her cloak, letting her use both of her hands if necessary. The critter shook himself, not used to being held for such long periods of time, before moving his gaze to Mash. That's right. Here was another person for her to protect. "Fou, please stay close to her!"

'

"Kyuu!" he barked, staying by Ritsuka's side while being careful not to get tangled in her legs.

'

"...I can't say that's the wisest decision, but since you've made up your minds, we'll do all we can to support you from here," Roman offered through the comm, prompting Ritsuka to nod gratefully.

'

"Thanks, Doctor."

'

Moving her eyes to the ongoing battle on the ground, Mash couldn't help but to be impressed with the intuition Lemminkäinen had shown in the situation. By attacking the wyverns directly, he had made himself their main source of attention, thus keeping them away from the fort. Putting his A-rank Agility to use, he eluded their swarming attacks by deftly weaving between their large bodies, leaving deep slashes from his sword in return. He was also keeping most of them from just attacking from range with their flames by countering with his arrows, forcing a large number of the wyverns to just chase him around. Unfortunately, there were simply too many of them to hold off on his own. While the Saber and its brethren kept each other busy, one of the wyverns locked its sights onto Mash, letting out a hateful roar as it started heading right towards her. But, thankfully, she wasn't alone, and could feel the magical energy flow from Ritsuka to her intensifying. "Here comes the first one! Get ready, Mash!"

'

"Yes!" Mash raised her shield, making sure that their assailant didn't have even the faintest thought of attacking the girl behind her as it charged. Thankfully, there was no need to worry, given the way the Shielder could feel the animosity flowing at her from the beast. Its jaws were without a doubt aimed to take her life. Waiting at just the right moment, she saw her opening as the wyvern snapped at her, jumping to the side to evade its fangs while delivering a powerful blow to its neck with her shield, causing it to crash down onto the wall. However, unlike what she expected, the reptile was quick to rise again, growling at her furiously. The only signs that she had even hit it were some missing scales on its neck. Mash was... honestly astonished. She had expected them to be strong, but... "This is..."

'

Ritsuka shared her reaction, gritting her teeth. "It took a hit from a Servant and that's all? They might be a weaker variant, but they really are dragons." Just then, the Master's head snapped towards something else prompting Mash to carefully follow her gaze. Her eyes widened as she realized what that something was. Another wyvern had left the group, circling around them towards the preparing soldiers. They wouldn't stand a chance, but the Shielder couldn't just run to them with this other one so close to Ritsuka. "Damn it, that one is try-"

'

But just as the wyvern attempted to attack, Lemminkäinen fired an arrow at it while flipping over another beast, piercing a wing and causing it to fall to the ground flailing. The two girls both let out a sigh of relief. Mash didn't even want to imagine how this battle would have gone without him he-

'

SCRRCH

'

An ear splitting screeching filled the air as Mash barely managed to raise her shield in time to block the wyvern lunging at her. While its teeth were unable to damage her protection, the sudden attack had caused her heart to jump into her throat.

'

"Don't focus on anything else!" Ritsuka yelled from behind her. "We can't afford to worry about others before we take this one down!"

'

Mash took a deep breath as the wyvern was preparing to lunge again. Of course, her Master was right. Unlike Lemminkäinen, she lacked the luxury to worry about protecting more than a single person at the moment, meaning she had to focus all of her effort on this one task. "Understood, Master!" She had to finish this quickly, before any more of them showed up. If several of these wyverns attacked from multiple directions at once, protecting Ritsuka would become astronomically more difficult.

'

But just as the Shielder managed to calm herself even slightly, Roman's anxious voice called from the Multi-Appliance. "Ritsuka, there's another problem."

'

Mash's anxiety skyrocketed at the words, while Ritsuka's voice didn't betray a hint of fear, even if she sounded quite frustrated. "Seriously? This is getting even worse?"

'

"Possibly," the Doctor muttered unsurely, giving an answer that nearly made Mash's heart stop. "There's another Servant close to your location."

'

'

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'

'

Close to the border of Vaucouleurs, a lone figure wrapped in white cloth ran along the treeline, eyes filled with worry. From what little she had heard, she had expected the situation to be bad, but this was far worse than what she could have imagined.

'

Her home had already been burned to the ground by these wyverns, and they still weren't satisfied. On the walls, regular soldiers were doing their best to fend off the beasts, both for their own protection and for the citizens still rushing for cover. Vaucouleurs was quite close to her, given that she'd spent several months here while she was still alive. And that only made seeing it like this all the more painful.

'

But, there at least was something favorable in the current situation: The fort was at the moment being defended by two Servants. The first, the man with red hair, was making good progress in cutting down the beasts' numbers. Judging by his strength and weapon of choice, he was more than likely a Saber. The other one was more of a mystery. While clearly weaker in direct confrontation, the way she wielded a large shield made it likely she was a Servant specializing in defense. But it also made discerning her class that much more difficult. If only she hadn't lost her abilities to discern these things...

'

The maiden let out a sigh and shook her head. There was still far too much she didn't understand of the current situation, but this wasn't the time to mull over possibilities. The Servants were holding their own well, but the normal soldiers and citizens hiding within the walls were still in grave danger. She could talk to the two and request their cooperation after the wyverns had been dealt with. The Saber was doing a fine job at distracting the beasts on the ground, so she should join the other one on the walls to make sure none of the wyverns made it past them.

'

Gripping her flag tightly and making sure that both it and her body were properly covered in the cloth she'd picked up, the third Servant rushed into battle.

'

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'

'

"Heads up! The unknown Servant is on the move!" Roman's yell informed them through the comm, but Mash was far too busy to worry about that at the moment. The wyvern lunged at her once more, its claws leaving large gashes into the stone as she jumped out of the way. She proceeded to smash her shield into one of its legs, getting it to start wobbling as it lost its balance. Before it could regain its stability, Mash tackled its chest shield first, pushing the beast backwards quickly until it hit the parapet and completely lost its balance. The reptile fell over the edge, its claws scraping against the wall as it tried to slow itself down during the tumble, but failed to do so until it hit the ground.

'

Ritsuka let out a relieved sigh, patting the Shielder on the back. "Nice work, Mash. And yes. I see them, Roman," she confirmed, looking towards the edge of the woods. Using her brief moment of respite, Mash quickly gazed over as well, spotting a person wrapped in white cloth holding what appeared to be a long spear of some kind, also wrapped up, jumping on top of the fortress wall and beginning to run along it towards her. With how covered they were, discerning their appearance was difficult, but she was quite sure that she spotted some blond hair under the hood. She was admittedly even more nervous than before. Where did this person even come from, and why? Were they associated with the beasts or was this just a coincidence. Fighting these wyverns was bad enough, but a Servant joining into the mix would just be catastrophic. Just then, Mash's attention was taken as another wyvern flew out of the swarm, heading towards the fort. As it did, the approaching Servant also stopped, leaving a bit over hundred meters between them and the girls. The beast's attention shifted between them, until deciding to approach the covered Servant. That was at least good, since it allowed her to discern their true intentions. As Mash raised her shield in anticipation for a possible confrontation, the wyvern swooped down towards the new Servant with a roar and... Was promptly impaled by their spear.

'

Mash's mouth fell slightly agape at the sight. The unknown Servant pierced the wyvern's chest with their long spear before pushing it over the edge of the wall, sending it crashing down onto the ground, where it remained motionless. As she turned her attention back on the Servant, they gave her a quick nod of acknowledgement before positioning themselves better as another wyvern headed towards them. Taking this chance, Mash quickly turned to Ritsuka, who appeared as puzzled as her. "They're attacking the wyverns as well, Master? Could they be an ally?"

'

"Maybe, but we should still keep an eye on them and be cautious, just in case it's a trick of some kind," she nodded, a hopeful smile spreading on her lips. "Although I really hope they are. We could use all the help we can get."

'

"Definitely," Roman agreed. "We see them as well. Any clue on their identity from your side?"

'

Ritsuka shook her head, trying to examine the Servant currently fighting another wyvern. "No clue. The clothes are too generic. The Servant's wielding something like a polearm, so maybe they're a Lancer? But, they're not that strong, so maybe a Rider? No, wait, they lack the Riding-skill..." As she mumbled on, Mash's attention was caught by a certain description. 'Not that strong'? But they had taken the wyvern out with such ease, and were currently taking care of the second one quite handily. Meanwhile, she had only managed to knock the wyvern she'd fought off the wall, not even killing it... But before the Shielder could sink any further into her thoughts, an annoyed grunt caught her attention. "Argh! Whatever! We'll worry about those details later! More incoming!"

'

As Mash looked towards the battle raging on the ground, she noticed a couple more wyverns heading towards them. Some of them were clearly starting to realize that Lemminkäinen was a far more challenging prey compared to those in the fort. The new Servant quickly took some distance from the Shielder and her Master, before hopping on top of one of the wall's towers, waving their long spear to attract the beasts. An act that paid off, seeing how two of the three wyverns chose them as their target. "The guy is positioning themself so that the wyverns are funneled between the three of you. That's good, since it keeps the soldiers out of their attention. Seems like this Servant is experienced in fighting against large groups of enemies," Roman noted.

'

"That's actually really helpful," Ritsuka agreed, moving behind the Shielder as the third wyvern approached them. "Here it comes, Mash!"

'

As the roaring reptile got closer, Mash felt a familiar rush of energy flowing through her, though it was a bit weaker than she'd remembered. This must've been the Combat Mystic Code's reinforcing spell. Still, even if it was weaker, it would definitely be enough. Kicking off the ground, she took full use of the reinforcement as she burst towards the wyvern shield raised at full speed. In an attempt to retaliate, the beast shot a blast of flame at her, but it was easily dispersed as her shield rammed through it like a train before impacting on the wyverns chest. A wheezing snarl forced its way from the beast's throat, along with a sickening crunching from its chest, but Mash forced herself to ignore both as she followed up on her tackle with a full force blow with her shield. "Haaaa!" Swinging her shield in a long arc with both of her hands, the Shielder smashed her armament down into the wyvern's skull with all her might, being rewarded with a burst of blood as its eyes rolled over and it collapsed onto the wall. The beast no longer moved, nor showed even the slightest signs of life, so Mash quickly turned away to face Ritsuka, not wanting to look at it or even acknowledge the sudden warm, wet feeling on her head. "...Hostile eliminated. Thank you, Mas-"

'

"Another one!" The redhead suddenly screamed, prompting Mash to snap around immediately. As she did, she was met with a furious wyvern rising over the parapet, a clear patch of missing scales on its neck. This was the one she had knocked off the wall first, back for revenge. It had probably flown straight up from the ground, leaving them unable to see it coming until it reached the top of the wall. Still, while the initial encounter had surprised her, she now knew that she was capable of taking these wyverns down in a one-on-one fight. Even if the Mystic Code's boost had run out, victory was still very much achievable. It'd just take a few more attacks. As the furious reptile launched at her jaws open, she raised her shield and-

'

Mash's thoughts slowed down to a halt as a droplet of blood dripped off her bangs, glittering right in front of her eye in all its crimson glory as it fell. The blood of something she'd just killed... Both the roaring beast in front of her and the muffled scream from behind disappeared into the background as Mash's attention fell solely on the dead wyvern close by. Specifically, the large laceration on its head, shaped perfectly like the base of her shield...

'

ZZHASH

'

A bullet of sickening black light shot past Mash's head and struck the wyvern in the mouth, forcing it to convulse in pain. In an instant, the curse of the Mystic Code's 'Super Gandr' spread throughout its body with frightening results. On the fleshy areas free of scales, veins popped to the surface, appearing ready to burst at any moment, while foam started rising from the beast's throat as its pupils dilated. In that instant, it appeared sick without question, a sight that made Mash feel sick as well...

'

"Now, Mash!" Snapped out of her contemplation by Ritsuka's yell, Mash shook her head to brush the thoughts aside and charged again, slamming her entire shield into the wyvern's stomach as hard as she could. The beast toppled over the edge once more, but this time, there was no scraping sound, only a single, loud boom as the wyvern crashed into the ground head first. Peeking over the edge to confirm the result, Mash saw her foe sprawled on the ground below, not moving a single inch. Not even to breathe. A part of her was relieved... But another part was once again feeling awful.

'

Ritsuka walked to her side, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. "That's two down for us. Good work, Mash." After a few seconds of silence, the redhead raised her hand, looking at the black glove of the Combat Mystic Code in a mix of awe and aversion. "But geez, Dio was not kidding about this thing. I've never used it against anything living before, but it's totally terrifying. And this was the result against a wyvern. He said that 'it's gonna turn people into sauce' if I shot a human with it, and it seems that he 100% meant it."

'

Mash nodded weakly. "...Yes." She genuinely hoped that she would never have to witness that.

'

As her eyes wandered, Mash's gaze ended up on the Saber surrounded by wyverns. Jumping over and slipping under them while dealing out grave wounds with his sword in the process, despite the danger and the blood splashing on him, the man grinned more widely than ever. Ritsuka shook her head, letting out a soft laugh. "Just look at him go. The idiot is having the time of his life." Indeed. Lemminkäinen had by himself already taken down six of the wyverns and severely wounded several more, making the fight that much easier for the other two Servants. The fact that they were so focused on him made keeping Senpai safe much more manageable, due to a lack of attacks from multiple directions. Still, it wasn't that their enemies were losing steam, which concerned Mash. Given that the wyverns had lost approximately half of their numbers, she would've thought that the remaining ones would start acting more cautious, or possibly flee, but they acted just as aggressively as when they first appeared. It was honestly... quite frightening.

'

KABOOM

'

The sudden blast surprising them, Mash and Ritsuka turned around to see a smoking cannon aimed at the wyverns by some of the fortress guards on top of one of the towers. "The soldiers are joining the fight too, then," the Master mumbled, watching as more joined in, beginning to bombard the beasts circling above Lemminkäinen. Unexpectedly, they noticeably winced upon taking a hit, being forced onto the ground by the impacts, where the eager Saber was waiting. Most notably, one wyvern had a hole blown into the membrane of its wing by a blast, something Ritsuka seemed very interested in. "Huh... While not enough to kill them with a single shot, cannons are at least strong enough to hurt the wyverns. That's good to know." Yet, there was an issue with all this. Most notably, some of the wyverns found the cannons firing at them far more pressing as targets, beginning to fly towards the fort. "...Unfortunately, they also attract attention. Mash, get ready."

'

"Yes," the Shielder nodded, raising her shield in anticipation once more. It, along with the new Servant waving their spear, served as excellent attractions for the approaching wyverns. Two of them headed for the mystery Servant, while a single one headed for Mash, something she was shamefully relieved over. However, she then noticed a fourth wyvern approaching, flying higher than the others. Her eyes widened as she realized it was aiming for the soldiers working the cannons, and began thinking of a way to attract its attention. Should she throw a rock at it? Certainly, she could throw one hard enough to get it to notice her, but could she hit it in the first place? If not, then what could she do? Perhaps Ritsuka could hit it or...?

'

Fortunately for them, and unfortunately for the wyvern, the resident Saber had sharp eyes and was skilled with a bow, blasting a hole in its wing, dooming the beast to a deadly freefall. "Throats and bellies! Those are the soft parts to deal a finishing blow to!" he yelled while jumping over another wyvern, slashing its back in the process. A-rank Agility was really something to behold. "Inside of the mouth works too, but that's a bit more risky!" As if to immediately contradict himself, Lemminkäinen stabbed his sword into the palate of a wyvern trying to bite him, instantly killing it without much care. "And obviously, taking out the wings while they're in the air is handy as well!"

'

Ritsuka sighed while patting Mash on the shoulder. "A bit late on the advice, but he's right, Mash. I'll give you another boost, so practice knocking the wyvern down and crush its throat with your shield while it's active. You should be able to do it to the other ones without a boost once you get the hang of it."

'

"...Yes, Master," the Shielder nodded, even if she didn't like the thought itself. Still, this was her duty as a Servant, so turning it down wouldn't be an option. As her third wyvern for the day approached, Mash tensed, raising her shield in anticipation for when it would get close enough to strike. As it drew closer, the reptile made a quick turn, beginning to circle them as it picked up speed. Unlike the other two, it seemed that this one intended to charge in at full speed instead of landing first. A tactic that might've worked, if its opponent didn't have such a large shield. As the wyvern began to charge, the Shielder was filled with energy through the Mystic Code's reinforcement and started a charge of her own. The resulting collision wasn't even a contest, as judging by the disturbing sound, the shield impacting with the wyvern's chest completely demolished its ribs, ending up with it falling on its back and its opponent landing on top. As it still attempted to bite her, the Shielder raised her armament over its exposed neck with a cry. "Haaahh!" Slamming her shield down as hard as she could, a nauseating crunch confirmed to Mash that she had indeed finished the beast off, its head falling down limply. But, despite her victory, she couldn't sweep aside the awful feeling still troubling her. She even knew the source of it. Up until now, she hadn't faced off against a proper living being. In Fuyuki, all she had fought were the skeletons, which broke apart upon defeat, and Servants which, despite their wounds, quickly faded away without a trace after taking enough damage. And while she had fought against different types of beasts in the Simulator, they too faded away upon defeat. But these wyverns were different. They were actual living creatures that left behind flesh and blood upon dying, made evident by the blood still splattered on both her body and her shield. But why was she having these distracting thoughts in the first place? Both Lemminkäinen and the unknown Servant were performing extraordinarily in the face of these identical enemies, while she was the only one having trouble. It wasn't experience, since the Saber was fighting against wyverns for the first time as well, and he wasn't having any trouble. Could it be the choice of weapon? Possible, but very unlikely. While Mash wielded a shield in comparison to the bladed weapons of the others, the outcome was ultimately the same. The most logical answer remaining was that it was due to some personal issue of hers, which only frustrated the Shielder further. This shouldn't be happening! She couldn't let her personal feelings hinder her usefulness to Senpai! If she was to become the best Servant she could be, she would need to-!

'

"Mash!"

'

Ritsuka's scream, along with a sensation of her left arm being yanked hard, snapped Mash back to reality as she found herself staring straight at a wyvern diving towards her. Confusion and shock setting in, even as she was being pulled down, she instinctively raised her shield to block the oncoming claws aiming to tear her to pieces, but she was just the most miniscule of a moment late. As the beast swooped past them, the loud screeching of metal filled her ears along with a stinging pain on her upper arm. Even if she'd mostly dodged the hit, the wyverns' claws were large, so even the slightest hit would leave a noticeably mark, thus there was now a deep, painful gash on her right shoulder.

'

Having just barely avoided a possibly lethal wound, the girls crashed down onto the wall, further pain running through Mash's arm as blood gushed out of her wound. But before she could even think of getting up, Ritsuka was practically on top of her, expression filled with concern. "Mash! Are you alright!?" Her eyes widened further as she noticed the deep cut on the Shielder's flesh, but there was still a hopeful spark to them as she moved her hands towards it. "Hold on, I'll heal your shoulder up right aw-"

'

But before the redhead could do anything, Mash's eyes locked on to a different target behind her. One that was far more pressing at the moment. "The wyvern!" she screamed, pushing Ritsuka aside with her healthy arm as the beast approached them once more, intending to finish them off. Its open mouth gathering flames was preparing to roast them alive, but Mash was confident that her shield could protect them without iss- "Ah!?" escaped the Shielder's mouth. She couldn't raise her arm. While the arm on her Master's side was fine, the arm that had gotten injured, the one next to her shield laying on the ground, didn't move no matter how much effort she put into it. In the instant before the wyvern attacked, her mind desperately searched for a cause, only to discover the most obvious, yet fatal one. The tendon on her shoulder had been cut! With the positioning of the wound and the amount of bleeding it should have been obvious, but it just hadn't registered in her mind until now. This was catastrophic! An injury like this wouldn't be difficult to heal with the Mystic Codes, but she'd need her arm this instant! Healing it before the wyvern reached them just wasn't possible! And to make it all worse, this was entirely her own fault! If she hadn't gotten distracted by her thoughts to the point where she hadn't even noticed this new wyvern approaching, they'd never be in this situation! Her unnecessary thoughts had placed Senpai in direct danger! And as the beast approached, with no other plan in mind, Mash jumped in front of Ritsuka, pushing her back to at the very least shield her from the deadly claws. "Senpai, I'm sor-!"

'

SHNK

'

A flash of light from the side distracted Mash for just a blink of an eye, and as soon as she realized what it had been, the danger was effectively over. Blood sputtered from the wyvern's mouth as a familiar, golden handle jutted out of its neck, with the blade attached to it emerging from the other side. Mash blinked in disbelief. Lemminkäinen had noticed their blight and thrown his sword all the way here to help them? Ah, but wouldn't that mean-!

'

Just as she feared, as the Shielder's gaze snapped towards the owner of the blade, he was now unarmed and the wyverns were still swarming him, one in particular quickly approaching, eager to exploit this opportunity. She wanted to dash over to help, but the throw hadn't quite finished the wyvern attacking her off, seeing how it was still fumbling on its legs. Going now would put Senpai behind her at risk, and it was obvious which of them she should prioritize, but should she really just stand by while-

'

Fwoosh

'

At first, Mash thought the wyvern was going to attack her with more fire upon noticing sparks emerge from its throat, but that guess went quickly out of the window as she saw the beast's head get blown off by an explosion of flame, with the source bursting towards Lemminkäinen with startling speed. She could only stare in disbelief as the Saber's sword discharged flames from its blade with such power, that it looked like a rocket as it propelled towards its owner. Clearly knowing it was coming, Lemminkäinen nimbly sidestepped out of the way as a wyvern tried to bite him, extending his hand backwards towards his weapon. And then, using the sword's rocket-like momentum to his advantage, he grabbed it without letting it slow down as another explosion of flame propelled the blade towards its target, moving his entire arm with it as he swung, decapitating the wyvern in a single strike.

'

Mash felt her mouth falling agape at the display. It had happened in an instant, to the point where she would've missed it had she blinked. Certainly, she had trained with the man quite a few times in the Simulator, but she had never seen him use his sword like that. Had he kept it a secret? Did their Master know about this? Desiring an answer, she turned towards Ritsuka, only for her to groan with a frown. "OK, now he's absolutely just showing off." ...Yes. She definitely knew already.

'

"Hmm, I see..." Emiya muttered through the communication. "At first, I thought it was just a sword that simply emitted flames, but this is interesting. To think that it could be used with such extraordinary fidelity."

'

"Hey! Eyes to yourself, you damn Noble Phantasm thief!" Cú Chulainn's voice echoed right afterwards. "But man does he look like he's having a good time. You think I could get a turn later, Master?"

'

"Me too! Fighting those things in the air looks like a really golden-"

'

"If you have nothing constructive to add, then stop distracting us!" Ritsuka irately screamed over the noises of battle, quieting the communication instantly. Huffing with slight satisfaction, she then turned towards Mash, expression growing concerned once more. "Give me your arm, quickly, before any more show up." Not able to look the redhead in the eyes over her shame, she complied, the soothing flow of energy washing away the pain almost instantly. Unfortunately, it did nothing to how the Shielder was feeling on the inside, both over her success in the battle, and her failure. Wordlessly, she picked up her shield and stood up, only to be stopped by the hand still on her shoulder. Before Mash could question the act, another hand lifted her chin, bringing her face-to-face with Ritsuka, looking at her with worry equal to the time Archer attacked them in Fuyuki. "Mash, I realize that something is wrong, but I need you to focus on this fight. If you keep getting distracted, you could end up seriously hurt, or worse!" Mash blinked in disbelief over the choice of words. She could end up hurt? Even after what just happened, Ritsuka was still more worried over her than herself? As Mash continued to stare, the redhead moved her hand up to her cheek, holding on gently. "I know it's a lot to ask, but can you try to put whatever is troubling you aside for now? We can talk about it later, when we're not being attacked."

'

Mash really couldn't comprehend what she was feeling at the moment. Disappointment over making Ritsuka worry so much? Happiness over being worried over so much? But even if she didn't understand, she knew what she had to do at this very moment. "...Yes, Senpai," she nodded, leaning against the hand on her cheek with a smile. Her Senpai's hands were always so gentle, whether she was in her room or on a battlefield. But, she couldn't cling onto her any longer, given their situation, so the Shielder pulled back, the brightness of her smile not fading a hint. "And thank you." She would need to put these stray thoughts aside for now and fully focus on combat, for Ritsuka's sake if nothing else.

'

Worry fading from her face, the redhead's smile started matching Mash's own. "Good. I'll keep counting on you."

'

The rest of the battle was ultimately quite uneventful, only lasting a few minutes. With the wyverns' diminishing numbers, it was getting easier and easier for Lemminkäinen to take them down, especially with the fort's cannons concussing them from time to time. Along with that, since the beasts seemed generally more interested in the new Servant, Mash only had to fight one more wyvern, and even if she still felt awful by the end of it, she managed to keep those feelings down for now. With the Saber finishing off the hoarding reptiles, he was left standing on a field of a dozen corpses while the final wyvern eventually fell to a stab through the heart from the mystery Servant's polearm, letting out one last growl before collapsing unmoving onto the ground. Almost immediately, the soldiers started cheering, sounds of celebration echoing throughout the area. And while she wasn't as happy with her own results, Mash was still unbelievably relieved that the battle had ended.

'

"And that's the last of them. No more hostiles detected," Roman announced through the communicator, relief obvious in his own voice. "Excellent work, girls. Vaucouleurs is safe."

'

Dio let out an impressed whistle. "Damn. Admittedly, I was a bit worried when the wyverns showed up, but this went way better than I expected. It doesn't seem like even a single civilian got hurt. That's the combined fighting prowess of three Servants for you."

'

"The common soldiers did fine as well," Da Vinci added. "I suppose seeing individuals take down several of the beasts did wonders to their morale."

'

Ritsuka ran to Mash's side, patting her shoulder with a smile. "Nicely done, Mash. Even if there were a few bumps along the way, you really pulled through in the end."

'

Mash did her best to match the smile, even if she felt that her Senpai was giving her way too much credit. "T-thank you, Senpai. I was worried a quite few times during the battle, but with your support and the strength of the others, we managed to protect the fort."

'

"That we did." The redhead's smile then faded somewhat, her eyes moving to the Shielder's hair, then her legs, and finally her shield. Mash realized immediately what she was looking at, her mood falling considerably. Aside from the obvious parts she used for fighting, she could still feel the splotch of blood that fell on her hair. It was honestly extremely disturbing. She at the moment wanted nothing more than to go wash it off... But before she could even ask, Ritsuka raised her hands towards her. "Oh, hold on. I'll get that blood off of you, so just stay still." The Demi-Servant blinked in surprise. She could do that? Well, she was a mage so it wasn't that odd, but just the fact that she could be cleaned up immediately made her heart feel lighter. As Ritsuka quickly mumbled a spell, Mash felt a warm wind running around her body, taking the crimson fluid with it. It was kind of like being surrounded by hair dryers, and if it wasn't for all the... well, blood, she might've even enjoyed the experience. After every single drop had been collected off of her, Mash was left staring at a small crimson sphere surrounded by wind, which Ritsuka was quick to fling off the wall. "There. Better?"

'

Mash took a look at herself, relieved that both her shield and boots were left without a trace of the blood, shining as brightly as ever. The rest of her was fine too, with her hair especially feeling physically lighter. She was just... so relieved, but she didn't know how to properly show it, so she just ended up bowing to Ritsuka. "Yes. Thank you very much, Senpai."

'

"Oh, that was awesome!" Lemminkäinen cheered as he landed by their side, his grin threatening to split his face with its wideness. Much like the Shielder, no signs of the earlier battle remained on him at this point, so he must've cleaned himself off. "I haven't had a fight against flying foes in a while, so this was a nice change of pace. If there's more of these things around, I'm gonna have a great time."

'

The Master immediately jabbed him with her elbow, annoyance obvious on her face. "Calm down, you battle maniac. I'm sure we're gonna be seeing more of these wyverns later, so you can fight to your heart's content. But for now, we have more important things to deal with." With the last words, she pointed at the mysterious Servant, who was now approaching them. In response, the redhead also walked towards them, her Servants each taking one of her sides. Mash still held her shield at the ready, just in the slight case there was any trouble from this individual. But as the Servant got closer, the hood covering their face hid less and less, revealing their appearance properly. They were either a woman, or a very, very unbelievably beautiful man, even more so than Lemminkäinen. With their blue eyes and golden hair, they really were a sight to behold. Stopping a few meters away, Ritsuka gave them a polite smile while offering her hand. "Hello. I'd like to thank you for your help in protecting the fortress."

'

"I should be the one saying that," the Servant bowed, revealing their wonderfully beautiful voice, before walking closer and shaking the offered hand with a grateful smile. Now Mash was effectively convinced this Servant was a woman. "Thank you very much. Without you, I doubt that so many would have survived. Even if I could have defeated all the wyverns on my own, no doubt a great number of people would have lost their lives during the battle."

'

"Well, we could hardly stand by while they attacked," Ritsuka admitted, getting an approving nod from the Servant. "But now that the battle is over, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

'

"Before that, may I propose a change in location? This is not something we should speak of in front of them." The Servant pointed towards the fort's soldiers, who started gathering from their positions and seemed increasingly curious about the group.

'

A suggestion Ritsuka seemed to concur with. "Agreed. We've taken care of the wyverns, so the fort is safe for now. We need to leave before the locals recover and start asking questions."

'

The woman nodded gratefully once more. "Thank you for understanding. A forest short distance away should do, right?" A suggestion Mash might've normally found suspicious, but now... She'd never even met the Servant before, yet for reasons she couldn't explain, she just felt... trustworthy. Even after seeing her fight wyverns, Mash couldn't feel the slightest hint of danger from her. She knew it didn't make sense, but from just that short interaction, she could tell that this Servant was a good person.

'

"Fine with me," Ritsuka agreed, motioning at the two behind her. "Let's head out, then."

'

'

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'

'

Leading the trio she'd just met a good way into the forest, Jeanne gave a sign once she was sure they weren't followed. "We should probably be fine out this far." As the group came to a halt, she offered a slight bow to them while taking off her makeshift hood. Luckily she didn't feel hot as a Servant, or the white cloth she'd wrapped herself in might've been unbearable by now. Even if it helped in hiding her identity, it also really made her stand out in a crowd. "Sorry for asking you to follow me out here."

'

"No need. We understand the need for secrecy," the apparent leader of the group, a red haired girl taller than any she had ever met, confirmed, causing Jeanne to let out a relieved sigh. She had been unbelievably fortunate to meet potential allies so early on in her quest, much less such understanding ones. If she had to guess, this girl was a Master, but she still wasn't entirely sure. It would be strange to have two Servants fighting under her, so she could be a Caster just using a magecraft of some kind to hide her true nature. Then there was also this extremely adorable creature following them, which seemed to be a familiar of some kind. There truly was much for her to figure out. "But, now that we are here, we do expect answers of some kind."

'

"Of course. First off, my Servant class is Ruler."

'

The girl's eyes widened in surprise at her reveal, mirrored by the two Servants by her side. "Ruler? Heroic Spirit of Arbitration? Then you were definitely summoned to put an end to whatever craziness is going on here."

'

Now it was Jeanne's turn to be surprised. So they knew about her class? They'd even guessed the likely reason for her being here, which was good. That would save them some time from an explanation. "Most likely, yes. My circumstances are... troublesome to say the least, which is why I was careful to hide my appearance." The Ruler paused for a second to collect her thoughts. This next part was absolutely crucial, and would determine if they could truly cooperate. Letting out a soft sigh, she gave them the truth straight-on. "This should clear some things out: my True Name is Jeanne d'Arc."

'

As expected, all three of them were shocked by the sudden reveal. The girl in black armor summoned her shield in an instant and jumped between the conflicted looking redhead and Jeanne, but the Ruler didn't move an inch in response. It was a perfectly understandable reaction. Given the circumstances, she could hardly blame them. But what did surprise her was how the Saber almost instantly placed his hand on the edge of the shield, lowering it with a smile. "Hold your horses, Mash. Missy here ain't our enemy."

'

The girl, apparently named Mash, gaped in disbelief at the Saber's easygoing attitude in the face of a possible enemy. "But how can you be sure, Saber? We know that Jeanne d'Arc is behind the attacking wyverns."

'

"Yes, yes, the one they called the 'Dragon Witch'. I know." Shrugging, the man let go of the shield before pointing at Jeanne. "The problem is, this lass here is not a witch."

'

"...Huh?" both the redhead and Mash uttered in disbelief simultaneously, with Jeanne nearly joining in. This man had already deduced that she wasn't a witch? Given how easygoing he appeared, she had her doubts, but if there was actual logic behind his claim, it would make her case that much easier, so she withheld any comment as he started talking.

'

"I'm guessing you've never actually met a witch, right?" he asked, with both of the girls shaking their heads. "Thought so. You see, witches are fundamentally different from humans as lifeforms. Having dealt with so many, I'm unfortunately familiar with them, especially the Hag." That was definitely something the Ruler didn't know, but made sure to remember. It was admittedly comforting that this Saber was experienced with witches and a good enough judge to discern that she wasn't one. She personally had no proof aside from her word that she wasn't one, so it made convincing the other two that much easier. Then, the Saber walked to Jeanne's side, laid a hand on her shoulder and gave her a wink. "And I can say without hesitation, that a lass this pure and virtuous being a witch is completely impossible." The mouths of the three women fell agape in synch. ...That was his reasoning? Jeanne felt... conflicted to say the least. Being described with such words was certainly a bit embarrassing, but it did help diffuse the tension. Then again, Jeanne herself knew nothing about witches, aside from the stories she'd heard as a little girl, and according to them, witches were basically always cruel and heinous, so perhaps there was real logic behind his reasoning.

'

The red haired girl took a deep breath while pinching the bridge of her nose, only to give the Saber a confirming nod instead of chastising him for his reasoning. Jeanne could only guess that he said things like this often. "I see... Alright, fine, I'm trusting your experience in this case." The previous caution almost completely gone, she approached the Ruler while taking note of the flagpole she held. "That at least explains why you're fighting all covered like that. You didn't want anyone recognizing you, or what I'm guessing is your flag right there." As Jeanne nodded the girl motioned for her to continue. "Well then, Jeanne, would you tell us your story?"

'

Letting out a relieved sigh, Jeanne wordlessly thanked the Lord that she had gotten through the most difficult part of her introduction that easily. She truly was fortunate that these people were accompanied by someone who actually knew about witches. Still, there were a few other issues she had yet to reveal. "...Yes. We should probably clear some things up first. I am indeed a Servant, my class is Ruler. I understand that. But... A majority of information about the Holy Grail War that should be provided is missing," she revealed, managing to surprise the group again. Not that she could blame them, considering that she'd have trouble believing this all had she been on the other side of the conversation. An occurrence like hers should technically be impossible, yet here she was. Still, it was far better to come off clean now than to hide this information from her potential allies. "No, it's not just information. My stats have ranked down as well. Not only have I lost the anti-Servant Command Spells, I can't even reveal their True Names anymore. Luckily this is my homeland where I was born and raised. If nothing else I still speak the language..."

'

The redhead listened intently, slight disappointment appearing on her face upon hearing of the Ruler's weakening, but nothing more than that. "That's definitely troublesome. It also explains why you seem kinda weak for someone of your status-Ah. No offense," she quickly apologized, but Jeanne just shook her head.

'

"None taken. It is technically true, after all."

'

"All this is most likely happening because her Spirit Origin... her existence is unstable," a new voice, one Jeanne had never heard before, said suddenly, prompting her to look for the source in confusion.

'

"I just heard a voice... Is that magecraft?"

'

"Oh, right. That must be pretty weird to hear out of nowhere," the girl muttered, snapping her fingers a few times while thinking about something. "Well, since you already shared a part of your story, it's only fair that we return the favor." Walking closer to Jeanne, she smiled warmly while offering her hand. "I'm Ritsuka Repo, at the moment the last Master of Chaldea."

'

The Ruler's eyes widened at the introduction. So that at least answered one of her questions, but raised several others. What was this Chaldea? And she was the last Master? Had the Grail War already ended? Still, not one to turn down such a gesture, Jeanne shook the offered hand. "Master? So there are Masters even in this Holy Grail War."

'

As she heard the words, Ritsuka suddenly looked awkward. "Oh, uh, no. That's not exactly right." Falling silent, she started snapping her fingers again before muttering: "...Wow, there's a lot to explain. Maybe I should just start from the beginning, since we're not in an immediate hurry."

'

Suddenly two loud thumps echoed in the area, prompting the two to snap their attention towards the source. There they saw the Saber, who had thrown a large rock and a log on the ground, placed within such a short distance from each other that they'd be perfect for seating. Patting the log, he already sat down himself. "Use these, 'cause this is gonna take a while."

'

Taking the offer, Jeanne, Ritsuka, and the girl in black armor all seated themselves, and the Master started her long explanation. The Ruler had thought that her situation was strange enough as it was, but she was admittedly flabbergasted within the first minute of the tale. It was all quite overwhelming. Chaldea... Singularities... To take back an incinerated future, these children were sent here. While it was reassuring to know that there were even more allies than she had initially realized, Jeanne honestly felt slightly abashed after the tale was finished. It seems that her own worries were quite trivial in comparison. At least their objectives at the moment aligned, even if she would have still helped them had it been otherwise. This was a cause far too important to ignore. "...I see, I understand your situation now," she confirmed. "Unfortunately, it has only been a few hours since I manifested in this era, so I don't know any more of France's current situation than you."

'

"That is unfortunate, but meeting a potential ally is definitely not," Ritsuka agreed, though her smile soon faded as she took on an inquiring expression, staring at the Ruler intently. "That said, what do you plan on doing now? Even in the case that we wouldn't be joining you?"

'

Jeanne was admittedly caught off guard by the question. Of course, them joining forces was hardly set in stone at this point, but she hadn't expected to be approached from this angle. Still, there was only a single answer she could give: "I will set Orleans free once again. I will defeat the Dragon Witch, Jeanne d'Arc. I've had no revelation from the Lord, and I don't know how I'll achieve it, but even if I have to do it alone, I can't turn a blind eye to this."

'

Ritsuka and Mash stared at her wide-eyed, while Lemminkäinen let out an impressed whistle. "Wow... That was a lot more inspiring than I was expecting," the Master scratched her cheek somewhat awkwardly as she replied, though it was quickly replaced by a smile. "But, since that is your reasoning, we would be happy to join forces with you to combat this catastrophe, Saint Jeanne."

'

While she was happy at the confirmation, the way she was addressed made Jeanne withhold a sigh. "Just Jeanne is fine, please. And while I agree with your words, I can't say that I would be of much help as I currently am..."

'

Ritsuka raised a brow at her reasoning, taking a quick glance at Mash before turning back towards the Ruler. "Your abilities have been lowered across the board, and you're missing some of the Skills and knowledge you should normally possess, right?"

'

"I don't know why, but that is the case," she nodded, the slightest hints of a blush appearing on her cheeks. "To be honest, it's embarrassing. I feel as though I'm not capable as a Heroic Spirit. To give an example, I feel like I'm only a rookie Servant."

'

"So what?" the redhead asked, getting Jeanne to blink in surprise. "Even if you're not at your best, you're still a Servant. I saw you take down freaking wyverns on your own, so you would without a doubt be a valuable ally through your combat prowess alone." Standing up, Ritsuka took a step towards her and reached out her hand. "I already said this, and the offer still stands: We would be happy to join forces with you, Jeanne."

'

"As someone who truly is a rookie Servant, I can tell you that you would be an extremely valuable addition to our group, Jeanne," Mash added, smiling as brightly as her Master.

'

As Jeanne turned her attention on the remaining member of the trio, he just flashed her a grin along with a thumbs-up. Upon first meeting these people, she had been worried over several drawbacks that could hinder their potential alliance, but it seems that it had all been unfounded. "I... Thank you. I thought I would be in this fight all alone, but to have found such reliable allies so early..." With a matching smile, she shook the offered hand. "Now at this place and time, we shall fight as one."

'

"Then it's settled." Returning the shake happily, Ritsuka then proceeded to tap the device on her wrist a few times, getting a large square of light to appear in the air. Inside this square there were four smaller ones, three of which showed the faces of individual people, while the final one showed a room with the six other Servants the redhead was the Master of. "And with that out of the way, it's time to begin our strategy meeting." An announcement that got the Saber by her side to groan.

'

Jeanne on the other hand, was more than happy to begin. Among everything else, it was relieving that the sole Master on their side wasn't someone who would just run in without a plan. "Yes... With France in its current state, we can hardly rush ahead carelessly."

'

"You know, when we came here, I expected this to be something like the Hundred Years' War getting expanded upon. England and France continuing to duke it out, maybe pull some other countries into the mix. That kind of stuff. Resurrected Jeanne d'Arc getting her revenge by starting a wyvern apocalypse really wasn't even among the possibilities I considered," a handsome man with long, black hair said, appearing... disturbingly intrigued while doing so. Then again, this man named Dio Orlin Arista was a mage, so he could hardly be expected to act completely normal. "Honestly, that's pretty damn metal."

'

"While I agree that it's far more interesting than the suggested alternatives, the current situation is also astronomically more difficult to deal with," a beautiful woman next to him noted. Apparently this was Leonardo da Vinci, a genius inventor who would be born in about 20 years from now. ...The existence of Servants truly made time strange. "While any Servant on our side could beat a wyvern one-on-one without much trouble, their numbers might pose a serious problem. If this Dragon Witch can just let them fly around as they please, she must have far more than the small group you defeated."

'

Ritsuka nodded in agreement before turning towards the Ruler. "As far as we're aware, that is our biggest concern. Anything you can tell us about it, Jeanne?"

'

Unfortunately, she was forced to shake her head in denial. The summoning of dragons might have been the most perplexing detail about all of this to her. "I have no idea how she's controlling them. I never thought about such things during my life."

'

"The Dragon Witch could be a fake just using the name for clout, considering that Jeanne d'Arc has absolutely zero connections to dragons," Dio suggested, getting Jeanne's eyes to widen. She... hadn't actually considered that angle. Although she doubted the possibility, she now really hoped that would be the case, if only to lighten her heart at least a bit. "Then again, having the ability to summon this many wyverns is something that is beyond basically any Servant, so they're almost definitely using the Grail to do it."

'

"That is a possibility, but at the moment, we just know way too little to speculate. We need to gather more information."

'

Jeanne very much concurred with Ritsuka's comment. It was tremendously helpful that they seemed to be on the same wavelength when it came to approaching this threat. "Agreed. We should seek out the Jeanne who they call a witch and defeat her. But for now, we should scout around first. The goal is simple, but reaching it not so much." Falling silent for a second, she went through both the memories of the land from her life, and what little information she had gathered since manifesting, before giving her suggestion. "We might be able to get some information from the surrounding towns and forts, like La Charite, which should still be secure from what I've heard."

'

"La Charite, huh? Let me see..." As Ritsuka held out her hand, Jeanne withheld a gasp as a new screen suddenly emerged midair from the device around her wrist. Upon closer inspection, she quickly realized it was a map of France, and what a map it was. It seemed more detailed than any she had ever laid eyes on. Tools from the future were truly convenient. The Master also inspected the map, tapping on the desired commune upon finding it. "Here, huh? Yes, that would do wonderfully."

'

"If we can't get any information there about Orleans, we'll have to get closer, but I'd rather avoid that as much as possible. As long as we're still uncertain about the forces we face, we cannot engage."

'

"Exactly. So, we should start wi- Hey! Don't you roll your eyes at us, Lemminkäinen!" Ritsuka suddenly snapped at the man next to her, annoyance clear on her face. He hadn't participated in the meeting even remotely, just laying on the grass with his head resting on a log, appearing disinterested at best. "You might be able to rush into all sorts of nonsense head first and get away just fine, but the rest of us can't!"

'

"Yeah, yeah. I'll listen and stuff, so just keep on talking," he muttered, waving at the Master dismissively, prompting her to repay him with an extremely dry frown.

'

"You know, you could at least try to participate."

'

Fully expecting him to just dismiss Ritsuka again, Jeanne was surprised when the Saber instead shrugged. "Meh, why not." Hopping up, he wiped the grass off his clothes and turned towards the image of the other Servants in Chaldea. "Hey, to anyone who knows, do wyverns usually act like this? 'Cause this is some weird ass behavior for most types of beasts."

'

The group of Servants exchanged looks among themselves, until most finally settled on the woman with long, purple hair, something she seemed rather displeased with. This was apparently Medusa, but she hardly looked like the famed monster, considering how beautiful she was. "Well, I'm hardly an expert on the matter, but usually no. They might attack humans and livestock to feed, but this type of complete destruction is something I have not ever heard of occurring. They're not even taking over the human territories for themselves. They just slaughter and burn."

'

For the first time since Jeanne had met him, the Saber's expression grew serious as he listened. "Thought so... And to make it worse, they're seriously pissed. Like a beast that attacks with nothing to lose."

'

An observation the Ruler very much agreed with, as did Mash judging by her slightly faltering appearance. "...Yes. They did seem extraordinarily ferocious. With 'nothing to lose', do you mean like a mother bear protecting her cubs?"

'

"Nah, they're not protecting anything. They're just... pissed. It's like a mama bear coming after the guy that already killed her cubs." Another apt description from Lemminkäinen, now showing a new, pondering side of himself. This point was clearly bothering him more than the others. "But even that feels weird. What the hell did the French do to make all these wyverns like this?"

'

Ritsuka sighed. "That's just another question for the pile." A pile that was at the moment far too large for comfort. "We should probably leave it at that for now, given how little we actually know, and proceed with gathering intel. We can make more concrete plans afterwards."

'

"Agreed," Jeanne nodded, standing up, her gaze aimed towards the horizon beyond the trees. Proper strategy required information, and while they spent time thinking hypotheticals, the Dragon Witch was still out there, ruining hundreds of innocent lives. "...If you have nothing against it, I'd like to head out as soon as possible."

'

The Master turned towards her two Servants. "Are you two good to go?" The two replied with confident smiles, getting her to mimic them. "Then we're ready."

'

"We also still need to secure a leyline," Roman, a man with fluffy pink hair, noted.

'

"La Charite would definitely have some good ones, so you can take care of it there," Dio instructed, a glowing dot appearing on the map close to the settlement. "I know a mage family living some distance away from the commune, but they won't be settling on the land until roughly 80 years from now, so the leyline is up for grabs."

'

"How far exactly is La Charite from our current location, by the way?" Mash asked.

'

"In a straight line, about 250 kilometers."

'

"Which means four to five hours with Servant running..." Ritsuka muttered. "And that's if we don't take breaks."

'

In response, the Shielder's expression grew serious. "We should at the very least stop for lunch. While it may not be a necessity for us, Senpai still needs to eat."

'

The redhead looked slightly bothered by the statement before sighing. "...I admit, eating while being carried by Lemminkäinen sounds pretty awful, and I don't want to bite my tongue off, so taking a break would be preferable." Jeanne could very much attest to that, having tried eating once before on horseback. It was hardly a pleasant experience, and being carried by a person moving at extremely high speed was likely even worse. "Oh, and before I forget. Mash, once we set camp for the night, we can talk about the thing I mentioned earlier."

'

Now it was the other girl's turn to grow awkward, light flush rising to her cheeks. "A-ah, that... Yes, very well, Senpai."

'

As the group prepared to head out, Mash picked up Fou while Lemminkäinen lifted Ritsuka on his back, not looking too pleased. "You know, the longer I'm here, the more I wish I'd been summoned as a Rider. I don't mind the running, but having a steed is just way more efficient than acting as one."

'

"Not exactly a picnic for me either, but we've just got to deal with it," she sighed before turning towards the Ruler. "Jeanne, you're fine with taking the lead, right?"

'

"Of course." Taking the offered position, Jeanne took one last confirming look at her allies before blasting off. Weaving through the forest, she was soon greeted by a beautiful open field, stretching as far as the eye could see, perfect for running. A feeling of wonderment filled her mind, until reality pulled her back down. It was admittedly exhilarating to sprint across the land faster than any horse, but the experience was ruined by the unceasing feeling of dread that refused to leave her mind. While she had heard that La Charite was still safe, it didn't manage to ease her up in the slightest. In the end, she could only hope that nothing would change during the hours it took them to reach the commune.

'

'

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'

'

After about three hours of travel, the group stopped by a river for their lunch break. They'd already crossed three others, but since the runners were Servants, jumping across had been easy enough.

'

While Mash and Jeanne were attending the fire with Fou napping by their side, Ritsuka was busy massaging her thighs. It was hardly comfortable being carried like that for several hours. She wasn't even sure what she could compare it to, given how weird it felt. "Ugh... Maybe if I asked nicely, Da Vinci could make a saddle of some kind for Lemminkäinen..." she muttered. Still, France really was a beautiful country, even if the group's speed of travel made fully appreciating some landscapes kind of hard. The river they had stopped by, named Yonne according to Jeanne, flowed gently, giving the background a pleasant sound that really reminded the redhead of her home. Well, that's what she got for living her entire life in a city which was literally named 'river's mouth'. Then again, given what was happening, it's not like her home was there anymore... It was gone, along with her parents, and both sets of grandparents, even if they lived nowhere close to each other... Everything was just gone... Even after two whole weeks, it was still hard for her to accept that.

'

"Our lunch should be just about ready, Senpai," Mash called out, snapping the Master out of her thoughts.

'

Shaking her head, Ritsuka put on her most convincing smile as she turned towards the Shielder. "Thanks, Mash." Even more than the food, she was grateful that she at least had a proper distraction from her depressing thoughts. There was time for all that, but it wasn't now. The mission came first. Walking to the campfire and taking a seat next to the two, the redhead moved her eyes on the lunches being prepared. Two sealed plastic bags being held up by a stick, roasting above an open fire... To anyone unaware, the method must have appeared completely ludicrous, but she couldn't help but to feel impressed. "Still, packaging that can be heated without worry and even reused? These things are super handy."

'

"Of course. They were invented by a true genius, after all," Dio agreed, while Ritsuka could practically envision his satisfied grin along with Da Vinci's mock glare. But still, she was having a hard time believing the Spaniard had actually made these things. When it came to creating items, mages usually strove for either incredible or unique, but these things were neither. In the most simple way explainable, they were ziploc bags that would only open if pulled in very specific spots, would close perfectly, were really sturdy, and spread the temperature in the bag evenly throughout it. They were absurdly simple, yet amazingly convenient, perfect as supply containers for the field for an organization like Chaldea. She could also definitely see why some more traditional mages would absolutely hate this man for making something like this.

'

"They certainly seem impressive," Jeanne smiled, though her expression gave way to awkwardness as she turned towards the river. "And what of Lemminkäinen...?"

'

Ritsuka let out a sigh, turning as well. "He's still standing out there?" After helping set up the campfire, the Saber had dematerialized his clothes and walked into the river without a word, where he had spent the last several minutes completely still, up to his knees in water. At least he'd had the courtesy to leave his pants on, deciding to roll up their legs above his knees to keep them from getting wet. Well, he'd probably figured out that she would give him an earful if he decided to go stand out there in his birthday suit, deciding to just go ahead and leave his pants on to avoid a lecture. Something Ritsuka was very much happy with, since it meant that he at least was learning. But now that she paid closer attention... was he mumbling something? Doing her best to block out everything else, Ritsuka could faintly make out some words, like 'uiskentele', 'tules' and ...'piikkievä'? Wait. The Master's mouth fell agape as her brain connected the dots. Was he seriously...? And as soon as she thought that, the man literally jabbed his hands into the water with lightning speed, repeating the trick a few times, and finally ending up with an armful of floundering fish. The mouths of the two other members of the trio fell simultaneously agape at the display. That was some serious super survivor shit!

'

"I went to get myself some grub," Lemminkäinen grinned while lifting one of the fish by its tail to take a closer look. "These fellas are a bit small for my tastes, but that just means I have to eat more of them to fill up." As her shock from the stunt died down, Ritsuka noticed the distinct coloration of the prey he held. Redfin perches. Easy enough to recognize, considering that they were literally the national fish of her country. Tasty too.

'

As the Saber walked to the campfire to further inspect his catch, Jeanne as well seemed to have snapped out of her shock, staring at him curiously. "You... caught fish?" ...Mostly, at least.

'

Lemminkäinen nodded casually as he gutted one of the fish, flinging its intestines into the river. "Want some?"

'

The Ruler fell silent for a second, before a slight smile spread on her face as she nodded. "I... suppose it would be nice. It's been a while since I've eaten redfin perch."

'

"Oh, that reminds me." Ritsuka then began to dig through one of the backpacks, quickly finding what she searched, a small, translucent plastic container. "Here," she noted, throwing it to Lemminkäinen.

'

Catching the shaker, he took a quick look at it and a smile spread on his face. "Salt? Thanks. Plain fish ain't bad once in a while, but some seasoning definitely brings out the flavor. I should get 'em done in a few minutes." He then shot a smirk at the napping critter. "And I suppose we can spare a few for you too."

'

"Foh!" Fou barked, clearly annoyed with the proposition. He really didn't like this man. Ritsuka could only wonder where it came from, seeing how she didn't remember hearing that Lemminkäinen had done anything to him. Maybe he just reminded Fou of someone he already hated?

'

"Our meals should be done now, so feel free to use the fire," Mash noted, carefully picking up the stick that held the bags and holding it towards Ritsuka. "Here you go, Senpai."

'

"Thanks, Mash." Gently taking hold of the bag, the redhead was met with yet another surprise. It wasn't even hot to the touch, just warm, despite the fact that the contents were steaming. These damn ziploc bags just kept getting more and more impressive. As Lemminkäinen started setting up his fish over the fire, the two girls pulled their bags open and were instantly greeted by a delicious scent. Inhaling the scent deeper, Ritsuka rolled the wrap out of the package a bit more and blew on it a few times to cool it off. She remembered Dio calling them 'the perfect traveling meal' during the briefing for their singularity equipment, and she couldn't really disagree. The package of bread had everything she would need as far as nutrition was concerned and was the perfect size to boot. And judging by the scent, they were tasty too. Wanting to verify the last part in particular, Ritsuka took a large bite off of her wrap. ...And yup, totally tasty. The warm beef was masterfully enhanced by the sweet tomato and chili, while the cheese mixed in for a truly mouthwatering combination. Wow, these were some seriously good wraps. Although, given how good Chaldea's food was in general, that wasn't too much of a surprise. Taking the slightest break from enjoying her meal, she gave a quick glance towards Mash to ensure she was feeling the same, and judging by the satisfied smile on her lips, she very much was. But as she did, she also noticed something else. While Lemminkäinen was busy tending his fish, Jeanne shot subtle glances towards the girls from time to time, clearly trying not to get caught staring. That is, staring right at their wraps with clear interest. Well, given the peaceful moment, Ritsuka couldn't exactly blame her for her curiosity. "Are you curious about our food, Jeanne?"

'

A light blush rose to Jeanne's cheeks as she was caught, flashing an embarrassed smile. "Oh, um... Yes, I admittedly am. It looks a bit like bread, but unlike any I've ever seen."

'

"Well, in this time period, these only existed on the other side of the Atlantic, so it's not that strange. These are wraps, though some call them burritos or tortillas. You take a flatbread like this, which can be made of wheat or some other grain, and wrap it around the fillings. You can fill them with basically anything, from meat, to fish, to fruits and vegetables."

'

"I see," she nodded, seeming amusingly impressed. "How convenient. They sound like a very accommodating meal."

'

"Of course! After all, wraps are the peak form of easily transportable and edible food," Dio suddenly proclaimed proudly through the comm. "They can be filled with effectively anything, meaning that they can provide the needed nutrition in just about every environment. Tightly packed, they won't be damaged unless crushed with considerable force, and the covering serves to keep them even more secure."

'

"Yeah, these are really good," Ritsuka agreed, taking another bite off her lunch as another delicious scent started drifting through the air, the sizzling coming from the campfire making the source all too obvious.

'

"Man, this is one scent I love. The food in Chaldea is tasty and all, but there's just something about fish roasted on a campfire that can't be beat." Taking one of his impaled fish off of the fire, Lemminkäinen handed the simple treat to Jeanne. "Here ya go."

'

"Oh, thank you very much." Accepting the offered meal, Jeanne happily bit into it, her lips curling further upwards. She seemed to really enjoy it. Admittedly, that and the nostalgic smell really made Ritsuka want to try some herself, but she refrained from asking. The wrap was definitely enough for her, and she didn't want to come across as a glutton.

'

After giving Fou one of the smaller fish, who started eating it somewhat begrudgingly, Lemminkäinen took a seat as well, taking a large bite off of his own meal. A smile spread on Ritsuka's lips. This really was a comfortable occasion amidst all this fighting. Just the five of them, having a nice meal with beautiful scenery. It was wonderful. ...And then Lemminkäinen started grinning in a way that made the Master want to groan. "Ahh. I really am a lucky fellow." Yup... He just had to go and ruin the moment. "Usually my warbands only consist of other men, some of them old and bearded, but now I'm surrounded by gorgeous, blooming flowers."

'

"I... see," Jeanne muttered, surprising Ritsuka as a smile also grew on her lips. "Well, to be honest, I'm used to fighting alongside similar groups, so it is quite a nice change of pace to have other women by my side on the battlefield." Flashing her grateful smile towards Ritsuka and Mash, who were more than happy to return it. The redhead in particular was happy that she had managed to interpret the Saber's words in such a manner.

'

And yet, Lemminkäinen was far from done. "Indeed, indeed, lady Jeanne. In such a fair environment, the morale is certain to rise for any warrior," he nodded sagely, sliding significantly closer to the Ruler. Ritsuka was genuinely considering using a Command Spell to make him stop doing that for the rest of the Singularity.

'

"Dude. You're going after a saint? Seriously?"

'

"Why not?" he shrugged, shooting Jeanne with that dreaded fairytale prince smile of his. "After all, she's far too pure and noble of a maiden to be corrupted by just having some fun."

'

Much to the Master's frustration, the Ruler actually blushed slightly, looking away from Lemminkäinen. "O-oh? Is that so...?"

'

Ritsuka almost wanted to scream: 'God damn it! Don't let him get to you!' But in the end, she decided to go with the sane version. "Please don't mind him, Jeanne. He's just being an idiot." Resting a hand on the blond's shoulder, she shot a glare towards Lemminkäinen, who was frustratingly unaffected by it. "Or maybe a dog would be a better description."

'

"Oh, I'm well aware that he's flirting with me," Jeanne revealed, a wave of surprise rushing over those present. "It's just, being described in such a way is a bit... embarrassing."

'

Now this was a turn Ritsuka wasn't expecting. Admittedly, it was extraordinarily relieving. "You are?"

'

"Yes. It has been quite a while since the last time that has happened. When I first joined the war, it happened a number of times, but it faded away over the course of a few weeks."

'

Jeanne's answer legitimately restored some of Ritsuka's fate in humanity, getting her to smile as well. "All of the soldiers must have realized that you weren't just some girl, and started to genuinely respect you."

'

"Why would that have stopped them?" Lemminkäinen asked, looking genuinely confused. "A beautiful woman who can fight is automatically more attractive. Even more so if they can fight well."

'

The Master was... admittedly lost when she tried to think of a response. She had planned on calling him out, but for once, that was actually a pretty cool take on the subject. And he wasn't just saying that either, given the confusion on his face. This man wasn't that good of an actor. ...Well, broken clocks and all that. In the end, she just decided to munch on her lunch while listening in on the derailing conversation.

'

Few minutes later, the redhead swallowed the last of her wrap, while the others were just about finished too. "Mmm! That really hit the spot." Rising up to her full height, Ritsuka stretched her arms as far as they went before doing a few crouches. She was feeling better now that she'd gotten warm food in her belly and done some massaging on her legs, but she could really go for some light exercise right about now. "Do you mind if I jog by myself for a bit? I'd like to properly stretch my legs and the slower pace would also help you to recover magical energy faster." And she wasn't exactly thrilled being carried around everywhere, but she left that part out.

'

Thankfully Jeanne responded with an agreeing smile. "I don't mind. We aren't that far from La Charite, so a bit more leisurely form of travel would be fine with me."

"It would give us more time to properly appreciate the scenery, so I concur," Mash nodded, followed by Fou wagging his tail.

'

"Fou fou! Kyuu!"

'

"Fou seems to agree as well." Crouching down next to him, Ritsuka gave the critter some scratches under his chin, which he very much seemed to enjoy. "You wanna go for a run, pal?"

'

"Kyuu!"

'

Which only left Lemminkäinen, who just shrugged at the suggestion. "Meh, why not. I would've gotten outvoted anyway."

'

"Alright then. Let's get going." Pleased to have gotten her suggestion approved, Ritsuka threw one of the backpacks onto her back and began leading the group towards the southwest. With their trek through nature continuing, spirits were overall fairly high. Although, their pace couldn't exactly be called a jog, being more akin to a power walk. But, the redhead didn't really mind that, seeing how enthusiastic Mash was whenever she discovered something of particular interest. She was adorably apologetic as soon as she noticed how the entire group had stopped because of her interests, but even after the third time, Ritsuka still wasn't bothered. While their mission was urgent, this wasn't a situation where literally every second mattered. If the Demi-Servant could experience a bit of life outside of Chaldea, she at least considered that time well spent.

'

But, that didn't mean that she could approve of the Shielder's every decision. Particularly, when she turned to Jeanne and said: "I must say, Jeanne, it's impressive how calm you are despite what is happening." Ritsuka almost slapped herself in the face. Mash, why did you have to go and say something like that?

'

Instantly, the Ruler's fair mood fell, along with her gaze. "...No, to be honest, I am panicking." A reveal that nearly got Ritsuka to lose her footing. This was her panicking? Seriously? The redhead couldn't help but to be impressed by Jeanne once again. While she was clearly concerned over France's situation, that was all that was visible on her. Not even a hint of fear could be found on her being, despite everything that had happened to lead her to this grievous situation. And unlike Ritsuka, she definitely wasn't using a charm of some kind, making it even more impressive. She'd thankfully managed to stay calm through it all thanks to her charm, but her heart had sunken a few times throughout the battle, especially when Mash had spaced out, while Jeanne had stayed calm and focused on her task. Even as she spoke, no sign of this so-called panic could be found, only sorrow and confusion. "No matter how you look at it, the other 'me' cannot be in her right mind. What that monster will do by controlling the people... it's easy to imagine. Overwhelming power and hatred can easily destroy a person, no matter how noble they are."

'

Ritsuka wasn't even going to try and argue with that. "Yeah... There are too many examples of that in history to count."

'

"All the more reason to put a stop to this before she succeeds."

'

"Right."

'

"Yeah, witches do have a tendency to be a bit cracked, so putting her down sooner than later is definitely a good idea," Lemminkäinen nodded, a smile soon returning on his face. "Although, it's nice to see a witch being so straightforward for once. They usually tend to be a bit more sneaky."

'

Ritsuka really didn't like the way he said that. "Is that a good or bad sign?"

'

"Depends," he responded in a tone that still didn't exactly fill the Master with hope. "We're lucky if this other Jeanne just had all this power given to her by the grail go to her head and got cocky." And just as she started to feel somewhat relieved, the Saber's grin widened. "If not, she's just that confident in her strength and can back it up."

'

Ritsuka could only frown at his attitude. "Why do you have to be so excited about that second option?" She just really had to hope that it'd be the first option. Although, now that they'd returned to this topic, another question popped into her head. "Still, it really makes me wonder who she actually is. Her being another Jeanne just doesn't add up, given how different she seems from the real one." While the Ruler gave her a surprised look, Ritsuka didn't hesitate in the least. No matter what, she just couldn't imagine this Jeanne doing anything like what was happening to France.

'

An opinion Dio at least seemed to agree with. "Well, if we go with the 'she's a fake just using the name for clout' theory, there are a few potential witches who would be powerful enough to summon dragons on their own, making this swarm possible with the grail's assistance. For example there's Baba Yaga, easily among the most famous witches in the modern world, who gave birth to the three headed dragon Zmei Gorynich through some unknown methods."

'

"There's also Medea, princess of Colchis," Da Vinci followed with a suggestion of her own. "Her family effectively had a guard-dragon to protect the Golden Fleece, but she ended up putting it to sleep so that the Argonauts could yoink the prize. Given her power and connections, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine her being capable of something like this with the grail."

'

"The Hag could probably do it too," Lemminkäinen muttered, giving Ritsuka horrific shivers down her spine. Please, God, just don't let it be Louhi. "While she never summoned a dragon as far as I know, she had all sorts of beasties in Pohjola. That bear she sent to harass Väinölä was damn strong, not to mention Iku-Turso." At the mention of the legendary sea monster's name, the Saber actually shuddered a little, surprising the Master. She'd yet to see him reacting like that to anything. But before she could wonder any more, his smile returned as brightly as ever. "That big bastard gives me chills just thinking about it." ...Of course. It would appear that in this idiot's case, the chills seemed less like from rational fear, and more like from the sheer urge to fight the monster.

'

"I'm just gonna cut in and say that it's almost definitely not Medea," Cú Chulainn suddenly interjected. "I've met her during a Grail War, and this type of random destruction really doesn't seem like her style."

'

Emiya was quick to follow. "Agreed. That vixen is far too cautious to just let her familiars roam around destroying towns without reason. Unless her personality has changed completely, I highly doubt that this is her doing."

'

"Well, that's one name off the list," Da Vinci nodded, appearing quite curious over the knowledge the two possessed. "Unfortunately, Medea was most likely the least scary of the possibilities. While she's without question powerful, she was ultimately a human, unlike the other suspects."

'

Great... Ritsuka withheld a sigh. Obviously it couldn't have been that easy. Well, if nothing else, they'd at least crossed one possibility off, which was definitely better than having no information at all.

'

"Fou?" Suddenly Fou tensed up, his ears rising to their full length as his attention was fully focused on whatever was in front of the group. In response, the Servants materialized their weapons as Ritsuka moved right by Mash's side in case of a surprise attack.

'

"What is it, Fou? Did you detect something?" the Shielder carefully asked while approaching the critter, only to be startled as he suddenly leapt on her face and scampered onto the top of her head in his usual manner. Jeanne blinked in surprise and Ritsuka might've laughed if the tension wasn't still as high as ever. "Ah! If you need a higher viewpoint, you could just ask."

'

"Fou! Fou!" But Fou just barked while pointing ahead like a tracking dog. Whatever was over there really had him riled up. Right in the... southwest... Where their destination lied... Ritsuka just got a really bad feeling.

'

Lemminkäinen suddenly frowned, his eyes taking on that look from Domrémy once again. "...Damn. This is bad." And with that, the Master's bad feeling just grew worse.

'

"Lemminkäinen?"

'

Turning to face the Shielder, he gave her a serious look. "Mash, I'm entrusting Master to you again."

'

"Wait, what do you-?" Ritsuka started, but the Saber had already dashed off towards the town. Her bad feeling just kept getting worse and worse. She was just about to ask one of the other Servants to stop him, but decided against it. This guy was literally fast enough to chase down a Demonic Beast without a vehicle of any kind, so it was unlikely that either Mash or Jeanne could hope to keep up with him in a sprint. It'd just be a waste of energy. With a sigh, she just decided to reinforce her legs and motion at the two behind her before starting to run at full speed. "Ugh, let's go after him."

'

Mash, while still appearing quite confused, nodded and ran after her, Jeanne right behind her. "Yes, Master!"

'

As the trio raced through the forest, Ritsuka couldn't help but to be impressed by the maniac racing ahead of them. Despite the fact that she'd have easily broken every Olympic record with her magecraft assisted running, Lemminkäinen was fast enough that she couldn't even see him anymore. But, the reason for his reaction and Fou's behavior earlier became unfortunately clear as Jeanne's eyes widened in realization. "This smell..." The redhead realized it soon afterwards. Now that the wind was blowing from the southwest, a smell identical to the one from Domrémy irritated her nose, feeling like a punch to her gut. Oh no... No, no, not here too. But it was, as certified by the clouds of black smoke now emerging from between the trees. Worry filling her expression, Jeanne ran further ahead. "No, it couldn't be!"

'

"The town... It's burning?" Mash muttered in disbelief while Ritsuka cursed wordlessly by her side. Why the hell? La Charite was supposed to still be safe. Obviously it was possible for it to be attacked, but for it to happen so quickly... And as the two reached the edge of the forest, they found Jeanne standing there, gripping her flag tightly as her eyes were locked onto what was left of la Charite. Ritsuka couldn't even say anything when faced with such a sight, her eyes shifting between the devastation and the defeated looking Ruler standing there silently. Finally, Mash broke the silence between them, her voice quiet as she called to Chaldea. "...Doctor, can you pick up anything with life form detection?"

'

For a short while there was no reply, but then, Roman gave them the answer they had all feared. "...It's no use. There's nothing alive left in that town that matches a human life signature." Mash's gaze fell at his words and Ritsuka could only hold a hand on her shoulder sympathetically. She could understand her reaction, since even she had held a tiny amount of hope that at least someone would have survived by some miracle. But, it just wasn't so. All humans and regular animals had been killed. The only living beings left were a few wyverns Lemminkäinen was fighting with.

'

In all honesty, Ritsuka felt sick looking at the devastation. "This... This is just..." To call the town a wreck would be an understatement. It was just a field of burned wood and stone, and there weren't any buildings left in good enough shape to even use as a shelter, with the largest intact wall of bricks being about a meter high at most. It had been destroyed so thoroughly that the attacks were already long gone, and there were just a few wyverns left, and those were quickly being taken care of by the Saber. It didn't look like he'd need help, considering how he seemed extra motivated at the moment, for reasons Ritsuka hardly needed to ponder over. Gritting her teeth, she flopped down on a rock and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Damn it! They were too late! Way too late! Why couldn't they have been there sooner!? Was there something she could've done!? Maybe if they had come here straight away without any detours, they could've...

'

"Don't think your break had anything to do with this," Roman suddenly said, snapping the redhead out of her mulling. He looked at her with condolence before pointing towards Lemminkäinen. "Look, even most of the wyverns have already left. This attack was more than likely over before you even stopped for lunch, and what we're seeing are the stragglers."

'

Unable to deny his words, she just nodded. "...Yeah, you're right." Of course he was. Ritsuka knew that there ultimately was nothing they could've done. The only way they could have made it in time was by using a Command Spell to significantly boost their travel speed, which was something they only would have done if they knew about the attack in advance. But they didn't, and that was that. ...But still... "It's just... frustrating." That, and the indescribable powerlessness she was feeling at the moment. Judging by their expressions, Jeanne and Mash shared her sentiment. Lemminkäinen, on the other hand, was more than likely venting his own frustration by taking down the greedy wyverns that had stayed hoping to still find something edible.

'

"...She was here," the Ruler suddenly muttered, getting a surprised look from Mash.

'

"Jeanne?"

'

Wearing a stoic expression, she continued. "...It was most likely 'me' who was behind this."

'

Mash and Ritsuka shared a worried look. Of course, that was the most likely case. The wyverns could burn things, but they couldn't blow away entire buildings, meaning that a Servant was almost certainly involved. And given how Jeanne was, she felt responsible for this destruction, even if the fault lied in this other her. But still, Ritsuka couldn't let the Ruler blame herself for this yet, given how little they still knew. "We can't be sure of that yet-"

'

"No, I can tell. I am sure of it," she responded with firmness that didn't leave room for objections, so the redhead didn't even bother. If Jeanne was that convinced of the fact, nothing she could say would change her mind. Looking at the ruins mournfully as Lemminkäinen finished off the last of the wyverns, the Ruler muttered: "...There's just one thing I don't understand."

'

"What is it?" Ritsuka asked hesitantly. There were a few directions this topic could go, and most of them weren't exactly good.

'

But fortunately, this wasn't one of them. "How much do you have to hate others to wreak such havoc?" Jeanne asked in the most genuine tone the redhead had ever heard. "I can't understand it." Ritsuka's jaw dropped. In that instant, the slightest slivers of doubt she'd held for the possibility that Jeanne could be the Dragon Witch completely crumbled away. She wasn't just saying that. She genuinely couldn't understand that other Jeanne's motives, her hatred.

'

"You really are amazing..." the Master muttered, with Jeanne looking at her in sudden surprise. Before their rayshift, Ritsuka had done extensive research on this era, and as one of the key players during it, she knew basically everything there was to know about Jeanne. Thus, she knew what happened to this girl at the end of her life, and could fully understand her desire for revenge... But even after everything she went through in her final days, the Ruler still didn't understand why the other Jeanne was doing this... With that kind of outlook, it really was no surprise that this girl came to be celebrated as a Saint. That, along with her impressive lack of fear and calmness even in desperate situations, really gave Ritsuka some insight on what it must have been like to fight alongside her during the war. Most of the soldiers genuinely must have believed that she was a gift from God, sent there to lead them to victory.

'

"Heads up, guys!" But, those musings unfortunately had to come to an end as Roman yelled through the comm, the clear tension in his voice getting everyone ready for a possible attack. "I'm picking up a Servant heading straight for you!"

'

"Huh!?" Mash gasped, the reason for the Doctor's anxiety instantly becoming clear to the group. Gripping her flag tightly, Jeanne moved her gaze to the group of wyverns now just barely visible in the horizon. While she still held some sadness in her eyes, it was mostly overcome by fierce determination, dedication to make sure what happened here wouldn't reoccur in some other town.

'

"The attacker must've realized we're here and turned back..." the redhead muttered, moving behind Mash in preparation. While she appeared the slightest bit anxious, the Shielder didn't seem any more troubled than usual when it came to fighting, so Ritsuka moved on to her strategy. This would be their first encounter with a hostile Servant in France, making it a prime opportunity to learn more about the situation. While a direct confrontation definitely held some risks, with a lineup like this, she couldn't imagine them losing unless the enemy was on par with Heracles or King Arthur, and even then, they could almost certainly still escape with all their combined abilities, so it was a risk well worth taking. The wyverns were a bit of a wild card, but with their great numbers, they would make for a perfect target to get the maximum value out of the Saber's Noble Phantasm. With there being no civilians to worry about getting caught in the crossfire, he could unleash it without worry for anything other than her magical energy capacity. And speaking of...

'

"Gotta be the bastard leading the wyverns." Walking up to the group, Lemminkäinen started grinning in a way that just screamed danger while cracking his knuckles. "Good. I was getting a bit bored of fighting these overgrown lizards." Ritsuka withheld a groan. Only this idiot would get tired of fighting something like wyverns this quickly. But, if nothing else, he at least still had that unbreakable confidence of his.

'

"Wait! This is worse than you think! You need to get out of there!" Roman continued, his voice growing even more frantic. "Three! There are three Servants heading towards you!"

'

"Three!?" Ritsuka repeated in disbelief. Mash turned and gave her an extremely anxious look, one that she shared even without showing it. The entire situation was just flipped on its head. Their numbers were equal, but considering that Jeanne was weakened and Mash wasn't able to draw out her maximum potential as a Servant, they would definitely be at a disadvantage. And that was before the wyvern swarm was added to the mix. No. There was only one sane option here. Had there still been people alive in the town, things might've been different, but they had basically nothing to gain by fighting here, which left them with a clear course of action. "We're retreating!" she shouted, relieving the Shielder's unease considerably. Sure, by fighting they could gain information on their enemy, something they were crucially lacking. But information like that was only useful if they were left alive to take advantage of it. "You carry me, Saber, while Mash and Jeanne run on their own!"

'

Lemminkäinen frowned, clicking his tongue in annoyance. He obviously didn't like her choice, but she wasn't risking their lives just so that this battle maniac could get into an epic duel or something. "Tch. Well, it's your call, Pomo." Ritsuka felt a slight wave of relief rushing over her. While he may have disagreed, at least he didn't openly rebel against her decision.

'

"And it's a good call, Ritsuka," Roman further reinforced, the sound of furious typing partially drowning out his voice. "The enemies are fast, but if you give it your all, you will be able to get away. We'll do our best to give you directions while you run, so focus on putting as much distance as possible between the hostiles and yourselves."

'

As the group started to move out, Mash turned towards the sole Servant still standing motionless. "Jeanne! The Servants are closing in, so we need-"

'

"...I won't run." A declaration that froze the entire area. Ritsuka nearly fell over from shock while the Shielder could just gape in disbelief. Did they seriously hear that right? That'd be a complete suicide! "I must at least find out what their true intentions are!" But the following only cemented the earlier words, to the point that the Master started grasping at the straws for an explanation. Maybe this was just some 15th century joke that they lacked the context for.

'

But then she saw the Ruler's expression, and everything became clear. Oh shit, she was completely serious! Judging by the frightened look on Mash's face, she'd realized it too. "B-but...!"

'

Ritsuka began trying to figure out some way out of this madness, but couldn't come up with anything concrete. They couldn't afford to lose such a valuable ally this early on, so escaping without her was out of the question. Judging by her expression, it was unlikely that Jeanne would back down no matter what they said, and they lacked the time for a thorough discussion, meaning that persuasion was out of the game. Trying to use force was even more unreliable. Ignoring how much it would harm their relationship, while she was quite sure that Lemminkäinen could knock out Jeanne in her current condition, it would still take too long. It didn't help that the man in question, of course, looked extremely pleased with the Ruler's declaration. Oh, she wanted to slap him so bad right now. Although the redhead's mind kept desperately searching for a solution, the few she could come up with weren't what she'd describe as good. No, only one of them was even possible. There really was no other option...

'

Doing her best to quell her frustration, Ritsuka let out a deep sigh, strengthened her leg, and kicked a small boulder as hard as she could while screaming: "Helvetti!" The rock hit the barely standing remains of a brick wall, causing it to fully collapse. Ah, that actually made her feel better. Ignoring the fact that everyone was staring at her dumbfounded, she let out another deep breath and turned towards the equally confused Ruler. "...Fine. If you stay Jeanne, we will too."

'

Jeanne blinked in surprise before a grateful smile spread on her lips, Lemminkäinen started grinning so widely that his cheeks looked ready to split apart, while Mash... "Senpai!?" The poor Shielder was completely bewildered by her words, nearly as badly as Roman.

'

"Ritsuka you can't be serious! Do you reali-"

'

"I know what's on the line, Roman!" she yelled, silencing the distressed Doctor instantly. She did honestly feel bad, but they just didn't have time to go through her entire thought process at the moment. "But despite that, we can't afford to lose any allies if there's a chance to save them. Our fighting forces are low enough as is." Losing Jeanne this early into their campaign would be catastrophic, so if there was a way to avoid that, she would take it. If the main thing she wanted was the enemy's motives, after learning that and realizing just how outclassed they were, Jeanne would more than likely agree to escape with them. It was risky, basically insanely so, but it was the only way Ritsuka could see them all surviving this confrontation. "Besides, this could be a good chance to at least learn something about our enemy." That last part was more of an alleviation than anything, but if they were going through with this, she would take any bonus coming their way.

'

"Thank you, Ritsuka," Jeanne said with a smile so brilliant that Ritsuka actually had to look slightly away. ...Damn, she was pretty.

'

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Lemminkäinen cheered, slapping the Master on the back. "For showing me resolve like that, I'll be sure to put on my A-game, Pomo."

'

And on the opposite end of the reactions, Roman looked like he was going to have a stroke. "You..." Desperately, he turned towards another screen. "Come on, you other Servants! Say something to her!"

'

"No." Medusa's answer was both swift and firm, making Ritsuka thank her wordlessly. "Master has made up her mind. We won't question her here."

'

"Besides, you really think we could talk her down from this?" Cú continued with a smirk. "Just look at the resolve on her face."

'

And then, the Doctor turned towards his final option. Mash looked extremely frightened, to the point that Ritsuka almost wanted to tell her to get to safety on her own, but decided against it. Given how she was, there was no way Mash would abandon them to run away by herself. And as if to prove that, she turned towards Ritsuka with a nod. "...If... If Senpai stays, s-so will I-I." She was obviously still scared, but her sense of duty had managed to once again surpass it. A sight that never failed to make the redhead smile.

'

"Thank you, Mash." She would definitely need to do something nice for her later. Maybe once they returned to Chaldea, baking more pancakes would do it? Mash seemed to really enjoy them.

'

Roman then turned somewhere away from the screen, most likely to seek aid from Dio and Da Vinci, but judging from the dejection growing on his face, they too sided with the Master. Defeat pouring from every ounce of his being, the Doctor slumped down on his chair, resting a hand on his face. "...I really hope you know what you're doing."

'

"So do I..." Ritsuka mumbled quietly. This whole thing made her feel really bad for Roman, especially since he was just trying to help. She'd need to do something nice for him as well, once they got back. But for now, there were more important things to worry about. "Saber? You can do that thing to help us escape if things get tough, right?"

'

Jeanne and Mash looked at the two curiously, while Lemminkäinen immediately started grinning. "Oh, that?" Judging by the look in his eye, he knew exactly what she was talking about. ...And was probably the only one in the group who would enjoy said method. "Yeah. These two have some serious Magic Resistance, but I can pull it off. Might take an extra second or two of setting up, though."

'

Ritsuka nodded stiffly. "That's fine, as long as you can do it." That trick of his was effectively the only reason she had agreed to stay with Jeanne, since it practically guaranteed their survival. It was after all among the most memorable stunts he'd pulled off in the Kalevala. While it hardly looked pretty, they didn't really have the luxury to look good while escaping. All that mattered was that they could get away if the situation got too bad. Ugh... Still, just thinking about going through that nonsense made Ritsuka wish she'd brought Medusa instead. While she really didn't care for the Rider's mount, she couldn't deny that it would be excellent for escaping situations like this.

'

But, that was enough of the Master's musings, as Jeanne's smile faded upon facing the approaching foes. "...They're here." And indeed, the three enemy Servants arrived at their visual range, riding on... black wyverns. Yeah, these were the big bads all right. But it wasn't until they got close enough for her to see their status as Servants that Ritsuka realized just how horrifically bad their situation was. They'd need to make their getaway as soon as possible. All three of the enemy Servants were really strong! Even the weakest, a woman in a mask wearing... a cage of some kind around her waist, was overall stronger than either Jeanne or Mash. The sole man of the group, a Lancer judging by the strange polearm he was holding, was the most baffling of all. His parameters were roughly the same as those of Heracles! How the hell was that even possible!? But what made these two Servants even more terrifying were their expressions. Specifically, the looks in their eyes. Those were, without a doubt, the eyes of predators. Beings that saw humans as nothing more than a meal. Ritsuka could feel a dreadful chill running through her being as the masked woman locked her gaze onto her with a wicked smirk, her piercing golden-orange eyes feeling as if they were drilling into her very soul.

'

But the worst of them all, without question, was her. The other Jeanne. While she wasn't far behind the Lancer when it came to power, that wasn't what made her so terrifying. Her face was identical to Jeanne's with a few exceptions: Both her skin and hair were extremely pale, while her eyes were a frightening yellow. An appearance that... really reminded Ritsuka of the Saber they had fought in Fuyuki. Was there some type of connection there? Still, those details completely paled in comparison to what truly set the two apart. The redhead had known Jeanne for only a few hours, and in that time, she had seen her smile a couple of times. Like her presence in general, the Saint had a very beautiful smile, one that was both calming and gave hope to those around her. The one on this other Jeanne's face was the complete opposite. An absolutely wicked sneer split her lips as she looked down on their group from on top of her wyvern, like some sick kid that enjoyed torturing animals. It was effectively a textbook example for the most evil-looking grin imaginable, to the point where Ritsuka didn't even want to imagine what went on in her head. Perfectly matching the smile, as soon as the double got close enough, she started cackling like a maniac, back bending as she covered her eyes with her hand, as if she was looking at the funniest thing she had ever seen. It was honestly extremely horrifying. And equally horrifying was her voice, which was again completely identical to Jeanne's, with the exception of the mocking, demeaning tone that Ritsuka doubted she would ever hear from the real Jeanne.

'

"Who knew... Who knew such a thing could happen?"

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Notes:

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And it's out! Ten chapters. Like... damn. It might not seem like much, but given how long these bastards are, I'm quite happy that I've managed to get this far. Another amazing thing is that the story has reached 5000 views. The fact that so many people take time out of their day to read through my crap is just amazing to me. On the other hand, what I'm not particularly happy with is my writing pace for this chapter. Compared to the other ones, my writing speed per day was practically halved, which annoyed me to no end. Granted, for the last two months, I've had to work an internship for credit, which has taken a lot of time and energy, but I still just feel lazy in comparison to the other months. Thankfully, the internship ended with April, so I'll hopefully be able to pick up my pace from now on.

'

Now, let's get to the actual chapter stuff.

'

First off, it's extremely important to remember that when you're looking at Orleans Servants from Jalter's side, all of them had Madness Enhancement. Meaning that when looking at their parameters, all of them should be a rank higher than normal, which can be really scary, especially when the Servant is already strong, like Vlad. Speaking of, Vlad is a really interesting case when it comes to his power as a Servant here. This'll be explored more in a later chapter, but I'll just straight up say now that he's just about the strongest Servant on team Jalter, and definitely the hardest to kill. I'm not having him go full "Nameless Vampire" from Apocrypha, 'cause the chance of victory for the Chaldeans is just about zero at that point, but he's still stronger than normal. And when I say "Nameless Vampire", I'm not talking about whatever the hell that thing from the anime was. I'm talking about the absolute beast that fought Karna, Achilles, Atalanta, Chiron and Avicebron at the same time while they were empowered by Command Spells from Jeanne, and was actually doing fairly well. That whole scenario was probably one of the anime's biggest screw ups.

'

In this chapter I'm also addressing the whole "Guda just fouking walks everywhere lol" problem. It somehow gets even worse in the future, but it's already just absurd here. Like how Jeanne says in-game: "like La Charite, which isn't too far," but it's 252.90 kilometers or 157.14 miles away from Vaucouleurs, and that's if you travel in a straight fucking line. And even if she meant between it and Orleans, that's still 115.81 kilometers/71.96 miles. For now, Servants just carrying Ritsuka over long distances will work as a solution, but there will be different, more convenient (and comfortable) ways of travel in the future.

'

Another point I'd like to bring up is the Servant peanut gallery back in Chaldea. Though they didn't get too much to say this time around, I do plan on having them do more in the future, as well as having scenes that focus specifically on the people in Chaldea while the Singularity crew is out doing their thing.

'

As the final thing, this is still actually something I really wish to get feedback on. I'm still looking for an artist to get some nice looking references for my OCs, so if you could recommend any, I'd be grateful and I'll definitely be checking them out.

Now don't worry. I'm not some crook that tries to rob free art with: "Muh exposure." I'll pay with cold, hard cash.

OK, technically it'll be ephemeral, electric cash, since I don't literally send bills inside an envelope, but you get the idea.

For the specifics, it'd be good if the artist's artstyle didn't horribly clash with the overall aesthetic of FGO's characters. And by that I mean, some of the wilder, really out there styles wouldn't really work for the characters. Also, while I definitely will be paying for the provided art, there are some limits. I can't go paying several hundred euros for a picture, seeing how I'm constantly plagued by the vile demons known as Food and Rent.

'

Next time: [The Saint of the Iron Fist]