Summary:

Having received a tip from Saint Martha, the Chaldea crew heads to Lyon to find the Dragon Slayer.

But on the way, they also come across two actual dragons, one of which might be more dangerous than any other, in her own special way.

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Chapter 12: Two Dragons and a Slayer

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As Jeanne entered the tent kindly provided by the Chaldeans, her eyes widened in surprise. Pushing her hands against the base, she could confirm what her knees had felt, that she could barely feel the ground under it at all. Despite the fabric being thin as paper, it possessed remarkable softness that was unlike anything she had ever experienced. Even without any extra bedding, it would be very possible to just sleep on this. To imagine that a tent could be this comfortable was simply astounding. Still, Jeanne's expression ended up falling as soon as the wonderment wore off. The soft cloth could only distract her for a few seconds, with her mind quickly returning to contemplating the previous matter.

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Something Marie was quick to pick up on. "Is something wrong, Jeanne?" she asked while closing the flaps, concern obvious on her face. "You seem defeated... Are you tired?

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A faint smile grew on the Ruler's lips. She'd only known her for a short time, but this queen was quite perceptive to the emotions of those around her. Truly, she had been blessed with wonderful allies. "Marie... No, I'm not tired. I am a Servant, after all."

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But that did little to ease her worry. "Perhaps you're saddened by the state France is in... I mean, are you disappointed?

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Jeanne just shook her head. "No, I'm not disappointed. Thank you for your concern, Marie." Still, it would be fair to open up a little, since she showed such care for her. "But... Seeing those familiar towns in flames is a bit hard to bear," she added solemnly, and a compassionate smile graced Marie's lips.

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"Yes... For you, especially, this era is exactly like it was when you were alive. It's different from what I feel inside... Memories that are still going on."

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But again, Jeanne denied the suggestion. "While that is true, my thoughts have been elsewhere." This was hardly her first time seeing destroyed settlements, but this time the one responsible for it was 'her', which made all the difference.

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"The Dragon Witch?" Marie guessed, prompting Jeanne to this time give a confirming nod.

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"...Yes. Exactly. I just didn't realize how far she would go to achieve her goals."

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"What do you mean by that?"

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The Ruler's mouth twisted into a slight frown. "The Servants she has summoned to do her bidding... Both Vlad III and Elizabeth Báthory led lives that involved great amounts of killing and harming others. While their reasons for doing so were completely different, they still had that in common. Thus, them being burdened with Madness Enhancement and ordered to massacre people in obscene numbers is something I considered plausible." The same was true for Gilles, given what became of him later in his life, even if she didn't like it. But... "But for her to do the same to Saint Martha of all people..."

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An understanding smile grew on the Rider's lips. "I see. She was someone you truly looked up to."

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"Yes. And to see her twisted to do the Dragon Witch's bidding in such a way..." Jeanne's voice died down. To think that Martha, a proper saint, had been forced to soak her hands in blood to such a ludicrous extent, by 'her' no less. The feelings it made her experience were just indescribable. If it weren't for the stakes, Jeanne would've immediately made her way to Orleans and asked just a single thing from her double: 'Why?' No matter how thoroughly Jeanne contemplated the matter, she was simply unable to comprehend her other self's thought process. "...She just keeps getting more and more incomprehensible to me."

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And yet, Marie kept smiling in her compassionate way. Reaching over, she wrapped an arm around the Ruler's shoulder and leaned against her. "You know Jeanne, while it's true that we Servants don't get tired in the same way that humans do, we can still get exhausted, especially by burdening thoughts. While Martha may have seemed like a wonderful person once she was freed, you did the only thing that could truly help her. So, the next best thing available would simply be stopping the Dragon Witch for good."

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A sigh escaped through Jeanne's lips as she nodded. "I suppose that is true." Marie was certainly right in that regard. It didn't matter how long and hard she tried to understand the Dragon Witch's thoughts, since it all ended the same, without her getting any closer to the truth. Which meant that no answers would present themselves before she confronted her directly. Endlessly mulling over it would only serve to distract and mentally exhaust her. And so, Jeanne turned towards the girl next to her with an appreciative smile. After all, there was a reason she was in this tent in the first place. It'd be rude to Marie if they just spent the entire night talking about her worries. "Before we came in, you said you wanted to talk to me. Did you have a particular topic in mind?"

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Clapping her hands together, Marie's eyes practically lit up. "Yes! Why don't we take this time to talk about something more fun? Like love?"

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Jeanne's mouth fell agape from sheer disbelief. "...Excuse me?" To say that the shift in topics was drastic would be the understatement of the century.

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And despite that, the Rider just tilted her head. "Oh, is that strange? But both you and I were summoned in the bloom of our youth." She then jumped up, barely able to do so inside the tent given her hat, and did a showy twirl. "You see? I'm in the middle of puberty, right? So I love talking about love and romance!"

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Jeanne could only blink in surprise before letting out an awkward laugh. She'd thought that Marie looked a tad young given her life, but she certainly hadn't expected it to result in something like this. "Ahaha... I appreciate the offer, but that's hard for me. I know of compassion, but not romance."

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Now it was Marie's turn to get surprised, a shocked gasp escaping her mouth. "But... You're missing out on life!" she cried before kneeling in front of Jeanne, grabbing her hands as she imploringly looked her straight in the eyes. "It's not too late to start! Fall in love with someone, Jeanne!"

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The Ruler could only shake her head at the desperation, along with a giggle. "Of course, if I get the chance." Obviously she wasn't opposed to the idea of romance. She'd just never found 'the one' during her life. If she did by chance come across someone suitable, she'd have no qualms in trying to form a relationship with them. Although, given the situation of the world, this was hardly the proper time for that sort of thing. Still, the clear passion the Rider held in the subject did raise her curiosity. "Have you fallen in love, Marie?"

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In response, the girl smiled proudly. "Heheh, of course. I fell in love with a boy who proposed to me at age 7. I think it was my first love." Jeanne nearly fell over from shock. Seven? Marie was proposed to when she was 7? But before she could even ask her for context, the Rider continued with enduring excitement. "And when I was 14, I fell in love with the king I married."

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"14! That's kind of amazing." Marriage at that age? Jeanne of course knew from experience that the nobility lived differently from commoners, but this was on a completely different level. In response to the Rider's wild experiences, she began thinking back on her own life. "When I was that age... I was working and playing in the fields with the other children.

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"That sounds fun, too!" Marie giggled, her eyes practically sparkling at this point. "I'm jealous. It must be such fun to be able to go wherever you want!

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A nostalgic smile spread on Jeanne's lips. Reminiscing on her life's simple, peaceful days was something she hadn't done in a long while, even before she became a Servant. "Yes, it was fun. What I lacked in romance, I made up for in friendship."

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Marie mischievously poked her with her elbow. "Did all the boys like you?"

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"Hmm, my hair was short then, so they treated me like one of the guys."

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"Oh, I'm so glad I became a Servant! I can't believe I'm having girl talk with Jeanne d'Arc," Marie practically squealed as she threw her hands in the air. "It's good to be a queen!

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Jeanne could only giggle at the pure enjoyment shown to her. There was just something about Marie's cheerfulness that made talking with her so enjoyable. Although this all didn't exactly rid her of her worries, it did certainly help take her mind off of them. "The honor is mine. Who would've thought that I would get to talk to the famous Marie Antoinette. It's good to be a Servant."

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"...And just think of all the fun stuff we could make with the leftovers," Dio laughed while keeping an eye on the Saber through a monitor, with Da Vinci sharing the reaction. She had to admit that this whole situation had become quite the unexpected boon. While these wyverns were certainly troublesome enemies, they came with some extraordinary benefits.

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Just on the next console over, Romani looked at them with clear amusement. "You two are certainly in a good mood," he noted while taking a large sip from his coffee.

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"Well duh. Did you see how much good stuff those wyverns ended up leaving behind? Just think about everything we'll be able to do with that much material."

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The Caster nodded in agreement. "We'll definitely be able to fully Ascend the Saint Graphs of all the Servants here, and there will even be enough for leftovers."

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But before he could reply, the door to the Command Room opened and a small group of people came pouring in. The so-called 'nightshifters'. During the change in Chaldea's leadership, it was agreed upon that during long Rayshifts the entire faculty would shift to special working conditions that greatly altered their sleeping schedules. Basically, there would always need to be at least six regular workers monitoring the equipment and keeping track of Ritsuka and Mash's existence. And that was the absolute minimal requirement, given that it was roughly a third of their entire workforce. Almost as soon as their replacements came in, the current staff members began preparing to head out. Romani was very much supposed to be among them, but of course the idiot had sternly refused to leave his post. Da Vinci had considered just straight up physically tying him up and throwing him onto a bed, but ultimately decided against it. He'd just spend that precious time trying to escape like the fool that he was. Though as the fresh workers entered, amid them was one of her favorites. As their gazes met, the Chinese woman's face brightened considerably. "Good even-I mean night, miss Da Vinci," Huifen waved happily.

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A gesture Da Vinci was quick to return. "To you as well, Hui." Some others also greeted her, but quickly turned away when they got a look at the particular screen by her side, where Lemminkäinen was busy with harvesting the organs of one of the black wyverns. He definitely knew what he was doing, seeing how accurately he cut out its heart with minimal damage, suggesting that this was hardly his first time gathering materials from a phantasmal. If the Caster was present, she wouldn't have minded the particular task too much, but it was certainly preferable that someone else took care of dirty work like this. Using the materials was her forte. And, much like Dio had said, there would be plenty of leftovers for just that. Her omnipotent mind was already racing with different ideas on what to use them on, with one of particular interest being an ornithopter constructed mainly out of wyvern bones. They were both lighter and tougher than steel, so they were ideal for creating vehicles. The main drawback was that they were also quite difficult to mold into wanted shapes, but there were ways around that.

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"Still, it's interesting that Saint Quartz are also formed in this Singularity," the Spaniard suddenly noted, catching her attention. "One of my hypotheses was that they formed due to the unique circumstances in Fuyuki, but this throws that completely out the window."

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Da Vinci nodded in agreement. That truly was, along with the Hands of Dawn, one of the many mysteries that still eluded them. "Indeed. So the most likely reason left is that unique space-time anomalies like Singularities end up interacting with the structures of Servant Saint Graphs at the moment of their collapse."

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"Exactly. The fact that they end up producing solid, crystalline mass with such consistent, symmetrical shape is also extremely fascinating. Is there some outside force responsible for the design of that structure, or is it simply nature ending up with the most optimal form for them?"

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It was then that the Doctor sitting close by let out a long yawn, and she couldn't help but to smile and throw a jab at him. "Oh? Are we boring you with our discussion, Romani~?"

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He shook his head before letting out another yawn. "No, no. I'm just... a bit thired... jhusth ah bhith..." The Doctor grew silent as he began slurring his words. Da Vinci already knew where this was going. So it really had come to this. "Whaith... Whhath ish...?" Romani began just looking around in confusion, his speech coming more slurred with each word. Then, as understanding dawned over his fuzzy eyes, he turned towards Dio who just smiled brightly at him. The Doctor had figured it all out far too late. "Aahh mhannhh..."

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Romani's eyes rolled back and his head smacked against the console, while the Caster could only sigh in disappointment. "So in the end, you still had to drug his coffee just to get him to sleep. His work ethic is impressive when it comes to worrying over the girls, but this is going too far."

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As the staff members stared at the situation in varying states of disbelief, some even stifling their laughter, Dio walked over to the unconscious Doctor before lifting him over his shoulder. "Yeah. He slacks off on unimportant tasks and goes way too hard on the important ones... If only he could balance them out. He'd be a capable, dependable guy all around."

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"True. He really is an idiot," Da Vinci agreed while watching the Spaniard walking towards the door. "Are you headed to your workshop for the night?"

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"Yup. I've got some things cooking that I want to focus more attention on. Without too many distractions, I might just be able to crack one of our most annoying obstructions within a day or two. But unfortunately, I need to be back here by morning, so we'll see how it goes." She gave him a confirming nod. That would certainly be the preferred result, considering that it would result in a major increase in fighting power for the Singularity team. "But first, I'll throw sleeping beauty to bed in the room next door. There'll be a pill on the table next to him that will instantly wake him up if need be, but hopefully he actually gets his rest." But before he made it to the door, Dio stopped. "Oh, and while I'm going." Walking back to the console with a grin, he turned on the speakers for the area below. "Hey, Emiya. Meet me at the elevator. I've got a present for you."

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Da Vinci raised a brow at the sudden act. Dio was bringing Emiya of all Servants into his workshop? But then she connected the dots and a smile spread on her lips. So, this was about those things in his closet, huh. This should be interesting. "Have fun."

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"Oh, I intend to, but just one last thing before I go." Stepping in front of the Caster, his expression became more serious than it had all night as he asked the question that more than likely bothered everyone to some extent: "What the hell is Magi Mari?" Da Vinci almost fell off of her chair. "I get that it's an internet idol thing, but how the fuck is something like that even working?"

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For once, the omnipotent genius was at a loss for words. This whole nonsense had completely slipped her mind after Romani had gotten over his freakout. No... Maybe she had unconsciously tried to forget the subject entirely, considering how ridiculous it was. "...I was honestly hoping it might have been a prank service you created just for Romani or something of the sort, but it seems not." Turning her gaze back to Dio, she was forced to just shrug and shake her head. "I have no idea. Let's just look into it when we have some time."

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The Spaniard similarly shook his head. "God I hope it's a prank someone here made. Like, what else could it even be? Is the damn mastermind spying on us through a fake net idol?" Though just as he exited the room, he let out a small laugh. "Not sure if that's ingenious or really stupid, but holy shit do I love it."

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As Emiya followed Dio through Chaldea, questions kept piling in his mind. While he often preferred silence in situations like this, this was all really bothering him at the moment, so he decided to go ahead and ask. "...Why did you call me here?"

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The Spaniard turned to him with clear confusion. "I already told you. To give you a present."

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"Is this about Saint Graph Ascension?" he asked, not bothering to dance around the question, but Dio just shook his head.

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"Nah. That's later. We begin that after Lemminkäinen finishes collecting the necessary parts off of those wyvern corpses. I'm giving you something you can use more directly in battle, thanks to your unique abilities."

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An answer that managed to raise Emiya's brows with interest. A weapon, then? Dio clearly wasn't a fool and understood the quality of the weapons in his arsenal, which admittedly got the Archer quite curious over this present of his. They had chatted from time to time, mostly at the cafeteria and always initiated by the Spaniard, so it wasn't as though they were complete strangers at this point. From what Emiya had gathered on him, he knew that Dio came from a fairly old bloodline, which meant that he could very well possess a keepsake worth something. An ancient blade passed down through the family was quite likely. Still, he shouldn't set his expectations too high...

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Even before Dio gave him any sign, the Archer could tell that they'd arrived the instant he spotted the door down the hallway. It was metal, like the others in the facility, but made from an entirely different material. Some type of silver alloy, if he had to guess. Engraved on it, at a similar size and height to that of most people, was a face made with extreme detail. More than likely the opening mechanism, considering that he saw no alternatives. And aside from the fact that it looked completely different in comparison to Chaldea's usual sliding doors, he could tell that it was far better protected. Even a Servant would need to use force to break through it. "Alright, we're here," the Spaniard noted as he stopped in front of the door. Before his legs had even fully halted, the face opened its eyelids, revealing pupils of shining pearls that quickly flashed before the door slid upwards, allowing them inside. Quite theatric, but some mages certainly liked that. "Come right in, but please avoid touching anything. I like to keep my things in order."

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As soon as he got his first looks inside, Emiya was completely flabbergasted. This was absolutely not what he'd expected. As Dio walked in, he could only follow in disbelief. He'd visited Da Vinci's workshop once and this was extremely similar on a base level. The main materials used for building it were wood and stone to give it a more natural feel, along with fake windows that gave the room an illusion of sunlight. It wasn't quite as oldtimely as the Renaissance Inventor's room, given the electric lighting, but it was still something that wouldn't be quite common in the current century. To a normal person, it might've even seemed extremely pleasant. But, the Archer knew better from the pressure the room exuded. This was definitely the workshop of an accomplished magus. Just one hostile move and the entire space would try to annihilate him with all of its resources. Still, that hardly bothered him, given that he was used to workshops at this point. After all, there was another detail about the space that disturbed him far more than that. Not even every other Servant might notice it, but with his eyesight and attention to detail, he immediately became aware of the sheer abnormality of the room: Everything in it was perfectly lined up. The chairs and the tools on the surfaces were completely lined up with the tables, without a single degree of error. Everything was clean, spotless, to the point that the very air inside the room was cleaner than it was outside. There were no dark corners, since the lighting had been positioned in such a way that every part of the room was lit up equally. Everything, from the work surfaces and chairs, to the lighting, tools, and even the ceiling, walls and floor itself, was simply too perfect. It didn't feel like a space one could so much as freely move through, let alone work in. As they walked further in, he managed to mutter: "...This is quite the workshop to create in the facility owned by another magus."

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"Well, I like to feel homie. Helps me concentrate on my work, so I put in the extra effort while building it."

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Emiya just gave him a small nod. While he felt like there was more to the reasoning as a whole, he certainly couldn't deny that a comfortable work environment could greatly increase one's productivity. Still, there was one more thing he wanted to check. "May I?"

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"Go right ahead."

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Projecting a small iron ball, miniscule enough for someone to swallow without even noticing, he crouched slightly before dropping it. The sphere made a tiny clink as it collided with the floor, but afterwards just stayed there, not rolling in the slightest. He'd figured this was the case, but he just had to make sure. The entire room was perfectly level. Just how much effort did this man put into making this supposedly temporary workshop?

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"Are you satisfied?" Dio asked as the ball faded away. Emiya could only nod.

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"...I suppose."

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"Then, let's move on to what we actually came here for." Walking to a closet on the other side of the room, the Spaniard opened it and a smile immediately spread on his lips. "Ah... Here it is." As Dio turned back around, he now held a case in his hands. A finely made one too. Maple if Emiya had to guess. It had a simple, yet regal design, carved like golden ribbons were wrapped around its surface. But, that all left his mind as it was opened. "Wonderful, isn't it? Just take a moment to really take it all in," Dio smirked as he took the contents in his hand to show it off. As he witnessed it gleaming in the bright lighting of the room, the Archer felt his mouth fall open. This was far beyond anything he had imagined.

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It was a sword. An extremely fine sword. And coming from him, that said something. The hilt was encrusted with gold and had three runes embedded on it with what appeared to be diamonds. The runes, Kaun, Úr, and Týr, had been written so precisely that he couldn't tell where the individual diamonds ended. And while the hilt itself was already incredible, the blade... The blade was simply astounding. Viewed from the side, it was nearly invisible, and its gloss was so fine it was like a mirror. The very middle was encrusted with gold, running in a thin line from the tip all the way down to the hilt. The encrusting was so perfect that it was as if the gold and the steel were just one metal. And the edge was so precise, pristine. Its sharpness was just... inhuman. There was simply no way this sword was made by human hands. His curiosity peaking, he turned towards Dio questioningly. "What is its name?"

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A grin spread on the Spaniard's lips. "This baby's Mimung. I'm sure you know of it."

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Emiya's eyes widened. Any Servant who knew even a bit about swords would recognize the creator's name instantly. "So, one of Völundr's creations." That certainly confirmed his suspicions. A legendary blacksmith's blade, much like he had expected. But still... He'd never expected to find such a treasure here. "To think that you'd have something like this here in Chaldea..."

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"Well, I like to keep it close, so I take it with me when I'm traveling," Dio just shrugged, as if the ancient blade was a memorial keychain or something. "And yeah, while it's hardly the great smith's most exciting work, being pretty down-to-earth and all since it lacks any anti-army beams and stuff, it should still be useful in quite a number of situations. I'd say it's comparable to a B Rank Noble Phantasm."

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An appraisal Emiya very much agreed with, seeing how knowing these things was his forte. Being able to observe the blade this close in person made that all the easier. But that also got the Archer thinking. This was an extremely rare opportunity. So, after a brief moment of contemplation, he held out his hand and asked: "May I?" Of course, he could copy any weapon just by seeing it once, but actually holding the original weapon and getting to feel it in his hands while swinging it around? That was a luxury he'd experienced far too rarely.

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And it seemed that Dio understood the desire as well, judging by the smile. Carefully holding on to the hilt, he handed the blade over. "Sure. As long as you don't test it on anything here, go right ahead."

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"Thanks." Emiya's lips curled upwards the instant he took hold of Mimung. It was one of those rare swords that instantly felt right in his hands. Both its weight and balance were a delight to feel as he gave a few experimental slices in the air. But there was another, a far more important aspect he wished to test, so while holding the famed blade on his right hand, he projected a different one on the other. The sword he held in his left hand was a fine one. Well forged, it would be able to stab through any normal armor or shield without much difficulty, even in the hands of a complete amateur. He was quite certain on what the result would be, that Völundr's blade would cut through the other blade like paper, but he wanted to be sure. Raising Mimung, he swung it down on the other sword.

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Clink

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Silence fell in the room as Dio grinned by the Archer's side. Emiya was... honestly dumbstruck by the result. He had been wrong. It wasn't like cutting through paper. After all, even when cutting paper, there was some feeling as well as a distinct sound. But in this case, there was no particular sound from the cut nor any feeling. Yet during his slash, the only sound in the room had been the clattering of the sliced apart sword as it fell on the floor. It truly hadn't been like cutting through paper. The disbelieving Archer had arrived at an astounding conclusion: This sword, Mimung, cut through steel as easily as it did air. Still, in hindsight, it shouldn't have been too surprising. According to the story of its creation, Völundr had used it to cut a fully armored man clean in half, vertically, and the man hadn't even noticed he'd been cut until he tried to move. It was now clear to him now that the tale hadn't exaggerated its sharpness in the least. The cutting ability this blade possessed was simply inhuman. Well, that too made sense in a way, since it's not like the smith was a human in the first place. And, using it like this had made the blade's nature all the more obvious to him.

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The sword, Mimung, was truly 'a sword'. It wasn't made to pierce through mountains or conquer fate with its strikes. It wasn't useful for attacking large numbers of enemies. No. This truly was an Anti-Unit weapon, best used for precision strikes against singular targets. Mimung was forged for the sole purpose of creating the most efficient, potent effect a sword was meant to be used for: Cutting. It was quite simply made for cutting down anything the sword was swung at. Any non-Noble Phantasm level armor wouldn't stand a chance against its blade, nor could a weapon block or deflect it unless somehow managing to avoid making contact with the edge. Used correctly, it could theoretically be possible for even a normal human to kill a Servant with this sword. That is, as long as they managed to actually connect with it. And when personally used by him... Emiya could feel himself growing excited, different ways of utilizing the blade flooding into his mind. If he fashioned it into an arrow, it might even become one of his most effective precision sniping weapons. With this astounding cutting ability, he wouldn't need to worry about any debris or shrapnel his other arrows would generate. And hell, he could even fire them right through walls without fear of the shot's force or accuracy diminishing. It was truly a simple but efficient weapon. A most welcome addition to his arsenal.

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But before he could go any further in his formulation, the Archer felt an elbow playfully nudge at his side. "Now, I'm well aware of how mesmerizing Mimung is, but I can't have you standing there, staring at it in my workshop all night." Dio was of course right, so Emiya carefully handed the blade back to its owner. He had already fully memorized it, so he was preparing to thank the man and leave, only for the Spaniard to say something that caught him completely off guard. "Especially since there's something else I'd like you to look at."

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"There's more?" he asked in disbelief, but Dio just grinned and walked back to the closet.

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"Admittedly, Mimung was more of an afterthought since I wasn't entirely sure if you'd seen it before," he revealed while putting Mimung back in its case, and then he took out another, much longer one. "The main reason I called you here was this. I made this baby a few years back to deal with a particularly annoying Dead Apostle that had beef with me. Figured that someone with your unique abilities could put it to good use." A self made weapon, then? That certainly caught Emiya's interest. Judging by the difference in length, this one was more than likely a spear. Still, there was more to the covering itself that interested him. This other case was made of stone, yet its decorative patterns were completely identical to the first one. But that only raised another question: Why would he have such a dull case for this weapon in contrast to the other one? And yet, that instantly became obvious as Dio opened the casing. "Now, it won't really work against Fafnir, given how big that bastard is, but it should do wonders against some of the enemy Servants."

'

Once again, Emiya fell silent in disbelief. The weapon inside the case was indeed a spear like he'd expected, but not even in his wildest dreams could he have guessed the specifics. The shape itself was simple, following the very basics of spear design. There was a long staff and a straight, double edged tip that could be used to both slash and stab, and at the other end rested a small sphere to be used for nonlethal blows. There were some decorative designs on it and the staff, but that was it. Instead of extravagance, it had clearly been forged with practicality in mind. But that's where the normalcy ended. As if to reverse convention, it was the staff part of the spear that was metal. For a normal person it might've been heavy, but a trained fighter wouldn't have trouble handling it, much less a Servant. But that wasn't what astonished him so. Instead, the materials themselves were abnormal. Thanks to his vast experience, he had seen the metal used for the staff before, but seeing it in this day and age was shocking to say the least. He knew Dio was a skilled craftsman from everything he'd seen in Chaldea, but to work a metal like this? Clearly he'd underestimated the man. But even that paled in comparison to the highlight of the weapon. Specifically, the material used to construct the speartip, which ironically wasn't metal at all. Simply acquiring it in the modern era would have been extremely tasking even for a magus and cost a fortune, and to then turn something like this into a weapon... No. The better question was: How had he even forged something like this into a weapon? Doing so was not only extremely dangerous, even for a magus, but would also offer no discernible benefit in reaching the Root. This spear's effect truly was something that even his tremendous and varied arsenal was lacking. While missing the accumulated mystery and immediate deadliness of Mimung, it possessed quite a foul power that limited its diversity, but made it unbelievably effective if used correctly. It wasn't a Noble Phantasm, but with the unique properties of the material used to make it, its power could definitely rival one. Like Dio had said, the spear would be practically useless against something like Fafnir, unless stabbed directly in the eyes or something, but it should work wonders against human sized opponents if used properly. Fully replicating it wouldn't be easy and would require a good bit of magical energy, so he wouldn't be able to fire a barrage of them, but even with just one or two well aimed shots, the effect would be tremendous, possibly guaranteeing victory.

'

"Now, I'd like to ask you to not test the spear while in my workshop," Dio noted as he closed the case, snapping Emiya from his marveling. "Sure, there are all kinds of defenses in here, but it's still dangerous as hell, so please do your experimenting in the D20 World."

'

While some other Servants might've been impatient enough for that, he was nowhere near foolhardy enough to even attempt it. "Of course." Still, this little visit had proved to be far more fruitful than he could've imagined, the least he could do for the Spaniard was a grateful smile and a handshake. "Thank you. These gifts, both the sword and the spear, are definitely something I can see being useful in our future battles."

'

But while he still shook the offered hand and returned the smile, Dio shook his head dismissively "Nah, don't mention it. Just have fun with them."

'

And that was the last straw for Emiya. He'd thought there was something strange with this, but now he was sure. "You know, it's not often that people willingly show me their weapons with the intent that I trace them," he asked, cocking an eyebrow. Dio was simply showing these treasures to him freely without any sort of return favor or compensation? This was all especially bizarre for a mage, even if he hardly was a traditional one in the first place. He'd expected to at least be asked to assist in a magecraft experiment or something of the sort, but dismissing even simple thanks was reaching to suspicious levels of generosity.

'

"You're asking if I have some ulterior motive," the Spaniard chuckled. "What? Isn't giving you better chances at saving humanity reason enough?"

'

But Emiya pushed on, crossing his arms over his chest. "Certainly, but there's something else here."

'

Even if he didn't seem pressured by the accusation in the least, Dio shrugged compliantly. "Well I admit, having my babies just sit here in the closet going unused is really sad. A weapon can be pretty to look at, yes, but ultimately they're meant to be used. Even if it's not in the exact intended way, that's still better than collecting dust."

'

"A creator's pride, then?" That was already acceptable enough in his book, but Dio continued with an answer that caught Emiya completely off guard.

'

"That's part of it, yes, but I also find you personally interesting." Smiling all the while, Dio closed the distance between them in an instant, stopping mere centimeters away and staring the Archer in the eyes so intently that he took a step back from sheer surprise. "Your magic circuits have the most intriguing mutation. With the exception of your personal variation of Gradation Air, they're complete garbage at any type of magecraft. It's the most perfect case of hyperspecialization. A true minmax build in real life. Something that could have very well been the goal of a magus family several generations in the making, yet occurred by a complete accident." Emiya was hit by another wave of surprise. It was... honestly shocking how well Dio understood his unique use of magecraft, even the points he hadn't fully disclosed to his Master. He knew that it was possible to view footage from the Simulator, and he had displayed most of his abilities in there during training sessions, but had that truly been enough for him to fully fill all those missing details in. At this point, he would've thought the Spaniard's interest in him was like that of a researcher, if it weren't for his next words: "And, I find the way you use your ability extremely admirable. How you take weapons and mold them to fit different types of situations, making use of them in previously unthinkable ways! Pushing them to their very limits! That's why I truly can't wait to see what you do with my babies."

'

Those three sentences were enough to change his outlook on the man, even if just slightly. There was just such passion in Dio's words. The way he admired fine weapons and wished to see them used at their utmost capability truly resonated with the Archer, to the point where he couldn't stop himself from smiling. Though there was much about this man that remained a mystery to him, at least on some level, it seemed that they were kindred spirits when it came to weaponry. "Then I'll do my best to come up with the most effective uses I can think of for them."

'

Dio returned the smile, anticipation shining in his eyes. "Oh, I'm counting on it."

'

'

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'

'

Sitting on her throne, Jeanne let out a low growl. She'd been in an especially bad mood for a good while now, but luckily she was about to receive some relief for that. "Jeanne? Is something the matter?" Gilles, as observant as ever, immediately asked as he entered the room.

'

"Rider is dead..." she answered, causing some cracks to appear on the throne's armrest as she gripped it in frustration. "Damn it, I told her to call me when she found them. Even if she retained some of her sanity with Madness Enhancement, she was still a powerful Servant who relished in combat, so it's unlikely that she held back. Together with that dragon of hers, they were a formidable force." Given how the battle earlier today went, she couldn't really see how the two could've lost, unless... No, she shouldn't think that. "...And it's unlikely that that bastard of a Saber could've taken her out on his own. So those mice really had some teeth in them after all..."

'

Gilles, always so pleasingly attentive, walked by her side with a slight bow. The other Servants could learn a lot from him. "What would you have me do?"

'

Jeanne let out a sigh. Losing Rider was frustrating, but it shouldn't hinder her work too much. For now, she'd need to know the rest of her forces' current situation to plan further. "First, give me details on each of my Servants."

'

"Very well. Lancer and Assassin have started moving on the southeastern side of the country. Lancer in particular has started leaving behind even greater numbers of undead, which have proven quite effective in taking care of any survivors." That was good at least. Lancer had always been the most effective of her Servants. The wyverns were too large to enter some of the smaller holes any surviving rodents could hide in, but the undead didn't have that issue. While they were slow at traveling and smelled absolutely horrendous, they were the most efficient cleanup members of her forces. Just leaving a few behind in any region guaranteed the full extermination of the populace. As Jeanne nodded with satisfaction, Gilles continued. "Saber is working as efficiently as ever, currently in the northern regions, while the other Assassin is still lingering around Lyon."

'

The Ruler cringed at the last part. "Still? Seriously? Maybe we should just have him killed." That idiot was extraordinarily delusional, even without Madness Enhancement. Ultimately, he was more trouble than he was worth, so putting him down was a genuine option. After all, she already had two other Assassins. Although, he was still annoyingly strong for one, so he might end up taking out whoever was sent to kill him. Ugh. That annoyance was truly more trouble than he was worth. Jeanne just shook her head to shake the thoughts away for now. She had more important matters to focus on. "Well, whatever. What about Archer?"

'

Gilles' gaze filled with disappointment at the mention, shaking his head. "Ah, her. Such an unfortunate case. I am using my demons to coerce her, but it seems she still absolutely cannot stomach the act of killing children."

'

Jeanne could only sigh. "Ugh, what an annoyance. To think that there was a Heroic Spirit so temperamental." The idiot Archer had tried to genuinely attack her the first time she'd told her to finish off even the children. She would've already killed her if she wasn't so effective. The way she rained death from the sky was quite a sight to behold, and with her sharp instincts, no one would be able to escape. If it weren't for that damn child fixation, the Archer would've been the second most effective killer of her troops. "Just continue working on her. I don't care if she ends up as nothing more than a beast, as long as she can do work in cleansing this country."

'

The Caster bowed attentively. "As you command. Is there anything else?"

'

"Please contact Berserk Assassin, Saber and Lancer," she requested as fury surged within her. She wouldn't allow that nonsense from earlier to happen another time. "Next time, Fafnir and I will mobilize. I'm also taking the Servants summoned today. I will hunt all those rodents down and burn each of them to ash."

'

"At once." Placing a hand over his heart in a show of respect, Gilles turned to leave... Only to stop once he noticed Jeanne starting to frown again. "...Is there something more?"

'

The Ruler's eyes widened in surprise, until a faint smile grew on her lips. Leave it to Gilles to notice anything bothering her, no matter how slight. She considered just telling him to move on to his tasks, but... Well, since he'd noticed anyway, she might as well ask. "Gilles. Which do you think is the real one? Me, or her?" It was absolutely pathetic for her to feel like this after everything she'd said to her, but now, she just couldn't shake this feeling. As much as it infuriated for her to admit, if the other her was genuine, she and that Saber together would've been strong enough to take out Rider. That was the only real chance she saw for those rodents.

'

"Of course it's you," he answered immediately without a hint of hesitation, calming the Dragon Witch's mind immensely. Walking right in front of her, Gilles kneeled before he began to gush. "Are you listening, Jeanne? You were burned at the stake. Betrayed, by everyone! Charles VII left you to die, because he didn't want to pay the ransom! Not a single person rose to bravely fight for your return! And what was the cause of all this? It was God! It was our God, mocking us!" Falling silent for a second to take a deep breath, he presented his next words with perfect calm. "Thus, we deny God. Don't we, Jeanne?"

'

The Ruler fell silent, only able to stare at the man's sheer passion in awe for the next few seconds, until she finally found her words. "...Yes. Yes you're right, Gilles. I have nothing left. My soldiers are gone, and my admirers fled. The king betrayed me and the bishop burnt me in the name of God." Jeanne's gaze fell on the floor. Just remembering it all was pure hell. What a truly worthless role she'd lead during her life. "I was wrong." But immediately after the words left her mouth, she felt the flame in her chest surging once more. That wasn't right. "No, everything was wrong. Not just what I believed in. The very country that allowed me to exist was wrong." The armrest of her throne cracked further as her grip on it tightened. Her faltering resolve was growing back up. That's right! She couldn't forget what this was all for. Rising from her seat, she renewed her promise. "This mistake must be righted. Jeanne d'Arc was a mistake. So let us do as they decided, and make it all so it never happened. My salvation of the country was itself a fatal mistake."

'

The Caster at her feet looked at her with pride, tears emerging from the corners of his eyes. "...Jeanne. Your spirit is simply magnificent. But please, don't put yourself under such stress." Gilles rose from the floor, placing his hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back down and smiling encouragingly. "This is a divine punishment. Nothing more. Your revenge is righteous. What you saved, you may destroy. Isn't that all there is to it?"

'

Jeanne let out a relieved sigh. How lucky she was to have this man by her side. "...You're right, Gilles. What you say is extreme, but it brings me strength."

'

Gilles' smile was absolutely beaming at this point. "As long as my words please you, I couldn't be happier." Drying the tears from his eyes, the Caster stood in attention once more. "Is there something else you wish from me?"

'

Jeanne shook her head. He'd done more than enough for her. "No. That's all. Once you contact the Servants, return to your work." And with one final devoted bow, the Caster left, leaving Jeanne alone with her thoughts once again.

'
As she sat there in silence, the battle from earlier ended up flooding into her mind again. While that whole fiasco frustrated her to no end, there were some details of worth that had come from it. Knowledge she'd previously lacked due to a lack of experimenting. "Hmm... Maybe I have been wasteful with the wyverns, focusing more on quantity over quality. After all, even humans can take down the normal, green variants as long as they have cannons or just sufficient numbers. And against Servants, they're little more than distractions," she mused. Given that Berserker Lancer was leaving his undead everywhere as cleaners, there really wasn't a point in summoning more of the green wyverns at this point. Indeed. The black variants were good enough, but anything weaker than that wouldn't be necessary. She wouldn't be able to summon anything comparable to Fafnir, but as far as wyverns were concerned, she could bring out the cream of the crop. She had some time before her Servants were fully assembled, and she'd be putting it to good use.

'

'

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'

'

For a day the man journeyed, then another, until finally finding what he sought on the third. A verdant grassland, untouched by humanity, a sacred field belonging to hiisi. From there, he scaled a great mountain, his silver halter and golden bridle jingling on his waist, until he finally reached the top. First his eyes turned towards the east, but saw no sign of his ultimate price. And yet, not losing spirit, as he moved his gaze to the south, he spotted it: A steed. But, this was not just any horse. Even a myopic elder could tell so from a distance. Its size, far more befitting of a building than an animal. Its bearing, immovable like a giant boulder. Its coat, like brown sandstone. Its hooves, iron. Its mane, fire. Alone it stood there on the sand, smoke puffing from its nostrils from time to time. Without a doubt, this was an existence beyond humanity, a phantasmal. Truly, if any normal person laid their eyes upon this beast, they'd surely turn the other way and get as far away from it as possible. But, this man was hardly normal by any stretch of the imagination.

'

A wild grin split his face, reaching for his ears. He'd found his target, so now there was only one thing to do. Raising his hands towards the heavens, his flamelike hair started fluttering in the wind and his eyes flashed like sparks in the night. It was time to unleash his magecraft.

'

"Oi Ukko ylijumala,

Ukko pilvien pitäjä,

Hattarojen hallitsia!

Taivas auoksi avaos,

Ilma kaikki ikkunoiksi,

Sa'a rautaiset rakehet,

Laske jäiset jäähyttimet

Harjalle hyvän hevoisen,

Hiien laukin lautasille!"

'

In that instant, it was as if the sky itself was split in two as clouds parted, leaving a great hole in their wake. The horse took notice of the sudden change in weather, raising its gaze towards the heavens. Clearly confused by this sudden development, it stared at the hole in the clouds in anticipation. And for a moment, nothing happened. But then... A large number of 'something' started falling from the hole, and due to the distance, the horse didn't at first understand what they were. But then, its eyes widened as realization took hold.

'

They were hailstones.

'

Hailstones larger than a human head.

'

Complete bewilderment took over the beast's features as it came under an abrupt, totally unprovoked attack. The enormous hailstones bombarded against its body, pushing it backwards as its hooves dug into the sand. Letting out a ground shaking neigh, the horse rose to its hindlegs, shattering some of the boulders of ice with its iron hooves and melting others with its breath of fire. But it wasn't long until it realized that it couldn't keep this up. Despite their size, the hailstones were falling almost as frequently as regular ones, making for a truly terrifying force. Deciding to change tactics, it started to gallop, only to come to another troubling realization: The hailstones were following it. Despite how fast it ran, it only managed to avoid some of the rain of doom, with a large number of the icy missiles still pounding against its body. Due to its sheer size and power, the horse managed to endure against the onslaught for a good while with its flames and sturdy body, but as time went on it began to show signs of exhaustion. Its breathing was growing racked and its mane of fire was barely still burning. It wouldn't be able to keep this up for long.

'

And then, he appeared.

'

Just as the hailstorm halted, the horse raised its gaze and came across the most unexpected sight. A man stood there and the beast stared at him in disbelief. Just a close distance from it, close enough to reach with a single leap, a human stood on top of a boulder with his arms crossed. His fiery hair and vermillion coat fluttered in the wind, and his spark-like eyes were locked on to the horses' own. With a proud grin on his lips, he took the tools from his belt and presented them to the dumbfounded horse before speaking. "Fine steed of hiisi, mountain's foal froth chin, bring your muzzle here in this fine bridle of gold and halter of silver. I've demonstrated my might and worthiness to you. I will treat you well, not like any other ol' mount, and you'll get to have a great hero as your rider. Sounds like quite a win-win situation, doesn't it?"

'

A silence took over the area, with neither the man or horse making even the slightest movement. And then, after an indiscernible amount of time had passed, the horse began to walk towards him. The man waited patiently, holding the reins towards the beast until it was nearly close enough for him to touch. In that next moment, the two stared at each other, not making a sound, and as it stood still, he took a single step forward... Only for the horse to move its weight onto its forelegs, twist its entire body around in a burst of fire and kick the man with both of its hind legs, sending him flying into the nearby trees.

'

Watching him crash into the pines, the great steed rose to its hind legs and let out another loud neigh, as if it was saying: 'A mere human would dare to even attempt to ride me!?' And with that, it took off, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake as it galloped towards the horizon, all the while the man watched from the branches of a pinetree. But he was hardly discouraged. More than anything, he seemed to grow even more excited as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Oh, so that's how ya wanna play it!?"

'

And so, the chase began anew, with the man chasing the steed... And, after the whole debacle was repeated twice more with nary a difference between them, the thoroughly exhausted horse finally bowed and allowed the grinning, battered man to place the bridle in its muzzle. "See? This isn't so bad, now is it?"

'

As he hopped on its back, the horse didn't even humor him with a response other than a frustrated puff of smoke from its nostrils. Of all the accursed things to happen... To be subdued by a mere human. Even worse, while this man may have possessed great skill in magecraft, he didn't hold even a single drop of blood from gods, demons or elementals. This man was a pure human, making the horse's humiliation all the more crushing... But if nothing else, it was impressed by the human's sheer perseverance. For that alone it let him rise to its back, even if the rest of his personality was frustrating at best.

'

Letting out a boisterous laugh that made the horse consider dropping him at this very moment, the man directed its gaze towards the northwest. "First to Pohjola, the kingdom of Louhi, where I shall present you to the surly mother in law!"

'

'

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'

'

With a sigh escaping her mouth, Ritsuka found herself staring at the roof of her tent.

'

She'd heard that this could happen. Masters and Servants seeing each other's pasts through dreams. And yeah... That was definitely 'the Bridling of Hiisi's Fiery Gelding' much like it had happened in Kalevala. Well, the book might've left out some of the less glorious parts, yet it was still perfectly recognizable. But geez... Reading about the monstrous hailstorm Lemminkäinen had summoned and actually seeing it were two very different things. That thing might very well qualify as a Noble Phantasm for its destructive power alone. It'd have no trouble reducing a town into rubble in less than an hour. And the beast itself... Ugh. Ritsuka felt a shudder running through her entire body. She was once again thankful that Lemminkäinen wasn't summoned as a Rider. Having that thing appear right in front of her might well cause her to outright faint. While it could've been incredibly useful, being able to easily stomp out even the stronger wyverns with its giant, metal hooves, that thing was just completely incompatible with her.

'

Raising a hand to her face, the redhead started to get a proper feel on her body. A frustrated sigh escaped her mouth. Her sleep had been comfortable, yet not as restoring as she'd hoped. She was definitely feeling better than last night, but she was hardly at her peak either. Her body felt somewhat heavy all over, and the strain on her circuits was tougher than average too. Guessing the reason for that wasn't hard. She didn't regret forming a contract with Jeanne, especially since it almost definitely saved some of the teams' lives, but the drain was just as horrible as she'd been warned. It was nowhere near as bad as last night, since Jeanne had managed to recover while she was sleeping, but the passive drain on the Ruler alone was worse than Lemminkäinen and Mash put together. It was probably around the same as the Saber would've had without Chaldea's support. Ugh. Just thinking about going to battle like this made her dread, yet this had been her decision, so she'd stick by it. The tremendous increase in their teams' fighting power was worth her personal suffering, no matter how she did the math. Though in all honesty, she would've liked the rest of the day to recuperate to be at her peak, but they didn't have the luxury for that, given the state of France. Well, at least the several hour carriage ride would let her rest a bit more, so she'd hopefully be in peak condition in case some trouble arose later.

'

But as soon as Ritsuka got her bearings, she sat up and looked to her side, only to lay eyes upon the most precious sight imaginable that instantly washed all her worries away: Mash was sleeping right there next to her. She had huddled right by her side during the night, which was already cute enough, but her appearance made it even better. Completely wrapped in her purple sleeping bag with only her face being visible, her bangs covered even more of it than usual as they hung slightly to the side, swaying gently along with her soft breathing.

'

Reluctantly tearing her eyes from the adorableness, Ritsuka took a quick look at her Multi-Appliance to confirm the time, discovering she had woken up about ten minutes earlier than her alarm. For a second, she considered waking Mash up too, but decided against it. Even if it was ten measly minutes, this girl had earned all the rest she could get. Well... There was admittedly a slight ulterior motive the redhead held. Mash was just about always extremely cute, but seeing her this serene and comfortable was just in a league of its own. It was a sight Ritsuka wished to imprint into her mind as perfectly as possible.

'

It was then that their resident critter's ears twitched, followed by him raising his head and blinking his eyes. Fou had spent the night snoozing on Mash's covered legs, but it seemed that even the slight noise was enough to wake him up. Much like a cat, he stretched his whole body and yawned, his tiny mouth opening exceptionally wide. Not wanting to wake the other girl up just yet, Ritsuka sprung into action. "Morning, Fou," she whispered while holding a finger in front of her mouth, hoping the fluffball would understand.

'

"Fo?" With a tilt of his head Fou looked towards Mash, and immediately understood. Going as far as to nod his little head as he quietly hopped over on Ritsuka's lap. "Kyu."

'

"Good boy," she whispered while giving him a scratch behind the ears. It really was helpful that this little fluffball was actually smart. Smarter than some people at least, judging by his ability to read the situation. That, and given the way he looked at her, made it quite clear that Fou enjoyed seeing Mash like this as well.

'

Still, just staring at the sleeping girl for the whole time would be pretty creepy, so Ritsuka at least used the time to get dressed. And nearly ten minutes of calmness later, the redhead was prepared. Her finger ready, as soon as the alarm sounded off, Ritsuka shut it down with a lightning fast click. Being woken up gently by a person instead of an alarm was just an infinitely more comfortable experience. But unfortunately, the ten minutes were up and the time they had agreed upon was here. Even if it was painful to give up that precious appearance, she had to wake Mash up as well. At least she had seen it now, so hopefully she'd get to witness it some other morning in the future. Reaching over, Ritsuka began to gently rub Mash's head while whispering: "Wake up, sleepyhead."

'

After a few seconds of stirring, the Demi-Servant began to mutter and slightly opened her visible eye. "Mmnn... Uh ...Huh? Senpai?" Almost instantly, the tiny slit between her eyelids opened fully as Mash jumped up, looking around the tent wide eyed. It might've been alarming if it weren't for the fact that she was still fully covered by her sleeping bag, which made her just adorable. "H-huh!? What's wrong!? Did something happen!?"

'

Ritsuka was barely able to stop herself from erupting into a giggling fit. "No silly. Nothing's wrong. It's just time to wake up, so I woke you."

'

Hearing the explanation, Mash came to a complete halt as her face grew red. "Oh, I-um... " Sitting back down, she made a vain effort to hide her blushing face by further receding into her sleeping bag, leaving only her eyes visible. "...I'm sorry, Senpai. I must have been more tired than I realized to react that extremely."

'

As much as Ritsuka enjoyed seeing Mash being adorable, enough was enough, so she reached an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "No need. I just woke up myself. Besides, you totally deserved the rest after all the work you put in yesterday." As the Demi-Servant's blush faded somewhat and she lifted her head from the cover, a smile now decorated her lips. As one final push, the redhead patted her on the back. "Now, let's get washed up, and then, breakfast."

'

"Y-yes. Very well." Opening the zipper on her sleeping bag, Mash rose from it to reveal her only garment, the strange leotard that was a part of her Servant garb. Seeing it now was just as weird to Ritsuka as seeing it the first time. The armor she could somewhat accept, seeing how it was clearly incomplete, but what the hell kind of Servant wore something like that? Was it possible that it was someone from the future like Emiya? If that was the case, then trying to guess their identity would be basically impossible. But, Ritsuka wasn't entirely sure yet, so she could only continue guessing and researching whenever she had the time. Helping to distract her from such thoughts, Mash happily crouched down next to Fou. "Oh, and good morning to you as well, Fou."

'

"Fou!" the critter happily barked as he was scratched under the chin.

'

As the redhead put her boots on, the Demi-Servant was first to exit, only to let out a loud gasp as soon as she got out. "Ah! Look, Senpai!" Ritsuka hurriedly followed after her, thinking something might be wrong, but stopped as soon as she couldn't see anything particularly strange outside. Though that changed as she noticed the other girl's joyful expression. Mash's eyes practically sparkled as she looked into the distance, and as the Master followed her gaze, it was easy to see why. The sun was still barely rising beyond the trees, spreading a golden orange wave across the otherwise blue sky. It really was a wonderful sight to behold first thing in the morning. Hundredfold for someone who'd never seen a real sunrise in the first place. Truly the benefit of light pollution not really being a thing in this era.

'

"I can't remember the last time I've seen a sunrise this nice. Let's hope it's a sign for other good things to come later today."

'

"Yes, let's," the Demi-Servant nodded happily, almost forcing Ritsuka to shield her eyes from how brightly she was glowing. In truth, Mash's thoroughly delighted smile might've been even more memorable than the two earlier events. And it didn't lose any of its luster as she looked to the side of the tent, noticing Marie and Jeanne placing some wood to rekindle the campfire. "Good morning, everyone."

'

"Morning!" Marie greeted, her cheerfulness and bright smile working alongside Mash's like the best coffee for removing any remaining drowsiness in Ritsuka. ...Though she still wanted her coffee all the same.

'

Jeanne's smile didn't lose to the other two in warmth either. "Good morning, Ritsuka and Mash. I hope that you rested well."

'

"Without a doubt, this was the most comfortable time I've ever spent sleeping in a tent," Ritsuka confirmed, getting a concurring nod from the Ruler.

'

"Yes, they are quite something. I spent some time with Marie in the other one last night, and I could hardly believe I was actually in a tent."

'

"Well, thanks for taking care of the fire. We're going to freshen up a bit and then join you for breakfast."

'

Waving the two French women off, Ritsuka and Mash walked over to the small pond a short distance from their campsite. Nothing quite like washing one's face with cold water to properly wake up. Of course, they had to thank their resident genius inventors for the water filtrator. The contraption could turn a liter of water from a muddy puddle crystal clear in roughly a second, while still being small enough to fit into one of their backpacks, making it just another hilariously efficient camping tool in their possession. And it was good that they had it too. While Mash and the Servants could more than likely just drink water from a pond or whatever and be perfectly fine, Ritsuka was well aware that her doing so would result in a colic that'd be annoying at best. And with that, the two could also start their light morning exercise. Ritsuka had always done them by herself, until one morning when Mash walked in on her during her session. After some quick apologies, the Demi-Servant had been quite interested in joining her, and the redhead just couldn't say no when faced with that eagerness of hers. Thus, it had become their joint morning activity alongside breakfast, and Ritsuka definitely wouldn't complain about the company. Also, the way Fou cheered them on in rhythm with their reps was extremely cute.

'

"Aaand we're done. Good work, Mash," Ritsuka smiled, patting the now blushing Shielder on the back.

'

"Oh, no. I should be saying that to you, Senpai. It's not hard for me to keep pace with you since I'm a Demi-Servant, but you doing these same exercises every morning with such perfect rhythm is truly inspiring to see."

'

Now it was the redhead's turn to blush, and she could only scratch her cheek awkwardly while laughing the unexpected compliment off. "Well, it's not supposed to be hard. Just getting your blood flowing and muscles warmed up is the goal." Eager to change the subject, she quickly grabbed the water filtrator and their small pails and urged Mash to walk back. "But now, let's properly get our bodies running with some breakfast."

'

The Shielder just smiled happily. "Yes. Let's."

'

As the two returned to the campfire, they noticed that Jeanne and Marie were now joined by a third Servant, one who was currently handling a frying pan. "Mornin', Pomo, Mash," Lemminkäinen greeted without taking his eyes off the food.

'

As they got closer, a familiar scent tickled Ritsuka's nose. "Morning. You're cooking eggs?" Judging by the look, yeah, those were definitely eggs he was frying, but there weren't any farms or such anywhere close here, which meant... "What, did you just raid some nests or something?" she asked blankly.

'

"Yeah. How else am I supposed to get eggs here in the woods?" Lemminkäinen shrugged nonchalantly. She was going to say something but decided against it. This wasn't worth getting into an argument over. But, some unlucky birds losing their undeveloped young so that they could gain the protein from the eggs was definitely a worthy sacrifice in her book. More likely than not, they'd have another rough day in front of them, so she'd need all the energy she could get. Though a smile then spread on the Saber's lips as he used his other hand to rummage through a bag. "But, I also found these babies," he added, pulling out a bunch of yellow, finger-long fungi.

'

Ritsuka's eyes widened in recognition. These were definitely a welcome surprise. "Woah, chanterelles? You were lucky to find them this early in the summer." Granted, this guy was an extremely efficient hunter-gatherer, so it likely wasn't all luck. "But yeah, these should taste great. Nice work."

'

"Thought I'd save some of our supplies by just gatherin' some more. I was going to hunt something, but the maiden there told me not to."

'

Exchanging a knowing glance with Jeanne, Ritsuka gave her a grateful nod. "If she hadn't, I would've." She could totally see him lugging a full grown deer back to camp and start preparing it for breakfast.

'

It was then that the final member of their party made himself known. Mozart materialized right behind the Saber, looking over the frying pan. "Ah, eggs and girolle. Not the most varied breakfast, but definitely better than nothing."

'

"Well mornin' to you too, freeloader," Lemminkäinen jabbed before turning to Marie. "He always like this?"

'

Smiling as brightly as usual, the Rider delivered the harsh truth. "As long as I've known him."

'

As Amadeus made a half-hearted attempt to defend himself, Ritsuka set up some plates on cups on their makeshift table. Thankfully, Lemminkäinen had brewed the coffee before cooking the eggs, letting her pour herself a cup to enjoy it immediately. This was it. This was what she needed to get going at her best. And as she enjoyed the drink, Mash took a seat beside her. The one thing that beat coffee was coffee in good company. "Would you like some, Mash?"

'

"Yes, please," she accepted with a smile, holding a cup towards Ritsuka. "Thank you, Senpai."

'

Though as the Demi-Servant took her first sip, the faintest signs of grimace appeared on her face, even if she was clearly trying to hide it. Mash trying to act mature in that way was cute, but it was also somewhat hard for the redhead to watch, so she decided to intervene. "You know, just because I like my coffee black doesn't mean that you can't put anything into yours. There's really no point in drinking it like that unless you want to, given that we have both sugar and cream here."

'

Embarrassed that she'd been found out, Mash bashfully held a hand towards her. "...Yes. Could you pass both, please."

'

And as the redhead handed out the accompaniments, Lemminkäinen called out. "Crub's done."

'

As Ritsuka took her first taste, her expectations were immediately proven right. It was the most basic scrambled eggs imaginable. It wasn't bad, but neither was it good. It just... was. At least he'd salted it, but she hoped that the Saber would bother to learn at least some basic modern seasoning methods in the future. On the other hand, chanterelles were in her opinion at their best just fried as they were, so they were really tasty. It really was nice starting the morning like this. Basic, but good food, some friendly discussion. By the end of the day she would certainly see some absolutely stomach turning things, but with scenes like these inbetween, she felt like she might just be able to go on.

'

After finishing her meal, the Master rose back to her full height, stretching her arms towards the brightening sky. "Mmm, that really hit the spot. Thanks for cooking, Lemminkäinen. Now we-huh...?" Her eyes caught something large and white peeking from behind the Saber, raising her curiosity immediately. "What do you have there?"

'

A sly smirk growing onto his lips, Lemminkäinen pulled the object out, getting a surprised gasp from Ritsuka. It was larger than she had expected, about the length of a person's arm. The lower jaw of a wyvern? "I kept this little trinket after I finished my work last night. Thought I'd make something nice out of it."

'

While the others just looked puzzled at his words, realization dawned over the redhead. There was only one reason he'd keep something like that around, and it could be seriously useful if he constructed it right. "As long as you put it to good use, you'll hear no complaints from me," she nodded agreeingly.

'

Lemminkäinen returned it with a wink. "And as long as you don't let the others know what I'm makin', I'll be sure to."

'

After Marie tried to fruitlessly get the Saber to disclose his plans for several minutes, everyone proceeded with gathering all their equipment. Not that the Servants had any belongings of their own, but they still helped with packing the Chaldeans' supplies. A process that took even less time than the Rider's inquiring. After seemingly everything was done, Ritsuka gave one final look over their now empty campsite. "Alright, is everyone ready?"

'

"Yes, Senpai. Everything is prepared for us heading out," Mash confirmed, pointing at Lemminkäinen as he packed the last of their backpacks into Marie's carriage.

'

"Good. Then let's make a call to Chaldea to take care of our final preparations."

'

With a click on her Multi-Appliance, Ritsuka initiated the call and after a few seconds of waiting, the screen appeared in front of them. "Good morning, girls," Roman greeted, his current appearance coming as a slight surprise to Ritsuka. The man looked significantly more relaxed than on most days, without even a hint of bags under his eyes. Considering how early it was, that was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. She always felt like the Doctor worked a bit too much, even if their situation was dire.

'

"Morning, Roman. You look like you slept well."

'

In response to the observation, he scratched his head awkwardly, throwing a glance to the side. "Well... you could say that." Seems like something went down last night, but considering the Doctor's reaction, Ritsuka wasn't going to even ask. But if she had to guess, Dio and Da Vinci had effectively forced him to go to sleep. Seemingly just as eager to not engage on the subject, Roman's usual, carefree smile made its return. "But wow, you really got up early, like you said. In that case, is it safe to assume everything is ready on your end?"

'

"Yup. We're all set," Ritsuka confirmed. And the instant she did, Dio's screen popped out right next to Roman's.

'

"Aww, yeah! It's Sky Eye time!"

'

And as if on cue, Lemminkäinen followed. "I have it right here, like you asked." With a snap of fingers, a nearby bush vanished, revealing said invention. The others present could only stare in disbelief, the Master very much included. Wait. Did this man seriously put some kind of concealment spell on the device so that they wouldn't notice it until now? Still, that question could wait until later, given the far more interesting subject at hand. The Mystic Code waiting on the ground looked kind of like a dragonfly without the head or the tail, with the wings moved closer to the center and the back pair flipped around to make it symmetrical. And, if said dragonfly was roughly the size of a cat and made of metal of some kind. Basically, it was a giant, robotic insect. Though the one thing that really stood out about it was the large eye on the device's underside that looked disturbingly real. ...Honestly, given that the creator was a magus, it might actually just be a real eye from a phantasmal of some kind.

'

Although, there was a person missing from their usual group, which was something Ritsuka wouldn't even have noticed if it weren't for the unusual silence. At this point, there would normally have been at least one snarky remark. "Hm? By the way, where's Da Vinci?"

'

Dio grinned gleefully. "She's out doing Saint Graph Ascensions since she lost at rock-paper-scissors, so I'll be the one doing the breakdown on this marvelous invention."

'

A sigh escaped from Ritsuka's mouth. First the Mystic Code spell naming and now this. Was that a genius thing of some kind? "Is that seriously how you two decide who gets to do what?"

'

"It is the most fair and random way to choose things between two people, so yes."

'

Honestly... Ritsuka couldn't exactly argue with that. "...Well, I guess that's fair," she muttered, just preferring to move on to a more sensible topic. "As for the Ascension, I assume that task you had for Lemminkäinen last night was collecting parts from the wyverns Marie and Amadeus took out?"

'

"Right on the money. We got enough to Ascend all the Servants currently in Chaldea and plenty of leftovers as well."

'

The redhead's face practically lit up, along with Mash by her side. Yesterday Chaldea was so low on magical resources that they could only Ascend a single Servant, yet now they had enough for all of them? The harvesting last night had seriously been that fruitful? This was a far better result than what she'd expected, to the point that she gave the Saber a genuine appreciative smile for once. "That's great. Good job, Lemminkäinen."

'

"Yes, this is absolutely fantastic," Mash added, getting the Saber to puff out his chest proudly.

'

Though before he could begin stroking his own ego further, Dio cut in. "Now, let's get back on my marvelous invention, please."

'

An intervention the Master was extremely grateful for. "Of course. What do you need us to do?" she asked, ready to begin work so that they could get on the road as quickly as possible. But those thoughts were completely crushed by the Spaniard's next words.

'

"Just watch." An answer that received the same, disbelieving stares from everyone present. "All the necessary calibrations were taken care of last night, so I wanted to get a nice audience for this."

'

"Are you seri-" But before Ritsuka could even finish the word, the Mystic Code launched itself into the air without warning, quickly vanishing into the orange sky until only a glimmering sparkle remained. Its speed was simply astounding, even to Servants, judging by Marie's captivated stare.

'

"Amazing! It's like a shooting star in reverse!" Honestly, not the worst comparison Ritsuka could think of. It probably would've looked far better a few kilometers away, but it was still a sight to behold from below.

'

Even Lemminkäinen let out an impressed whistle as he kept his eyes on it. "Damn that thing is going high. Gettin' pretty rough to see it."

'

At the point the Saber said that Ritsuka had already lost sight of the Mystic Code, and a few seconds after that, Dio nodded in satisfaction. "There. All functions are operating at 100 percent. Sky Eye has settled around the mid-low stratosphere, where it will continue to feed us info for the remainder of this operation."

'

"It's certainly fast, but what exactly does that thing do?" Mozart asked before anyone else could, not even trying to hide his skepticism. "Considering you had us wait around for it to launch, it better be something impressive."

'

Clearly glad that he was being challenged like this, Dio's smile just grew wider. "Oh, you better believe that it is. As long as it floats above you, Sky Eye will produce a constant, realtime map of a 20 kilometer radius around you, revealing the exact positions of both structures and any possible enemies well in advance. It can also see way further if it focuses its observation radius, allowing it to monitor things up to 200 kilometers away with perfect clarity."

'

To Ritsuka and Mash, it was obvious just how ludicrously helpful this thing was, but the French Servants just exchanged confused looks until Marie gasped. "Wow! That sure sounds like... a lot."

'

But the Spaniard was clearly aware of the situation as he chuckled and snapped his fingers, causing two maps of France to appear by his screen. "It sure is, so here's a reference for you Frenchies. 20 kilometers is roughly the distance from Saint-Denis to Versailles, or roughly the distance from Orleans to Artenay, and 200 is almost twice the distance from Orleans to Paris." The three Servants could only stare at the maps wide-eyed. They'd quite obviously understood the great distance the Mystic Code could cover. Even Mozart fell silent, unable to come up with any snide remarks after the demonstration.

'

"I see. Quite a distance, then," Jeanne nodded, a reassured smile spreading on her lips. "It's also relieving to know that we'll be warned well in advance if any enemies approach."

'

"And not having to worry about any sly bastards pullin' a sneak attack on us is just the best!" Lemminkäinen cheered. Yeah. Made sense he'd be the happiest about that particular detail.

'

But it's not like Ritsuka could or wanted to disagree. This thing's mere existence gave them a ridiculous advantage in surveying the enemies' movements. But that didn't mean that she didn't have any concerns. "It's absurdly useful, but I do have a few questions: Do we need to worry about something breaking it? Like, an Archer or something?"

'

"Extremely improbable. Sky Eye is filled with all sorts of defensive and stealth spells, so at that distance only a God-tier Archer would be able to both spot it and shoot it down, and that's if they were actively looking for it."

'

That at least was relieving. It was highly unlikely that the Dragon Witch had someone like that working under her, since said Archer would've most likely tried to snipe them by now. "That's good, but what about retrieval? Do we need to get it before we rayshift back?"

'

"No need. Like Roman mentioned at one point, getting things back from a Singularity is way easier than sending them in. We can pull Sky Eye back once we're sure it has served its purpose, even without Mash's shield. It's durable enough to survive the trip without complications."

'

Huh... Ritsuka would've expected such an accurate instrument to also be delicate, but apparently not. The man might've been quite bizarre to say the least, but he was extremely effective when it came to building things. "Well, alright. I guess there really aren't any issues."

'

"You were planning on heading straight to Lyon to find this Dragon Slayer, right? Is everything ready on your end?" Roman confirmed, getting a nod from the Master.

'

"Yeah, that's the plan. We took care of everything before the call, so we're all set on our end."

'

"And aside from the Sky Eye activation and a short status report, we don't have anything else to add. You're free to proceed to your destination."

'

Ritsuka was honestly surprised. She'd expected the whole thing to take way longer and have more than a few quirks thrown in, but this was fine with her. Da Vinci's absence had certainly cut down on the quipping. But, as long as they could get going quickly, the redhead certainly wasn't complaining. "Then, I guess we can get on the road. Marie?"

'

"All set. Just hop on in!" the Rider cheered, opening the carriage doors with a snap of her finger. "Next stop, Lyon!"

'

'

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'

'

When they first arrived in the Singularity, Ritsuka had been worried that they'd be forced to either walk across France, or have the Servants run and carry her. The former was just mind numbingly slow, and while the latter was quite a fast way of travel, having the Servants running at full speed did use quite a bit of magical energy when it went on for several hours. Plus, it was also pretty uncomfortable. But with Marie's carriage, every one of those worries went out the window. Of course, it did still use the Rider's own magical energy, but she was more of a support than a frontline fighter anyways, so this was still the most optimal solution. Besides, the Master could help her fill back up with her Mystic Code's Spiritron Transfer, which worked even without a contract as long as they were close enough to make physical contact. All and all, that left their way of travel with only a single issue:

'

Inactivity.

'

The carriage was comfortable, but there really wasn't much to do in it. The only real ways to pass the time were to talk with someone, look at the scenery, or just straight up nap. In fact, she was pretty sure that Lemminkäinen had been busy with that last one on the roof for the last few hours. Luckily for Ritsuka, she held the exclusive fourth option on her wrist. Thanks to the connection to Chaldea, she could use her Multi-Appliance to link to their database and project a screen to read on just about anything they had stored there. The Servants she had met in the Singularity thus far were at the top of that list. Of course, she focused on the enemies for now, since reading about someone sitting right next to her would be super awkward.

'

Suddenly, Dio's screen popped into existence by the side wall. "Well look at that. We've got something." A statement that immediately got the attention of everyone inside. Even Lemminkäinen had seemingly woken up, peeking in through a window as a map appeared slightly above the floor, two glowing dots present on it. "Two Servant signals, located approximately 105 kilometers to your south-southwest."

'

Ritsuka quickly closed her reading material. Thank God for digital bookmarks. "Two?" she asked, exchanging hopeful looks with the others in the carriage. There were two options here. "Do you think they're Dragon Witch's Servants?"

'

"Possible, but unlikely. There are no wyverns close to their location," the Spaniard confirmed, sparking some more hope in the listeners. Though Mozart remained as neutral as ever.

'

"Which means that they are probably strays, like Maria and I."

'

"Oh, new allies!" Marie cheered, excitedly clapping her hands as she bounced on her seat. "I hope that they're nice, civilized Servants."

'

"That would be preferable," Jeanne nodded with a hopeful smile while looking over the map. "According to this map, they're currently in Thiers. Should we head there first, or look for the Dragon Slayer?" she asked while turning towards Ritsuka.

'

The redhead just blinked in confusion as the others did the same, until it hit her. Right, she was now Jeanne's Master, and even without contracts both Marie and Amadeus also seemed to agree that she was the group's leader by technicality. She still wasn't entirely used to calls like this falling to her. Letting out a small sigh, she began running through their possibilities. There were benefits to both options, but it was her job to figure out which of them were more so. Though the Dragon Slayer was a high priority, the possibility of them gaining two new Servants as allies couldn't be dismissed. Time was definitely of the essence, so they had to travel around France as efficiently as possible. With that in mind, Ritsuka turned to Dio and asked the most pressing question: "How big of a detour would going to Thiers be?"

'

"Not very. Lyon and Thiers are only 100 kilometers away from each other, and from your current location getting to Thiers is faster between the two," the Spaniard confirmed while lines measuring distance appeared between each point.

'

Ritsuka felt relief washing over her as she examined the map. This was honestly way better than she would have imagined. She'd feared there would be a far more ambiguous distance between the locations, but since there wasn't, her personal choice was clear. "In that case, I think it would be more efficient to head to Thiers first and see if we could recruit these two new Servants on our side. Afterwards, we immediately leave to find the Dragon Slayer in Lyon." After her suggestion, she quickly looked over the others. "Any objections?"

'

Jeanne shook her head with a smile. "None from me. I also believe that would be our wisest course of action. The more Servants we can recruit to join our cause the faster, the better."

'

"I agree, Senpai," Mash nodded.

'

And Lemminkäinen, shocking no one... "Hopefully those two are strong or fair maidens, or better yet, both."

'

"You already know my choice~" Marie beamed.

'

Amadeus on the other hand just shrugged. "...Not like me disagreeing would even do anything at this point."

'

A relieved smile spread on Ritsuka's lips. "It seems we're all in agreement." Thankfully there had been no arguments to tensen the situation.

'

But she relaxed just a bit too soon...

'

"Then to Thiers we go!" the Rider cheered, all the while pulling a u-turn with a carriage traveling far faster than any carriage was meant to. Thankfully, the road they were on was relatively wide, and Marie's carriage was only glass on the outside...

'

'

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'

'

About two hours later, the group approached Thiers through a forest, as they'd stopped using the carriage about a kilometer from the town and traveled the rest of the way carefully on foot. Although it was fairly likely that these two Servants weren't allied with the Dragon Witch, in their situation, it was far better to be safe than sorry. But, it was when they exited the forest and could properly see Thiers and the surrounding fields that the situation became clear. "Look, Senpai," Mash called, pointing towards one of the more remote houses in the area.

'

Ritsuka followed the direction, spotting a partly destroyed house and more than a few wyvern corpses. This basically confirmed that the two in the town weren't crazy, partial Berserkers. "Dead wyverns... So they almost definitely aren't allied with Jeanne Alter, then." In fact, the most likely case was that these Servants, or at least one of them, had kept Thiers safe from the beasts. Which was good, since it had both saved the town and made it all the more likely that they'd be willing to join the group.

'

While the others were all clearly glad, Jeanne's smile seemed particularly bright. "How relieving. If these Servants weren't here, Thiers would have likely been destroyed. We must be sure to properly thank them."

'

"Yup," Ritsuka nodded before turning to look at Lemminkäinen, who had climbed to the top of a nearby tall tree to get a clear look at the town. "Did you spot them, Saber?"

'

"I see 'em. They're at the town square. Both women and..." The man trailed off, his expression falling considerably. "Aw, man. They look really young."

'

"Young?" The redhead exchanged confused looks with the others. They weren't about to recruit literal children, were they? Could Servants even be children?

'

But every single one of those worries faded with the Saber's next words. "Yeah, about Marie's age." Oh? Oohh... The dots connected in Ritsuka's mind and she instinctively slapped her forehead. Yeah, she really should've figured that the thing bothering him was something stupid like this.

'

But on the other side of the reaction spectrum, Marie's thrilled smile brightened to nearly match the sun, completely missing the reasoning for the Saber's disappointment. "My age? Oh, how exciting!" she cheered while clapping her hands together. All the while Lemminkäinen just grumbled with discontent as he hopped back down.

'

"...Why couldn't we find someone more like the enemy Assassin?"

'

"Honestly, it's more than likely better this way," Ritsuka sighed and strengthened her eyes, focusing on the square he'd pointed out. "Let's see..." Now that she knew where to look, spotting the duo was extremely easy. And indeed, both of the Servants were young girls, that much was obvious at a glance. Though that was effectively where the similarities ended. ...Aside from the fact that they both had horns.

'

One of them was... Ritsuka had no idea how to properly describe her aside from just going over exactly what she saw. She was a young, slender girl with mid-back length pink hair tied with purple ribbons and light blue eyes, dressed in what could only be described as a cyber-goth-loli dress with white detached sleeves, and a circular monochrome plaid skirt. The torso consisted of a black corset with three tiny, pink bows running up the central line and above it a piece of white cloth with black vertical lines. On her feet she had knee-high shoes with two sharp spikes protruding from the tips that perfectly matched the coloration of her claws. Yes, claws. As if this girl couldn't get any stranger, she had long pink claws instead of fingers, two bizarrely shaped purple horns and a long, black tail which split in two pink sections near the tip. Admittedly it did have a cute, light pink ribbon tied around it, but that hardly made it any less strange. The girl was more than likely partially a dragon, but as for her true identity, Ritsuka didn't have the slightest clue. This was like with Kintoki, but taken to a completely ridiculous degree.

'

The girl next to her on the other hand was far easier to describe. She was really pretty, and if Ritsuka had to guess, she appeared to be a princess from a Japanese fairytale or something similar. Yellow eyes and beautiful celeste hair that descended below her hips, decorated by white horns and golden ornaments hanging from them. She wore a teal and white kimono with gold decorations, held up with a yellow sash tied to a large ribbon. And perfectly matching them, her legs were covered by gold decorated white... thigh highs. ...Okay, the thigh highs were pretty out of place, but not outrageously so. The horns also gave the Master some hope that this was one of the more monstrous folklore princesses, like Takiyashahime or Kiyohime. While they could very well be harder to manage than someone like Kaguyahime, they would actually have some fighting power on their side.

'

While this was all very promising, they still couldn't breathe easy. Actually forming an alliance with the two would more than likely prove to be a difficult task. They would need to do everything in their power to prevent anything from going wrong and causing a misunderstanding. With that in mind, Ritsuka took a deep breath and turned to address the others. "Alright, since they haven't destroyed the town or seemed to have harmed the population, and have even killed some wyverns, it should be safe to consider them as potential allies. Still, we shouldn't just rush in as a large group, so let's..." The Master trailed off as she noticed the look on Mozart's face. He looked pale, well, paler than usual, as his trembling gaze was locked on to Thiers.

'

The others noticed the anomaly as well, turning to the Caster. Marie in particular was looking at him with clear concern. "Amadeus...?"

'

At this point, the man had gone from pale to faintly blue, looking absolutely terrified. "This noise... I hate it! An unprecedented noise, the premonition of an unprecedented demon!" Covering his ears with his hands, Mozart crouched down like a frightened child trying to drown out the sound of thunder. "Oh, Muses! Please show mercy! My body can't stop trembling from fear."

'

"Noise?" Marie repeated, turning to the others questioningly, but all of them were equally confused. Well, with one exception.

'

"Man, you really have some awesome ears. Let me try..." Cupping a hand behind his ear and turning it towards Thiers, Lemminkäinen closed his eyes and began to listen. But his expression soon twisted into something between an impressed grin and a grimace. "Oh, yeah. I'm pickin' it up as well. Those are some serious lungs that little girl is packin'. What kind of beast is she partly made of anyway?"

'

Still confused, the Master took another look at the situation in town, and managed to at least get some understanding of the situation. The two Servants seemed to be arguing while pointing at each other with a fan and the most bizarre spear Ritsuka had ever seen. The sound of their fighting must have been what caused the reaction in Mozart, but that still seemed pretty extreme. Although, it was clear that whatever had caused this argument, it'd be best to put an end to it before it escalated. "OK, those two seem to really dislike each other for some reason. Fortunately they haven't caused any notable damage to the town, but if this keeps up, one of them might accidentally let something big slip."

'

Mash looked at her expectantly. "What should we do, Senpai?"

'

"Our first order of business should be stopping them from fighting. And as for how, we should think this through before just jumping in there."

'

A suggestion Jeanne seemed to very much agree with. "Indeed. If this many Servants rapidly approached them out of nowhere, they could very well think they were under attack."

'

Ritsuka felt a wave of relief washing over her. While most of the ancient heroes were powerful, they could also be quite... rash, to say the least. It really was comforting that the allies they found here in France were so socially adept and understanding. "Exactly. Which is why we should enter the town like normal people by walking at a reasonable pace." Next, she turned to the Servant with the most reliable abilities for the task. "Marie, could you help me with starting the initial conversation with them? You have this charm that makes you easy to approach, so you would really shine in a situation like this."

'

The Rider's smile somehow brightened even further. "Of course! And if we could become fast friends, all the better." A reaction the Master couldn't help but to also smile at. This was the sort of task this girl absolutely trumped everyone else in their group in. It really was relieving having her around.

'

"Good. Then, the rest of you can-huh?" Feeling someone touching her shoulder, Ritsuka turned around in confusion. Behind her, Mash was urgently tapping her, while her other hand was pointing at Thiers. Her confusion only grew. "What is i-!?" The redhead felt like her eyes might pop out of their sockets from sheer shock. Her gaze following the finger, she just barely managed to spot a familiar red and white blur as it disappeared behind some buildings. ...She didn't just see that, right? There was no way that... But this was Lemminkäinen, so... Desperately, Ritsuka turned back to Mash while pointing at Thiers with a trembling finger, praying that she'd somehow seen wrong. "...Did, did he just...?"

'

But, the Master's prayers were not answered as Mash nodded apologetically. "Yes, Senpai. It would seem that Saber has entered the town. I believe he left around the part where you said that we should stop them from fighting."

'
Ritsuka honestly felt like crying a bit. If he left at that part, he was more than likely going to stop them from fighting by any means necessary. And if there was any Servant that could make an enemy out of those two in less than a minute, it was Lemminkäinen. The redhead pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a sigh. There was already the recruiting process itself, so she absolutely didn't need to deal with this right now. "...Let's just... Let's just go after him before he manages to create a second enemy faction for us to fight."

'

'

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'

'

"You! You, you, you! You cheeky squirrel from the East!" Elizabeth screamed loudly enough that Kiyohime almost had to cover her ears. If there was any merit to be given to this fashion disaster, she certainly possessed some powerful lungs. But at this point, she was well aware that this foolish girl's bark was far worse than her bite, so she could only laugh at that sad excuse of an insult.

'

"Hehehe! Who's the actual cheeky one? Do you really think a failure like you can beat a true Dragon like myself, Elizabeth?"

'

"Ughhhhh! I'm so upset!" the Lancer growled while stomping her foot like a toddler throwing a tantrum. "I'll deal with Carmilla later, you die first! You creepy stalker!"

'

Kiyohime's eyes narrowed at the absurd label being thrown at her. That was certainly an insult she couldn't afford to ignore. "I'm not a stalker," she stated firmly. After all, being by a loved one's side during every single second of the day without fail was perfectly normal, and something that every good wife should strive for. Of course, that was something this degenerate was clearly unaware of, so it fell to her as a mature, proper lady to explain. "I'm 'a devoted bodyguard who acts like a spy'. I, Kiyohime, am a woman who lives for love."

'

"Your love violates human rights!" Elizabeth shot back in a pathetic attempt.

'

The Berserker could only huff in frustration. There was ignorance, and then there was whatever this was. She'd tolerated her for the last few days, so it was about time she put this little newt in her place. "I don't want to hear it from a pervert with a fetish for blood torture," she countered flatly while pointing at Elizabeth with her fan. "I imagine that you were doing it... as doing THAT. Weren't you?"

'

But the reaction she received was something Kiyohime hadn't anticipated in the least. Instead of some weak, baseless rebuttal, Elizabeth just stared at her, clearly confused. "What's 'doing it'? What's 'doing that'? Don't talk nonsense!"

'

"...What?" Kiyohime was caught off guard to say the least. For a moment, she was genuinely at a loss for words. Was it even possible for a serial killer to be this innocent? "Elizabeth, I didn't know that you were-"

'

"Ahhhhhhh! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" the Lancer screamed like a lunatic. Kiyohime was really starting to get a headache from all this noise pollution. But then, Elizabeth seemed to finally get serious, pointing at her with that ridiculous spear. "I'm going to kill you!"

'

The Berserker growled with frustration, opening her fan and igniting the air above it. She would show this obnoxiously loud little girl the true fiery fury a dragon could unleash. "You can't kill me because I'll kill you!"

'

With those final words, Kiyohime covered herself in flames and blasted forward elegantly, while the Lancer just used her brutish strength in an attempt to mirror her. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" A two-headed spear was thrust towards her, but she pointed her fan forward and unleashed a blast of fire, confident in her ability to stop this idiot. But...

'

Shnk

'

Slicing right through the small gap between her flames and Elizabeth's spear, a sword struck into the ground just between them, getting the two to jump back in alarm. Not only was the weapon now embedded into solid stone, but it had gotten far too close to comfort for either of them. Clearly, it had been meant to end one of them in an instant. Kiyohime clicked her tongue in frustration as she started scanning the area. She'd been so focused on this idiot that she let her guard down for an actual threat to appear. Elizabeth would have to wait for her turn. This rude interloper had tried to attack them in the middle of their argument and now had to pay the price.

'

But she didn't need to look for long, as an unpleasantly cheerful voice called for the two of them. "Woah there, lasses. Better stop what you're doin' before one of you gets hurt." Sitting on the edge of one of the rooftops, a red haired man, obviously a Servant, was looking down at them with an obnoxious grin on his face while waving. Kiyohime blinked in surprise at his shockingly handsome appearance, but quickly hardened her focus. His face was very beautiful and his build seemed otherwise appealing as well, but all of her senses warned her of this man. He was absolutely not someone to be trusted, especially in a relationship. So, obviously the safest option would be to just burn him to death right here. Elizabeth could wait until then.

'

And yet, the Lancer didn't seem interested in waiting. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she growled, pointing her spear at the man for a change. Kiyohime was pleasantly surprised by Elizabeth's sudden reasonableness. It seemed that even someone as crude as her understood how audaciously tactless this interloper was. Which was good, since she had no desire to fight the two of them at once.

'

That is also why, with a heavy heart, she gave Elizabeth a suggestion while pointing her fan at the newcomer: "Let's just get rid of this boorish man quickly so that we can finish up our business." It should be simple with his weapon still embedded into the stone between them.

'

The Lancer didn't seem to like the idea either, but still gave her a nod. "Hmph. Fine by me."

'

In fact, the sole person that seemed to be fond of her suggestion was this crude newcomer. "Oho? Seems I've found some fiery little lillies," he grinned while reaching his hand towards the Servants down below. As soon as he did, a burst of flame erupted from the sword still stuck on the ground, sending it flying right into his waiting hand. While the two girls could only stare at the stunt in surprise, the man let the blade rest on top of his pauldron while hopping off the roof, descending to their level. "If that's really what you want, I'll dance with ya."

'

But before the battle could begin, both Kiyohime and Elizabeth sensed another approaching Servant, splitting their attention between the man and the newcomer. As soon as they did, the Servant they'd felt appeared a short distance behind the man, running down the street towards them. A silver haired girl in a red dress and a very large, matching hat. Though the fact that she appeared to be close to her own apparent age got the Berserker thinking. Was she an ally to this rude man, or another he'd offended? Though she looked almost worried, leaving her hard to judge as either. And yet, to complicate the matter, she wasn't alone. Running beside her was another woman, almost a head taller, and wearing white clothes and boots along with a black robe and leggins. Her hair was of similar color to the interloper, but whereas his was more akin to fire than anything, hers was a more subdued, natural red, like a fox or a bird. And, most noticeably of all, she looked absolutely and thoroughly irritated. Given the lack of a reaction, this other woman must have been human, only confusing Kiyohime even further. Could she be a Master? This would be the first one she'd seen in this bizarre Holy Grail War, but it was possible. But before she could properly sort through her thoughts, a most unexpected development occurred. The tall woman slowed down her run to a fast walk and proceeded to grab a broom leaning on a nearby wall, seemingly strengthened it with a magecraft of some kind, stamped over to the man, and smacked him on the head with it hard enough that the impact could more than likely be heard throughout the town. Both Kiyohime and Elizabeth beside her were now utterly confused, only able to stare at the scene unfolding before them.

'

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" the red haired woman shouted, her face red as well with anger, while the man just rubbed his head, looking more confused than anything.

'

"The hell do you mean? I'm doin' just what you told me to, Pomo."

'

"I told you to stop them from fighting so that we could talk, not attack them, you idiot!" she snapped back, seemingly only growing angrier, all the while the other woman watched the two uncertainly.

'

But in response, the man just smirked and pointed at the draconic duo. "Well, I'd say the results speak for themselves." Kiyohime's mouth fell agape from sheer disbelief, and the Lancer by her side and the silver haired Servant were much the same. Yes, technically she and Elizabeth were no longer fighting, but to call this a successful result to what was apparently the intention? Clearly, her senses had been completely on the spot with him.

'

"..." The red haired woman seemed to be at a loss for words from sheer irritation. Her face grew even redder and a vein was now barely discernible on her forehead. Her fists clenched hard enough that her knuckles were stark white while her arms trembled with rage. She looked like she really wanted to hit him again, and after what he'd just said, no one present could blame her. But in the end she just proceeded to pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration, not even looking at him as she pointed away from the town. "...Just, get out of here. Go keep watch in case we get attacked or something, I don't care. Just leave before I go insane."

'

"Always happy to help," the man chuckled with a wink, before jumping off in the direction she had pointed to.

'

A silence fell over the town square. While Kiyohime would have welcomed such an occurrence a few minutes ago, at the moment she just felt lost. She shared a glance with Elizabeth, and to no one's surprise, she appeared to be just as confused. This whole interaction hadn't gone even close to what either of them expected. Meanwhile, the other Servant approached the woman and laid a hand on her shoulder, looking now genuinely concerned. "Are you alright, Ritsuka?" A question that caught Kiyohime's interest, the name she had used to refer to the redhead in particular. Ritsuka... That was certainly a Japanese name...

'

She gave a small nod to the Servant while rubbing her temples. "Yes, just give me a moment. I feel like my head is about to burst." After a short while, the woman named Ritsuka seemed to have calmed down enough to properly converse, and proceeded to close the distance between her and the two waiting Servants with a friendly smile. "Ahem. Hello. First of all, I would like to offer my most sincere apologies over the behavior of our resident idiot," she greeted with a bow. "My name is Ritsuka Repo, and I'm currently the sole Master of our... alliance? I guess that works for the term." With that last part, Ritsuka shared a questioning look with the Servant beside her, but Kiyohime barely registered it. Her mind was already focused on other matters. So this woman really was a Master. And Japanese, even if she couldn't really say that her family name sounded familiar. And to top it all off, she seemed quite well mannered as well. It was still too early to say, but she might actually be someone Kiyohime could accept as her Master. Well, as well as she understood the concept anyway. It was embarrassing to admit, even to herself, but as she'd always been blessed with love and affection by her parents, she didn't fully comprehend the concept of a Master.

'

As such thoughts were running through her head, the Servant by her side gave the Master a nod. "I believe it's fine." She then proceeded to skip closer to the draconic duo with a bright smile. So close in fact that Kiyohime was shocked into the present by the act. "And I'm Marie Antoinette, the former queen of France and now a Rider. Oh, how wonderful it is to meet other beautiful young ladies in the bloom of their youth like myself. I hope we can all become fast friends." Kiyohime unwittingly ended up sharing an awkward look with Elizabeth. This apparent queen was extremely forward, but there wasn't even a hint of a lie or deception in her words, so she at least didn't dislike her.

'

"And the lunatic Saber you just met is Lemminkäinen," Ritsuka sighed before pulling the excited queen backwards. "Would you be willing to share your names? Just the class is fine as well, if you feel like it."

'

Elizabeth looked over the two for a second before shrugging. "...I'm still really confused, but alright." Whirling her spear around before she struck it into the ground, the Lancer made some ridiculous, showy pose by laying her left hand on her hip and the other in front of her right eye, parting her front and middle fingers to peek through them. "I'm Elizabeth Báthory. My Class is Ido- Lancer." Kiyohime could only sigh, getting a glare from the target of her exasperation, but she didn't care. The deranged lizard was seriously just about to introduce herself as an idol? Truly, she was even further gone than she'd realized.

'

Marie and Ritsuka shared a surprised look, the latter looking almost disbelieving. "Elizabeth Báthory? You're the Hungarian countess?" As the Lancer nodded, Ritsuka was clearly confused, looking her over. "I didn't expect you to be so young... or a Lancer... or a dragon, but it's still nice to meet you all the same."

'

Clearly missing the reasoning for the confusion, Elizabeth just laid her hands on her hips and smiled proudly. "Of course. Who wouldn't want to meet me?" Kiyohime wagered that number included roughly 90% of all people who had ever lived, and that was a generous estimation. The only reason it wasn't even higher was because she knew that all sorts of deviants existed in the world.

'

Without missing a beat, Ritsuka then turned towards her. "And what about you? By your appearance, I'd guess you're Japanese, but having a name to call you would be nice."

'

The Berserker thought about the question. This thoughtless Lancer had given her true name so readily, even with these mysterious circumstances. She normally wouldn't do the same to a bunch of strangers she'd just met. Still, these people had been polite enough to properly introduce themselves first, so it'd be unbecoming of her to not do the same. Especially since Elizabeth had done so already. With a slight bow to the Master, she decided to follow suit. "Your guess is right. I am called Kiyohime. My Class is Berserker."

'

But to her surprise, Ritsuka's expression brightened considerably. "Oh, Kiyohime? Then I was onto something with my earlier guess. I figured you were a famous Japanese princess given your appearance, but the fact that you're one of the ones with actual fighting power is all the more reassuring." Kiyohime felt a small smile spreading on her lips. She was hardly a famous Servant by any stretch of the imagination, especially outside of Japan, so being recognized like this was an unexpected delight. And, her getting a more favorable reaction than Elizabeth from the Master was only to be expected, but still very much welcome.

'

Clearly annoyed by her being favored, the Lancer in question interjected. "So what did you want with us, anyway? You know, the reason you sent that idiot here in the first place."

'

Ritsuka's face grew apologetic again, and she gave the two a light bow. "I'm really sorry about that, again. He wasn't supposed to be involved in the whole thing, but he just ran ahead." So she hadn't sent that boore at them knowingly. That certainly helped to improve Kiyohime's opinion of her social skills. "And well, to be completely honest, we were hoping you would be willing to join forces with us. As I'm sure you're aware, a group of Servants and a swarm of wyverns led by the Dragon Witch is currently massacring the population of France. We're trying to put a stop to it." Kiyohime listened carefully. That certainly was similar to what she had heard from ordinary citizens. Even if she hadn't met any Servants, she'd scorched more than a few wyverns that were trying to attack towns. She'd thought about getting to the bottom of the matter earlier, but had given up on it since she was so tremendously overwhelmed in terms of numbers. Elizabeth would certainly be of no help in such a task. But with this proposal...

'

Yet before she could think any further, a loud shout drowned out even her thoughts. "Led by the Dragon Rider! She's not an actual witch!" All four of the women, all equally exasperated, turned towards the sound of the voice, only for Kiyohime to be genuinely surprised. Certainly, she could see the boor named Lemminkäinen, but just barely, seeing as how he was laying on a roof on the other side of the town. He was that far away and he'd still heard them? She'd been thought that degenerates like that had excellent hearing, but this was just absurd.

'

Ritsuka looked just as thrilled as the rest of them over the interjection as she turned towards the Rider. "...Marie, do you think Amadeus could create a soundproof barrier between us and him or something?"

'

In response, Marie just shrugged apologetically. "Well he probably could, but you do realize that Lemminkäinen is a far more powerful mage than he is? And since he also seems extremely attuned with sound based magecraft, it wouldn't be difficult for him to make himself heard even if Amadeus created such a thing."

'

The Master let out a long sigh. "I sometimes really hate how capable he is." After a quick rub of her temple, she turned back to the draconic duo. "Anyway. If you'd be willing to meet the rest of our group and exchange some information before making your decision, we'd be fine with that as well."

'

Kiyohime started to ponder. At the moment, she was simply a Servant who was. She didn't have a goal or a discernible reason for her summoning, so even if she didn't join them, talking with these people could possibly answer some of her questions, which would at least be worth her while. During the entire conversation, neither Ritsuka or Marie had lied, so there should be no harm in hearing them out properly. Besides, she'd admittedly gotten quite interested in this Master, so learning more about her suited her well. But still, both of them deserved at least a warning before they could make a dangerous mistake, so Kiyohime decided to give it to them. "I am willing to listen, but you might want to reconsider bringing her along," she noted while shooting a glance at Elizabeth. "She is quite a nuisance to all of your senses."

'

"Don't you call me a nuisance, you Sharp-Nosed Viper!" the Lancer screeched, stomping her foot again.

'

Kiyohime's glance turned into a glare. What a ridiculous comparison. Her nose wasn't sharp in the least. It was small and cute. With that in mind, she crossed her arms and retorted with a far more fitting description. "...Hmph. Frilled-necked Lizard."

'

"Japanese Rat Snake!" Elizabeth shot back, but at least this time the comparison wasn't the worst imaginable.

'

"Mexican Beaded Lizard."

'

"Black Mamba!"

'

And farther again. Kiyohime felt her anger reigniting. Now that was just rude. She wasn't venomous! "Japanese Grass Lizard!"

'

"Are... Are you seriously just calling each other different reptile names as insults?" Ritsuka asked in disbelief.

'

"So what if we are?" Elizabeth huffed.

'

The Master just scratched her head awkwardly before giving them the most unexpected opinion: "Well, it's your business, but I know at least some of those reptiles by appearance, and a few of them are quite gorgeous animals. They just don't really work as insults that well in my opinion."

'

"I, uh..." Elizabeth mumbled while Kiyohime felt her anger being washed away by a wave of surprise. The two shared an uncertain glance. That was an answer neither of them had clearly expected. Poking at the ground with the tip of her shoe awkwardly, Elizabeth just mumbled: "...I guess that's a fair reason."

'

While Marie giggled at the Lancer's reaction and Ritsuka did her best to hold one back, Kiyohime fell into her own thoughts once more. The last few minutes had certainly been a most chaotic occurrence, one that she didn't wish to relive ever. But, since it had led her to meet such an interesting Master, perhaps some good did come from it all.

'

'

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'

'

After a walk back to the others and some quick introductions between the Servants, Ritsuka, with some help from those monitoring them from the base, proceeded to explain everything relevant about Chaldea, their mission, and the current situation of the Singularity. ...Again. They'd done so twice yesterday, and had to repeat it at least once more today, when they met the Dragon Slayer. And if this was a repeating pattern in the Singularities... The Master withheld a sigh. She had already pondered on the matter earlier, but at this point, she was seriously considering asking Roman, Da Vinci and Dio to help her make some type of introductory video for Chaldea. Preferably with helpful images. Something like that would save them quite a bit of time in the future.

'

"Alright, I think I now get what's going on in this weird France," Elizabeth smiled at Ritsuka at the end of her narration. "Thanks for the quick and clear explanation, Deerlet."

'

"...Deerlet?" The redhead cocked a brow at the moniker. This girl was certainly forward to just give a person she'd just met a nickname like that.

'

Elizabeth puffed out her chest, clearly proud of the moniker. "Yes. Because of the color of your hair and your long legs."

'

"I guess that's not bad as far as nicknames go," Ritsuka nodded concedingly. Given that her legs were among the parts of her body that she didn't dislike, she didn't mind it too much, though she still wished that they'd appear at least slightly less muscular. Then, she noticed Lemminkäinen grinning at her from some distance away. She really didn't want to deal with this right now. "I know by the look on your face that you're going to say something stupid, so just save us the trouble and don't."

'

The Saber (thankfully) didn't say anything, but his grin didn't faint in the least as he shrugged. Though just in time for some positive reinforcement, Marie cut in. "Well I think it's an adorable nickname," she beamed, and Mash seemed to agree, judging by the bright smile she sported as well.

'

Ritsuka could only sigh, a small smile spreading on her lips as well. As if she could keep stern against such a combination attack. "If you really want to call me that, fine, but I'd still prefer you use my actual name." Though while Elizabeth looked even more proud, the redhead spotted Kiyohime shooting an annoyed glare at her. Man, these two really didn't get along. So, before the situation had even a chance to escalate, Ritsuka moved the conversation along. "But we're getting distracted. That was just the general information for our and the enemy's situation. I'd still like to go over the enemies individually, so that you truly know what we're up against." And thus began another round of bringing newcomers up to speed. But after they reached a certain point in their explanation, one specifically detailing a white haired enemy Servant, Elizabeth raised her hand awkwardly.

'

"So like, that enemy Assassin... is the exact same person I am."

'

Mash's eyes widened in surprise. "Th-the same person?" she confirmed while the Lancer just nodded. Even if they already knew this due to them sharing True Names, Ritsuka could definitely understand Mash's confusion. Frankly, the two didn't resemble each other in the least. Whether it was in their clothing or their very bodies, the Lancer and Assassin had almost nothing in common. They couldn't even really compare their faces since Carmilla wore that creepy mask, so even some of the finer details were lost.

'

"Well, given that there are two Jeannes, that isn't too shocking," the Master reminded before turning to Elizabeth to confirm something. "So is she the version of Elizabeth Báthory that has been altered by the legend of Carmilla the vampire?"

'

"Yeah, I'd say that about sums it up," she nodded before proceeding to explain their feelings for each other. Or was it feelings for herself? Their whole situation was pretty confusing. And frankly, really messed up, the more Elizabeth went into it.

'

It got to the point that unusually quiet Amadeus finally opened his mouth. "So let me get this straight: You both hate each other with such a serious passion that you just want to kill each other?"

'

"Yes," she confirmed without a hint of hesitation.

'

The Caster just stared at her for a second before shrugging. "...Alright, just making sure. But wow is this a whole new level of self-hatred." Ritsuka had to agree, and judging by the troubled expressions of those around her, everyone felt much the same. At least she somewhat understood their situation. To Carmilla, this Elizabeth was basically like her dark past that she wished to bury, and the other way around, an undesirable future she wished to deny.

'

"And if you're fighting her, I'm definitely coming with you. I won't let anyone else kill her, especially not before I've given her a piece of my mind," the Lancer declared sternly.

'

"That's hardly the worst reason for us to join forces," Ritsuka agreed. In fact, personal vendettas were usually among the best reasons in these types of situations. Offering a hand to Elizabeth, she smiled with you surprisingly easy it had been to convince her to join them. "We'd be happy to accept your help, Elizabeth. I just hope that you won't mind possibly fighting against some other people she's joined forces with."

'

The Lancer fell silent for a second, seemingly thinking the whole thing through before answering. "...Not too much, but if we're all together, I'm leaving her groupies to you while I take her down."

'

"That alright with everyone?" Ritsuka asked the others. She personally had no problem with it, but she wasn't the one actually fighting. With no objections coming her way, she kept her hand towards the girl. "Then deal."

'

Her smile brightening, Elizabeth proudly shook the offered hand. "You'd better be grateful to get a star like me on your team." An act that cheered Ritsuka up as well. Despite her weird appearance and admittedly terrifying background, Elizabeth was admittedly really cute when she was smiling like this.

'

"Absolutely. You're a welcome addition."

'

And as soon as Elizabeth let go of Ritsuka's hand, she was practically shoved aside by Kiyohime, who approached the Master with a smile of her own. "Well, if she's willing to join you, then I'm coming as well. It would reflect poorly on my character to be the only one staying behind."

'

Ritsuka blinked in surprise at the spontaneous agreement. Where did this come from? Well, it wasn't as personal as Elizabeth's, but she couldn't exactly disagree with that reasoning either. If she'd stayed behind on a mission like this, she'd feel really scummy as well. Still, she wasn't complaining. They'd recruited two new allies with very little difficulties. Although, since Kiyohime was Japanese, instead of a handshake, the redhead offered her a respectful bow. "Even so, thank you. While it might be a temporary alliance, you're still risking your life to help us, even if that too is temporary." Rising back up, she offered the Berserker the most grateful smile that she could. "And we could definitely use all the help we can get, so you have my sincere gratitude."

'

In response, Kiyohime presented an absolutely dazzling smile of her own. "You're very welcome. I'm glad to meet a Master with proper manners." The redhead felt a faint blush rising to her cheeks from the display. Even if she was a Berserker, Kiyohime was really cute and seemed to be quite nice as well, so Ritsuka could only hope that they would get along well in the future. That Madness Enhancement EX certainly worried her a bit, but since it was such an abnormal rank, maybe it actually meant that Kiyohime was sane with everything except Anchin? Of course, she didn't wish to see what would happen if they were to ever meet the monk, so she really hoped that possibility just wouldn't come to pass.

'

"Well, it's great that we were able to come to an agreement this quickly, but we are in a bit of a hurry, so we better get going to Lyon," she noted, getting Marie to pout.

'

"Aww, but I wanted to chat more. There's so much we could talk about with our new friends."

'

"You've got plenty of time to talk on the ride over, Marie."

'

"Well, yes, but having a conversation in a carriage isn't nearly as fun as one spent along with some tea..." the Rider grumbled, but still summoned her carriage for them to board.

'

"Honestly, it's nice to be in a group for a change. Traveling by myself is so boring," Elizabeth noted before merrily hopping in. "Also, you have a carriage. And a really nice one too. This definitely beats just walking or flying around."

'

"Tell me about it. Marie really is the star of our group," Ritsuka grinned, getting the usual smile to return on the Rider's lips. Still, they should definitely use the time they had wisely, so... "But the ride to Lyon is gonna take a few hours, so in the meantime, I'd appreciate it if you could tell a bit more about yourselves and your preferred ways of fighting. It'd really help us all in working together."

'

"I won't mind, as long as you're willing to answer some questions about yourself," Kiyohime agreed with a smile.

'

The Master blinked with surprise before nodding. "Oh? Well, alright." She didn't really get why Kiyohime seemed interested in her, but it was the least she could do to pay her back, so she ultimately didn't mind. Although, now that she looked over their ride, a small issue presented itself. "With this many people, the carriage is pretty snug. Lemminkäinen is fine with staying on the roof, but..." The Lancer had already moved in, and beside her, they could fit probably five others without getting uncomfortable. And with that, she also had to wonder: Wasn't sitting kind of difficult when one had a tail? Especially a tail as long as Elizabeth's.

'

But then, someone completely unexpected stepped forth to give up their seat: "I'll just sit in the driver's seat and save us some time and an argument," Mozart said before climbing on.

'

With the exception of the newcomers, everyone present looked at him in surprise. Marie even gasped with genuine amazement. "Oh, that's surprisingly mature of you, Amadeus." It really was, considering everything Ritsuka had learned of him for the past day or so. Although if she had to guess, the Caster just wanted to avoid getting yelled at by Elizabeth at all cost. He seemed to genuinely fear the young dragon girl for reasons Ritsuka couldn't fully comprehend. Sure she was kind of loud, but was it really that bad?

'

"Well, it's good that we managed to come to an agreement so quickly," Jeanne noted before climbing inside herself, and the others followed. While Lemminkäinen hopped on the roof, Kiyohime was quick to take a seat as far from Elizabeth as possible, which just so happened to be next to Ritsuka.

'

"Before you all get going, I should probably let you know something," Dio called, his screen appearing on the carriage wall. "Judging from Sky Eye's observations, the entire population of Lyon has been killed, and they've... you know, risen again."

'

Ritsuka shared a concerned look with Mash. There was basically only one way to interpret this. "Wait... You mean they're zombies?" But as she said so, she got confused looks from basically everyone in the carriage. ...Right. The Master mentally slapped herself. Of course people from the past wouldn't be familiar with the term. "Undead. Walking corpses," she corrected, getting the more worried reactions one would expect.

'

"Yeah. Most likely thanks to Vlad or Carmilla," the Spaniard agreed, remaining completely unperturbed despite the nasty topic that had ruffled others.

'

Jeanne in particular seemed anxious over the reveal, to the point that she almost looked angry. "Turning the townsfolk into monsters... That is beyond heresy!" Marie laid a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it calmingly.

'

"If nothing else, it is an effective way to bolster one's numbers. With each dead foe, you gain an ally," Dio noted calmly, almost sounding like a record repeating information. Though as he noticed the disquiet stares from nearly everyone, he was quick to add: "Still, undead like that are hardly ever actually effective as minions. Most animals beat them in the intelligence department, and the less said about the smell they bring to an area the better. At best they're just meatshields, something to throw at the enemy in hopes of weakening or distracting them."

'

Thankfully, before the conversation could get any more uncomfortable, Amadeus peeked in through a window. "As delightful as this topic is, is that Dragon Slayer even still alive in that nest of death?" An excellent question too, and one that Ritsuka hadn't even considered. A spike of anxiety stabbed her heart. If the Dragon Slayer was dead, the group had little to no reason to go to Lyon, and should focus on hunting down some of Jeanne Alter's Servants instead.

'

And yet... "Oh, they're there alright," Dio confirmed, getting Ritsuka to let out a relieved sigh. "Weak, and seemingly holed up underground, but definitely alive."

'

Still, she could only be thankful for how resilient this Servant was. "So the Dragon Slayer was more than likely attacked by Jeanne Alter's forces and was grievously wounded, but still managed to survive and hid away to recuperate," she surmised, getting an approving nod from the Spaniard.

'

"That's the most probable scenario, yes. But judging by these readings, they're pretty messed up, so the faster you get there and see if you can help with the healing process, the better."

'

"Then we don't have a moment to waste!" Jeanne shouted, clearly still fired up from hearing how the townsfolk had been zombified. Taking Marie's hand, she looked at her practically imploringly. "Marie, please get us to Lyon as quickly as possible!"

'

Faced with such a request, the Rider's expression lit up, to the point that the redhead could swear that she was enjoying seeing Jeanne like this. "Of course, Jeanne," she beamed, and her magical energy spiked.

'

Ritsuka shared a nervous glance with Mash. Yup, as she expected. They were both getting a really bad feeling of deja vu from this. "Just make sure you don't make any more sharp turns while going at high spe-!" But before she could finish, the carriage blasted off, once again traveling far faster than any carriage had any business moving, and almost immediately made a u-turn to get them on the road. While Marie held on to Jeanne happily, the rest of the passengers weren't nearly as joyeus. The Master in particular was pushed to the side by the intense acceleration, and she ended up bumping against Kiyohime quite hard. Although Ritsuka was quick to apologize, the Berserker didn't really seem to mind. So maybe her guess on her being a kind person was actually on point...

'

'

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'

'

As Marie's carriage rushed across the seemingly endless road, Mash kept her eyes glued on the landscape on the other side of the window, much like she had for the past hour. Riding by fields, forests, rivers, all kinds of sights in this way... It truly was an experience she could never have imagined herself going through, yet here she was. Unfortunately, this wasn't a joy ride. They had a crucial mission to fulfill. Thankfully reaching Lyon itself was relatively straight forward. Due to its excellent strategic location, during the first century BC the city became the starting point of main Roman roads in the area, and it quickly became the capital of the province. Since the largest of those roads were maintained even after nearly 15 centuries, it provided their group with excellent accessibility for Marie's carriage. It truly was amazing what humans could accomplish through sheer effort...

'

"We should be close to Lyon right about now, yes?" Ritsuka asked by her side, bringing Mash's focus to the present as Jeanne gave the Master a confirming nod.

'

"Yes. I believe we'll be able to see it soon enough, once we exit these woods," she confirmed. Though the Ruler's expression noticeably fell as she continued. "...The thought of having to see a ruined town again, is heartbreaking."

'

The mood in the carriage fell to match Jeanne. Obviously Mash knew that they couldn't have saved Lyon, since it was devastated before they'd even arrived in France, but much like in Domrémy, the sight alone was enough to make her feel so powerless. Ritsuka too looked frustrated. "Especially since it's one of the largest cities in France, and apparently a real cultural center to boot," she muttered. It seemed that she was well aware of what kind of place Lyon was, more than likely from research in preparation for the mission. Not that Mash would expect anything less from her Senpai. Though soon enough, the redhead's expression hardened as she continued: "But we have no time for sightseeing. Let's just try to find the Dragon Slayer as quickly as possible and be on our way."

'

"Agreed," Jeanne nodded, matching the Master's expression. "As we have no idea what the Dragon Witch is planning, simply lingering around a settlement she's already destroyed is hardly sensible."

'

Soon after they heard a knock on the roof, followed by a shout from Lemminkäinen. "Hey, ladies! We can see the ruins!"

'

"Right on time," Ritsuka said before rising from her seat to slightly open the door. "And no need to yell. Just speak to us through here."

'

Barely after the last words had escaped the Master's lips, Lemminkäinen hopped in, getting a slight start from her with his suddenness. "Yeah, sure." Leaning against the open door and focusing on Marie, he pointed at the left side of the carriage. "You want to approach from the north if you're planning on driving any further."

'

"Why?" Mash asked, only for her confusion to rise as the carriage came to a sudden halt. As she along with everyone else looked out of the left side window, the answer to his statement became quite obvious. "Oh..." From the top of the hill they'd stopped on, most of Lyon could be seen without issue. Well, what was left of it, anyway. With the twin rivers running through it and the numerous bridges linking parts of the city together, it could've been called beautiful if it wasn't for all the devastation. She'd only seen pictures of the modern day Lyon when doing research herself, but it had seemed like a very wonderful city. Now it was mostly just piles of rubble separated by two rivers. But, that wasn't the main reason for the slight detour they would need to take. The eastern border of the city was lined with craters of various sizes and the walls protecting it had been left with numerous holes and even more cracks. And, the most severe mark of all was a giant trench starting just outside the city walls. Several meters deep and more than a dozen wide at its point of origin, it stretched on for several hundred meters. Ultimately, it reminded Mash of the path of devastation they had seen in Fuyuki, courtesy of Excalibur. And while this trench was quite a bit smaller, there was no doubt that something extremely powerful had created it as well.

'

"How awful. It's much like I imagined," Jeanne sighed, shaking her head mournfully. Most of the carriage shared her reaction. Mash too felt somber over seeing another ruined city, though she admittedly had a hard time truly understanding what the Ruler was feeling. Perhaps it was similar to what she'd experienced when seeing Chaldea devastated after the bombing...

'

"Clearly a battle between strong Servants took place here," Roman noted. "That kind of trench could only have been left by a powerful Noble Phantasm."

'

A detail Lemminkäinen seemed especially focused on. "Mmhm. With that kinda power, it'd seem that either of the famed Dragon Slayers could definitely live up to their legends."

'

"Let's just hope that our Dragon Slayer was the one responsible for it," Mozart remarked from the driver's seat. A possibility that unnerved Mash, but it was ultimately short lived as Ritsuka shook her head.

'

"Considering that this is more than likely either Siegfried or Sigurd, devastation like that would certainly fit the bill for either of their famed swords," she said before pointing at the trench and adding: "Besides, look at its starting point. It was obviously aimed away from the city. I doubt any of Jeanne Alter's Servants would care to do that."

'

"Both good points," Dio agreed before projecting a detailed map on the floor. "Marie, after circling to the north to get in, you'll want to head southeast, across both Rhône and Saône. Our guy is holed up in Vieux Lyon. You won't be able to ride all the way, but your carriage can still get pretty deep into the city."

'

The carriage made a slow turn before starting to move again. "...Very well." Marie's response was quite stiff, lacking even a hint of cheerfulness. Even her usual, bright smile was nowhere to be seen as she guided her carriage into the city, eyes lingering on the ruined buildings on the other side of the window. "Oh, for beautiful Lyon to have fallen to ruin like this. I don't even want to imagine what Paris must look like..."

'

The morale of the group had taken a large dive, to the point that no one said anything for the next few minutes. They shared the Rider's solemn reaction, simply staring silently at the ruins, until the Doctor eventually spoke up. "It is without a doubt a tragedy, but remember that there's still a ton of undead around the area, so you better prepare for a battle," he reminded, getting a scoff from the Saber.

'

"Pfft. As if some walking corpses were even a warmup for us. Even if they all gathered together, little dragon miss here could probably blow them all away with a single shout."

'

"I totally could," Elizabeth agreed, proudly puffing out her chest, but Ritsuka just shook her head with a sigh.

'

"Please don't. If you just blasted at the city, you might end up hitting the Dragon Slayer as well, and we don't need any misunderstandings right now." In preparation for the coming battle, she pulled on the gloves of her Combat Mystic Code, stretching her fingers to fit them properly. "We should take care of any undead that get in our way so that they don't cause any problems with our search, and to keep them from killing any innocent people searching for refuge. But, we can't just blow them all up with a single attack for the reason I just stated, so let's take care of this quickly and efficiently."

'

"...Fine," Lemminkäinen muttered, not even trying to hide his disappointment. But, his disheartened expression soon faded somewhat as his eyes snapped towards the front of the carriage. "Oh, there's some right over there." As Mash followed his gaze, her mouth fell agape at the sight of the three undead scampering towards the chariot. They looked... frankly disgusting. Bodies partly decomposed, each of them was missing something, from limbs, to chunks of flesh from their torsos, to parts of the head, leaving bones exposed in some areas. Walking corpses was truly the most appropriate term for these creatures. She'd much rather fight the skeletons they'd found in Fuyuki, since they at least weren't rotting. Thinking about it, would these undead end up like that as well after all their flesh was gone? Mash shook her head. That was a silly thought, hardly appropriate for the situation. Beginning to stand up to face these creatures, she, along with some other Servants, was quickly stopped by Lemminkäinen raising his hand. "No need to slow down or for the rest of you to get up. Even the extra arrows I just made from wood are more than enough to deal with these things." Saying that, he pulled out his bow and some arrows from a makeshift quiver, and let loose a shot at the nearest target. And, to no one's great surprise, it went down with that same shot. In less than a second, the other two followed. Both precise and powerful, much like Lemminkäinen had said, a single arrow was enough to blow most of a zombie's head off. Against Servants, those extra arrows of his were little more than sharp sticks. Enough to hurt, certainly, yet incapable of causing any notable damage. But against these undead, it was more like a normal human being hit in the head with a very high caliber rifle.

'

Sitting back down after making sure there was absolutely no threat, Mash turned to Ritsuka cautiously. "When we begin walking, please stay close to me, Senpai. We don't know how many of the undead there are exactly, but there should be a large number of them. If they were to storm us from all directions, the situation could become dangerous."

'

"Yes, I will. Don't worry, Mash," the redhead nodded with an appreciative smile, getting Mash to lose her seriousness as well. Senpai looking at her like that always made her feel useful. If only it could have lasted longer, and not been interrupted by Dio's disturbing correction:

'

"Actually, we do know the exact number. 27349." The mood in the carriage dropped once more, with most of the passengers looking genuinely shocked. Not that Mash could blame them. She'd known that there would be much, but nearly thirty thousand? Such an enormous amount of people. She... honestly didn't know if she could bear fighting against that many of these things. But the unease was clearly not lost on the Spaniard, as he was quick to add: "Although they're scattered around the entirety of the city, so it's unlikely you'll be fighting all of them. With how slow they are, it would take them over an hour to get from one side to the other, and that's without the two rivers they would have to cross." ...Not the most effective example of damage control.

'

Ritsuka sighed before rubbing the Shielder's shoulder. "Well, Mash's point still stands. Let's not get reckless." A slight smile returned to Mash's face, but the mood in the carriage still stayed quite somber.

'

After a few more minutes of quiet riding, only interrupted by Lemminkäinen shooting a couple of targets, Amadeus called from the driver's seat: "End of the road, Maria. There's far too much rubble on the way to ride across. We'll have to walk from here."

'

Not wasting a moment, Elizabeth was the first to hop out, stretching all five of her limbs. "Ah, finally. My tail had gotten so cramped in there."

'

"Well, carriages weren't exactly designed for people with tails," Ritsuka noted while the Lancer shook her tail and gave it a few rubs. As she moved out as well, she picked up one of the three Chaldean backpacks and strapped it on. Mash followed immediately after picking one of her own and began examining the surroundings. With how much destruction there was, there were also plenty of spots for an ambush. After everyone had exited the carriage, Marie dematerialized it as the Master turned to address the Servants. "Now then, we should-"

'

"Oh, shit! Full stop, everybody! Stay right where you are!" Dio suddenly called, sounding genuinely alarmed for once. "There's an Assassin lurking around the area!"

'

"Huh!?" the redhead gasped, sharing her shocked reaction with the others present, with a single exception: Before she even thought of any alternate possibilities, Mash had moved right by Ritsuka's side, shield at the ready for whatever may come. Meanwhile, Ritsuka herself looked at him in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

'

But the doubt soon faded as she noticed how serious the Spaniard looked. "Completely. Take defensive positions around Ritsuka, guys. This could get dangerous." Still a bit taken aback, the other Servants nonetheless quickly followed Mash's lead, forming a circle around the Master, and Lemminkäinen growled with annoyance.

'

"Damn, I hate backstabbers. Especially when they're good at hidin'." Eyes scanning the immediate area around them, the Saber eventually just roared: "Just come out and face us head on, damn it!"

'

"Why did you only let us know now!? Haven't you been keeping a watch on this town?" Elizabeth complained, putting the thoughts of everyone else into words.

'

But Romani was quick to diffuse the claim. "We only noticed this guy after we focused Sky Eye to your immediate surroundings, which means that their Presence Concealment is around A Rank."

'

"That at least rules out Carmilla," Ritsuka muttered, keeping a close eye on their immediate surroundings as well. Though the knowledge that it wasn't a familiar enemy didn't exactly make Mash feel any better. This was a genuine Assassin, very much capable of effective ambushes. An extreme danger to Masters. But despite the fact that she obviously knew that, the redhead stayed as calm as ever. Not that Mash would expect anything else from her. "So you can detect the Assassin at least somewhat, but how accurately is that?"

'

"Not very. We can tell that they're within 500 meters of you but that's about it," Dio grumbled, clearly not happy with the situation. "Against Presence Concealment that high, it's the best we can do."

'

But the frustrated tone didn't stop Lemminkäinen from taking it as good news. "That warning is all we need. Assassins might be sneaky, but they won't be layin' a hand on Pomo now that we know they're around. Bastard can slink in the shadows all day, but with everyone keepin' an eye on every direction, no way are we gettin' ambushed." A point that helped Mash ease off slightly. It was certainly true that with such a tight formation, the chances of the Assassin getting a successful surprise attack off on Ritsuka were extremely low. Not that she was going to lower her guard even a little, but it was comforting. But, it wasn't like the Assassin was their only enemy. As demonstrated by the group of five undead that scampered from around a building and made a dash towards them, earning a scoff from Lemminkäinen. "Oh, guess these carcasses are here as well." A halfhearted smirk on his lips, he ignited his blade, and with a single swing, all that was left behind of the undead was some ash and armor.

'

A second group soon appeared from another direction, this time closest to Kiyohime. As soon as she saw them, the Berserker wrinkled her nose. "Ugh. Such filthy things. I'd better clear them all away without a trace." With a simple wave of her fan, a blast of flame incinerated the undead, much like had happened just a few seconds ago. Mash felt relief washing over her at the display. It really was useful to have such literal firepower on their side when facing foes such as these. Even if they came in hordes of dozens, it wouldn't be too troublesome for these two to just burn them all away.

'

But while the others seemed pleased that the mild threats had been dealt with so quickly, Jeanne was the exact opposite. More than anything, she looked somber as she walked over to the ashes that remained, knelt down and held her hands together in prayer. "May their souls rest in peace..." but as soon as the words left her mouth...

'

"Peace... Do they desire peace? That is such a foolish thing to say. They have no peace in their souls." A ghastly voice echoed around the area, putting all the Servants on high alert. Mash felt strange listening to it. The voice was bizarrely soothing, yet also managed to make her skin crawl all at once. But more than anything, it sounded sad, longing, as it continued. "There is certainly none residing in us Servants. This world has been frozen for years..."

'

"It's the Assassin. He's using some kind of voice distortment technique to mix the sound," Romani informed them from Chaldea. Not that anyone present was unaware of that.

'

"Who are you, and why are you here in Lyon?" Jeanne demanded.

'

"People call me- The Phantom of the Opera." Mash's eyes widened at the reveal, and she shared a knowing look with Ritsuka. The Phantom of the Opera... It was quite a famous novel, and most people in modern day would at the very least recognize the name. To think that even such a figure had been summoned in this Singularity. "By order of the Dragon Witch, this town is under my absolute control," the Assassin announced, stepping out of the shadows of a roof of one of the buildings that was still mostly standing. As soon as he made his location known, Mash positioned herself between him and Ritsuka. The undead could be dangerous, but they didn't come even close to the threat this man presented. At this point, he was roughly one hundred meters from them, but that was a distance Servants could cross in an instant with a powerful jump. Dressed mostly in black, regal clothing with some white highlights, the man appeared to almost melt into the very shadows of the building, especially his cape. A skull-like mask covered the right half of his face, with the exposed half showing his sickly colored skin and unfocused, red eye. Both threatening and strangely elegant at once, truly, this was someone who'd earned the name 'Phantom' for their appearance alone. But, the most horrific detail was his hands. It was as if someone had ripped the skin off of them, leaving only bloody muscle and bone. And as if that wasn't enough, each finger now ended in sharp, knife-like claws that were roughly as long as the digits themselves. Mash didn't even want to imagine what it'd feel like to get scratched by them. Noticing the slight unease in some members of the group, the Phantom smiled at them unsettlingly and waved one of his monstrous fingers. "Now, now, now. This is the middle of Hell, where the dead live. What are you going to do?" Despite his calm tone of voice, the sheer madness and scent of blood wafting from the man made Mash's skin crawl. It was clear that if they gave an answer he didn't like, the Assassin would attack them without a second thought.

'

And despite clearly knowing that, Jeanne gave her answer without even the slightest hint of doubt, pointing her flagpole towards the man: "If you serve the Dragon Witch and would keep us from our goal, then we have no choice but to strike you down."

'

"Dragon Rider," Lemminkäinen corrected, getting Ritsuka and some others to groan out loud.

'

"Less snark, more fighting. Jeanne and Saber, focus on the Phantom, while I'd appreciate it if everyone else could take care of any undead trying to interfere."

'

"Works for me," the Saber grinned, while Jeanne also gave an affirming nod. After throwing his backpack to Amadeus, (which he barely caught), Lemminkäinen charged at the Assassin, clearly happy to fight something more powerful for the first time today. ...Mash really couldn't understand such a mindset, no matter how much she tried.

'

After just a few moments of fighting, the Shielder's suspicions turned out to be true. While the Phantom was an Assassin under Madness Enhancement, he was still shockingly strong. In terms of close quarters combat, he was definitely superior to Carmilla, and while he lacked the vampire's versatility, he made up for it with sheer ferocity. His knifelike claws looked especially threatening. Still, given how badly he was outnumbered, even with the undead helping him somewhat, the outcome of the battle was quickly becoming more and more obvious by the moment. The Phantom may have been able to hold his own against either Jeanne and Lemminkäinen for a short while, but with the two of them together, he hardly stood a chance. His claws were scary, but against longer and just overall superior weapons like the Saber's sword and the Ruler's flagpole, they had a hard time even forming a solid defense. The battle would be over soon. And while the fighting was attracting more and more of the undead, they were quickly taken care of by Kiyohime and Elizabeth, and even Marie a few times. Admittedly, Mash felt a bit conflicted over the situation. On one hand, she was glad that she didn't have to fight the corpses and could fully focus on protecting Ritsuka, but on the other, it made her feel somewhat... useless.

'

As the battle closed in on its conclusion, the Phantom barely blocked a hit from Jeanne, only to get kicked away by Lemminkäinen. He rolled along the ground before crashing into rubble, struggling to get up. It was certainly not looking good for him. The Assassin's mask was badly cracked, nearly half of his finger-blades had been broken, and there were several wounds along his limbs. The boost he received from the Madness Enhancement could only prolong his struggle against the combined assault of the Saber and Ruler, not help him overcome it. That was clear to anyone watching. Both Jeanne and Lemminkäinen approached the downed Assassin, the former cautiously, while the latter just sauntered forward like he was on a pleasant stroll, looking about as tense as he would be on one. Though as he watched the man struggling to stand, his expression shifted to appear somewhat bored. "Come on, man. You've put up a good fight so far, especially for an Assassin, so either stay down or get some energy back to your game."

'

Wiping off the blood dripping from his mouth, the Phantom glared at Lemminkäinen as he stood back up. "Ugh! Such callousness! You leave me no choice!" As he spread his arms wide, a burst of power erupted from the Assassin, getting every Servant around to focus on him. A reaction like that could only mean one thing!

'

Mash immediately raised her shield in anticipation to fully cover her Master, just as Roman shouted: "A magical energy spike! He's about to use his Noble Phantasm!"

'

Ritsuka also reacted instantly, pointing her hand towards Lemminkäinen as a brief glow flashed from it. "Stop him, Saber!"

'

As the glow moved on to the Saber, some sort of strange instrument appeared around the Assassin and he prepared to slam his hands down onto it. "Sing... Sing, my ange-ghargh!" But he never managed to...

'

Just as suddenly as he'd done it in Vaucouleurs, Lemminkäinen flung his sword with all his might and struck the Phantom right in the chest. No. With the boosts Ritsuka's Mystic Code just gave him, the throw was likely even faster, since Mash could barely see more than a flash despite looking right at the man. And as soon as the blade pierced through the Assassin's chest, it flared to life, letting out an explosion of flame that covered his entire body before flying back to its owner's hand. Swords weren't usually a reliable ranged option, but with a recalling ability like that, it was certainly a viable form of attack in this weapon's case. Looking over his burning foe, a familiar smirk spread on the Saber's lips. "Sorry, but this song ends before it can truly begin."

'

"That did it," Roman noted while wiping his brow. "Phantom of the Opera's Spirit Core is collapsing."

'

Mash let out a relieved sigh, slightly lowering her shield now that the immediate threat was gone, and Ritsuka gave a thumbs-up to Lemminkäinen. "Excellent work, Saber."

'

And as the Saber flashed them his victorious grin, the Caster that had spent the last few minutes standing behind Ritsuka finally moved away, smiling happily. "Well, that was quite something. Great work everyone."

'

"You've got some nerve saying that after doing literally nothing throughout the fight!" Elizabeth shouted, glaring daggers at Amadeus together with Kiyohime. Even Lemminkäinen looked at the man with disappointment as he shook his head.

'

"Seriously, man. You could've at least taken down a few corpses." An assessment Mash was forced to agree with. Amadeus had quite literally stood on the side opposite to Ritsuka from her the entire time. When she was less experienced, the Shielder may have believed he was just making sure the Master was extra safe, but now she knew better. This man really just didn't like to fight unless it was absolutely necessary.

'

But the Caster just shrugged with a smile and held out the backpack Lemminkäinen had thrown at him. "Hey. I at least held your bag." With that feeble defense, it was obvious that he didn't feel the least bit guilty. Though for a moment, some seriousness returned to his eyes as they turned to look behind Lemminkäinen. "Hm? Now that's a surprise."

'

Following Amadeus' gaze, the others saw much to their surprise that the Phantom was still there, trying to sit up even as his body was disappearing from the feet up. "Ugh! Such rudeness, interrupting my performance. Still, my mission is accomplished," he muttered, looking up at the sky. A comment that put Mash back on high alert. "Though I shall never be rewarded, never. This is where my song ends, but the real Hell starts now." Turning to face Jeanne, the Assassin's single visible eye gleamed like a ruby as he chuckled: "Rejoice, oh Holy Maiden! Your evil has grown even more than you."

'

Ignoring the comparison to the other Jeanne, the Ruler walked closer, looking at the Phantom with compassion. "...Be silent. It must be hard to even talk now." Mash had to admit, even if he was a Servant, retaining his ability to speak with most of his upper torso burned was certainly impressive.

'

But the Phantom just shook his head and straightened his back, despite the fact that his legs had already disappeared. "These are not words. This is a song. To lament your future, and to mourn it." His smile growing frightening, the Assassin turned towards the north. "Forget about the Dragon Slayer... Run to the ends of the earth. If lady luck is on your side, you might just have a chance to escape."

'

In that same instant, Mozart's ears twitched before his eyes shot wide and he turned to the north as well, alarm creeping on his face. Lemminkäinen soon followed suit, his brows furrowing. "...Well, damn. That ain't good." Mash and the others tried to detect whatever they had noticed as well, but could only exchange questioning looks. The musically gifted Servants certainly possessed hearing on a completely different level than the rest of them.

'

The Assassin started cackling, most of his torso having completely vanished at this point. "Here it comes. The Dragon is here. The Devil is here. An evil dragon unlike any this world has seen before."

'

Mash's eyes widened as realization dawned on her, and the others soon followed. As they exchanged troubled looks, Amadeus in turn walked to their vanishing foe, waving his hand dismissively. "You're a stubborn one, aren't you? The coda has ended, now back to hell with you." And with that the Phantom disappeared fully, leaving only a piece of Saint Quartz laying on the rubble. As Jeanne went to wordlessly pick it up, the gloom atmosphere really sunk in. Though they had technically won the battle, the Assassin's last words gave the impression that they'd just lost the war.

'

As the heavy seconds ticked by, Ritsuka was the first to break the silence. "I'm guessing Fafnir is on its way?" she asked, receiving a grim, wordless nod from Roman. Mash's heart sank at the confirmation. So the dragon was truly coming for them? What... What should they do now? Pinching the bridge of her nose, the redhead sighed. "Great... How many Servants?"

'

"Six," the Doctor confirmed, and Mash's heart sank further. That did not bode well for their alliance at all. While they technically held an advantage in the number of Servants, even if she herself was merely a Demi-Servant, their enemies were generally more powerful. And that was without adding Fafnir and the numerous wyverns into their ranks. It was certainly not a battle the alliance could win. Their next course of action should be obvious. "Needless to say, you need to evacuate as quickly as possible."

'

But was it really that simple? If they left now, they could certainly escape, but also meant leaving behind the Dragon Slayer to almost definitely perish. While victory without them wasn't completely impossible, it would make defeating Fafnir much more arduous. With such thoughts running through her mind, Mash gave a worried look to Ritsuka, who was currently deep in contemplation. "Senpai..." It was during times like this that the Shielder was truly glad that she wasn't the one in charge of their actions. Either choice would have terrible consequences, to the point that they might cripple the mission completely. ...Still, if it was Senpai, then surely she could make the right call.

'

"Well, that's it. The orchestra is done. Let's get out of here," Amadeus shrugged apathetically, beginning to walk towards the direction they just came from. "I know we just wasted our effort, but that's life."

'

Completely ignoring him, Ritsuka continued her contemplation. She'd even started rapidly snapping her fingers again. And so, after roughly ten seconds her eyes hardened, and turned their attention on Roman. "...How long do we have until they get here?"

'

The Doctor blinked in surprise at the question, as if he hadn't expected it at all, but Dio was quick to provide the answer. "Two to three minutes at their current speed."

'

The Master's hardened eyes regained some of their kindness, a spark of hope lighting in them as she turned to address the Servants. "Then let's move." A statement that managed to surprise everyone. "We find the Dragon Slayer and escape as fast as we can."

'

Mash's mouth fell agape. She was honestly unsure what to think, so she just looked at the others. Delighted smiles grew to Jeanne and Marie's lips, Lemminkäinen started grinning so widely that it threatened to split his face, Romani looked like he was going to faint as Dio laughed by his side, and much like her, Kiyohime and Elizabeth seemed unsure what to think of the decision, while Mozart just stared at the redhead in complete disbelief. "Are you serious? You'd risk everything just to recruit a single Servant who isn't most likely even in a fighting condition?"

'

Ritsuka matched the Caster's stare with her own, not budging an inch. "But this isn't just any Servant. This is either Sigurd or Siegfried. Even ignoring the ability to kill Fafnir singlehandedly, both of them are without a doubt first-rate Servants. Our combat potential would take a substantial leap by adding them to our team. And even if they're injured at the moment, with all the skills and versatility we have, we'll definitely be able to get them back to fighting shape." Mash... had to agree on all points. Whichever of the two this Dragon Slayer was, they would most likely be the most powerful Servant in their group after recovering. As long as they managed to save them, victory was well within their grasp. But before she could say anything, the words were caught in her throat as a faint blush spread on Ritsuka's cheeks and she muttered awkwardly: "And besides, I don't like the idea of leaving someone behind to die if there's a very real chance to save them."

'

"Senpai..." Mash felt a soft smile spreading on her lips. Of course. Just like she'd come for her in the Command Room, Senpai wouldn't give up on the Dragon Slayer even if her own life was at risk. Though obviously, as long as the Shielder was around, she'd make sure it wouldn't come to that. "Understood. We'll begin the rescue immediately."

'

Lemminkäinen let out a boisterous laugh and slapped Amadeus on the back, nearly knocking the dubious Caster over. "Give it up, man. This is an argument you ain't winnin'."

'

"If you're done, our guy is underground in what's almost certainly the ruins of the Cathedral of St. John," Dio interrupted, and suddenly a map appeared above Ritsuka's Multi-Appliance. "Here's a map with the most optimal path highlighted, so get going."

'

"Thanks, Dio." Giving the Spaniard an appreciative smile, the redhead turned to her two Servants. "Mash and Lemminkäinen, we head down there and find him."

'

"Yes, Master," Mash nodded, more than willing to follow the command, and Lemminkäinen seemed just as eager by her side.

'

"A real hero is always ready for a daring, perilous rescue mission like this."

'

Giving the two of them a grateful nod, Ritsuka then turned to the other Servants. "Ideally, just in case there's some nasty surprise, like another Assassin, I'd like one more Servant to come with us. Anyone but Jeanne, to keep the teams' fighting power somewhat equal."

'

To Mash's surprise, Kiyohime stepped forward without a second of hesitation. And for some reason, her earlier confusion was gone and she seemed almost pleased as she looked at Ritsuka. "I suppose I can join you. It also lets me keep that eyesore out of my sight for at least a little while."

'

Irate without her even being directly mentioned, Elizabeth glared daggers at Kiyohime. "Who are you calling an eyesore!?"

'

"You, obviously," the Berserker stated as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. "When was the last time you looked into a mirror?"

'

But before they could start a full blown argument, Ritsuka moved in between them pleadingly. "Not now, please! We really need to get going!"

'

"Amadeus, let's prepare for battle just in case," Marie stated before looking at the Caster hopefully. "...Will you fight with me?"

'

Amadeus' expression grew slightly troubled before he just shrugged. "...You just need to stand proudly, and smile as always, Maria. Don't worry yourself over me. If things get bad, I'll run away on my own," he admitted without a hint of shame, earning sighs from pretty much everyone present, with the exception of the queen who smiled at the reaction.

'

"Yes. That's the Amadeus I know. It's okay, at worst we just have to buy some time."

'

Elizabeth stared at the duo with clear antipathy. "I'm not sure which is worse. This guy's complete lack of integrity, or your acceptance of it."

But before the discussion could go any further, the redhead shouted again: "Time's wasting! Let's go!" Mash snapped back into the moment, having gotten so caught up in the banter that she'd forgotten just how dire their situation truly was. Without even being told to, the Shielder moved to Ritsuka and picked her up before dashing towards the river, Lemminkäinen and Kiyohime right on her tail. The Master went through the map while still in her grasp before directing her towards the north. "First, let's hop across Saône, and then head to that large ruin over there. That's where the entrance is." Without question, Mash followed the instruction, her heart drumming in her chest. The situation was truly far from ideal, but seeing her Senpai this calm despite it made her certain that they could get through this.

'

'

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'

'

Shit! Shit shit shit shit shit shit SHIT! This was bad. So bad. This was all really, really bad. These were the basic thought processes running through Ritsuka's mind as she and the Servants raced through the collapsed building as quickly as possible. Though there were also other things in her mind, mostly questioning her past choices. Was this really the right call? There was no way they would turn back at this point, but should they have come down here at all? Mozart's point was extremely valid, to the point where she had seriously considered it. This was absurdly risky, but if they could find Sigurd/Siegfried, it'd be worth it. Though in the first place, should she have chosen to come to Lyon first after all? That way they could've picked up the Dragon Slayer and escaped long before Jeanne Alter would've even gotten close. But then again, she couldn't have known this would happen and Thiers was ultimately closer, making it only the inferior option in hindsight... Ugh. Being a leader was really rough. The one positive she saw in their situation was that between Lemminkäinen, Kiyohime, and her Multi-Appliance, the underground passages were fairly well lit up, so they had no trouble just running through them by following the superbly accurate map. "A left from here, then a right next and we should see him," she guided, and in her usual manner, Mash was quick to move in front of her, taking the turns before any possible surprise could sprung from behind them and harm her.

'

And after the final turn, she let out a gasp. "...There he is!"

'

And indeed, at the end of the strangely well survived pathway, a tall man sat on the floor of a small room, leaning against the wall. "...Ugh!" Upon noticing them, he immediately flinched, trying to stand up. Before saying anything, Ritsuka took note of his unusual condition. He had a blue, faintly glowing sigil on his chest that ran through the entire length of his torso before snaking up his neck, ultimately stopping on his right cheek. And if that wasn't eye catching enough, all around it, spreading to his shoulders and arms, there were sickly black-purple lines, almost like thorny vines that dug into his skin. The Master immediately recognized them as a curse. The only thing keeping them from covering the entire torso was the sigil, as if the two forces were fighting for supremacy over his body. And unfortunately, the curse was winning.

'

As Lemminkäinen got a look at the man as well, he let out the most inappropriately impressed whistle. "Damn, those are some nasty wounds. And cursed ones too."

'

"One after... Another," the man muttered, still struggling to stand. Oh, hell. This was exactly what Ritsuka had been afraid of. She'd need to correct this misunderstanding before-

'

"Hold there, friend," Lemminkäinen grinned while lifting his sword higher to light up the small room. "We're not here to fight you, but to recruit you."

'

"?" The wounded Servant's eyes widened, having clearly not expected such a reaction.

'

With the moment of calm and the appearance of proper lighting, Ritsuka finally got a proper look at the man beside his magical sigils. He was tall and quite muscular with silver-gray hair and green eyes. And that basically confirmed his identity to her. During the talks the Master had offered her, Brynhildr had described Sigurd's appearance in... frankly ludicrous detail, so it was extremely unlikely that this was him. Which meant... "Hello, I'm Ritsuka Repo, and based on your appearance, you must be Siegfried," she introduced herself while slowly walking closer, careful to lower herself to his level in the least threatening way she could manage. The man's surprise grew even greater, but considering that she just knew his True Name like, she couldn't exactly blame him. But, they were also really pressed on time, so she had to make this quick. "I'd really like to explain the situation further, but there are six Servants, a really big dragon and plenty of wyverns heading our way, so a proper conversation will have to wait until we're all in a safe location."

'

"A dragon, huh..." Siegfried muttered. An understanding smile grew on his lips. "...I see. That's why I was summoned into this strange land and then attacked."

'

Ritsuka cheered inside her mind. "Yes, it's your old nemesis. And we need your help in taking it down."

'

Siegfried gave her an approving nod, and started to stand up again. "Understood. I-ghh!" Only to harshly crash back down, making the redhead cringe. It was really helpful that he was this quick to catch on and cooperative to boot, but his condition was about as far from ideal as was possible.

'

"That's a real fierce curse you've got on ya. Must hurt like hell," Lemminkäinen noted before walking up to the man. After motioning Kiyohime to take over the lighting, he offered his hand to him. "Here, lemme help."

'

Taking the offered hand, Siegfried grunted as the Saber pulled him up and kept him standing. "I'm sorry, I owe you one," he muttered.

'

Suddenly, Roman's voice called from the Multi-Appliance. "Hurry, Ritsuka! You're really running low on time!"

'

A reminder that served to get the group stirred up, especially Ritsuka. Just because they found their Dragon Slayer hardly meant that they were out of the woods. They'd still need to escape. Her mind started going through possibilities. No way were they running back out, especially since Siegfried didn't look like he could. And with that in mind, she turned to Lemminkäinen. "Saber, can you get us to the surface?"

'

His grin told her the answer before his words could. "Easily. Keep him standing and move closer to me." As Ritsuka and Mash each took one of Siegfried's arms to reinforce him, Kiyohime kept her flame burning far enough away not to harm them, and all four moved closer to Lemminkäinen, who rubbed his hands together before raising them towards the ceiling.

'

"Nouses kivinen torni maasta,

Meiät ulko ilmaan nosta.

Mutta nousun kulkiessa,

Raotas kattoa kiinteätä,

Jottei letuiksi liiskaannuta."

'

Though his casting was noticeably slower than during his battle against Vlad, the Saber's spell took immediate effect and the area they were standing on rose as a pillar of stone. As they rapidly approached the ceiling, Mash let out a gasp and brought out her shield, only for it to be completely unnecessary as the solid stone parted as easily as plasticine, leaving a hole perfectly fit for their makeshift elevator. And within the next two seconds they were outside, the only sign that they'd literally risen through the earth being the slightly different coloration of the stone they were standing on when compared to the surroundings. "And that's that," Lemminkäinen laughed while wiping his hands, clearly enjoying the surprised expressions from the Servants.

'

"Amazing, Saber!" Mash gasped while looking around. "We reached the surface so quickly!"

'

"Indeed. It would have taken me a while to walk out. You have my thanks," Siegfried nodded gratefully.

'

Kiyohime just huffed, clearly trying to hide her surprise. "Hmph. I suppose Master Ritsuka really does have a good reason for keeping you around."

'

Ritsuka on the other hand, did her best to stifle her laughter. While the spell truly was quite impressive for one done so quickly, way beyond anything she could accomplish, if the others had actually understood the ridiculous wording Lemminkäinen had used, it was unlikely that their praise would be as sincere. But, this really wasn't the time for all of this. "Great work, Saber, but let's hurry back to the others. We don't have a moment to spare."

'

With a quick nod, Mash picked Ritsuka up again, (an act she was getting embarrassingly used to) and dashed towards the direction of the other group with Kiyohime right by their side and Lemminkäinen carrying Siegfried on his back. But only after a few seconds of running they came across an unexpected sight. Thankfully the other group had seemingly also gotten nervous and had actually come to the same side of the river as them. A development Ritsuka was more than pleased with. This meant that they could leave faster. With an audible gasp, Elizabeth was the first to notice them. "What took you guys so long!? We can literally see them coming at this point!"

'

Ritsuka looked at the direction she was pointing at and indeed, the most menacing black dot she'd ever seen was growing larger by the second. "Sorry, but we're here now, so let's ride away as quickly as possible."

'

But Jeanne shook her head, looking as distressed as she did in La Charite. "It's too late! Look!" And as the redhead looked again, there they were: Jeanne Alter and her Enormous Fuck-you Dragon. They'd stopped a short distance away, but were already close enough that she could clearly see them with a bit of strengthening. And to make matters worse, said dragon held its mouth open towards the sky, an obscene amount of magical energy gathering in it. Ritsuka's mind went blank. She'd desperately hoped that Fafnir would be completely disinterested in them like the last time, leading to it sitting out the fight, but that really didn't seem to be an option. There was no way Marie's carriage could outrun that. This was just about the worst case scenario as far as her thoughts could come up with one. The others clearly also understood that, judging by the looks on their faces. Mash in particular looked horrified, making Ritsuka's heart ache.

'

As if completely oblivious to the danger once more, Lemminkäinen let out another inappropriately impressed whistle. "Well, damn. She's seriously tryin' to finish this here and now."

'

A truly astute observation, soon reprised by Dio. "Yeah, Code Red! That breath is packing the magical energy equivalent to a powerful Anti-Army Noble Phantasm! Get all possible defenses up immediately!"

'

Ritsuka felt another bang of guilt running through her heart. No matter how scared she was, they'd need Mash for this. And as if reading her thoughts, the Shielder stepped forward, even as her legs were clearly shaking. "I-I am going out!"

'

Oh, but Ritsuka would not let that slide. "Not by yourself you're not!" And thankfully, Mash didn't need to.

'

Stepping by her side, Jeanne took the Shielder's hand and raised her flagpole with the other. "Mash, we'll do it together!"

'

The fear fading from her face, a slight, grateful smile grew on Mash's lips, her expression now showing some legitimate confidence thanks to the support. "R-Right!"

'

"We're counting on you two. Show Fafnir who's boss!" Ritsuka gave her final, encouraging words, getting confirming nods from the duo. As the black dragon's uplifted maw turned towards them, a shield and a flag were simultaneously raised.

'

"Deploying Noble Phantasm! Lord Chaldeas! [Human Order Foundation]"

'

"My flag, defend my brethren. Luminosité Eternelle! [God is Here With Me]"

'

The golden and light blue light covered the group, and then... just blue. The sound of Fafnir's assault was overwhelming, to the point that Ritsuka felt like her ears would explode from the vibrations. She was holding on to Mash's shoulder, so she could feel her doing her best to hold the flames off, even as her knees threatened to buckle. Jeanne was holding somewhat better, but she too was clearly struggling. And then, after what felt like an eternity but was likely only around ten seconds, the breath stopped. As soon as they felt it was safe, both of the Servants released their Noble Phantasms, relief running through their bodies. Ritsuka immediately helped support Mash, who looked just about ready to collapse. Jeanne still stood, but her breathing was heavy. The redhead was about to ask them if they were alright, but stopped as soon as she got a proper breath in. And nearly fell into a coughing fit. ...In hindsight, she should have expected this with the fire and all, but it had been too chaotic for her to properly think.

'

"You alright!? Can you hear me?" Roman called out, panic clear in his voice. "...S-Say something!" She really didn't want to speak, but considered it just to get him to shut up.

'

Thankfully she didn't need to, judging by the sound of a light smack and Dio's frustrated voice afterwards. "Roman, calm your ass down. You can see that they're fine from the observational instruments. Give them a moment to catch their breaths in the hellhole."

'

Hellhole. Quite a fitting description for their surroundings. To say that the area was completely decimated would be the understatement of the century. Aside from the small portion Mash and Jeanne protected, the ruined city around them had effectively transformed into a flat volcanic crater. The stones making the streets and buildings had melted, and what tiny mounds of it remained were quickly sinking into the molten rock. And because of that, now that the protection of the Noble Phantasms was lifted, the air was hot. Ritsuka was used to breathing hot air due to saunas, but this was on a completely absurd level. It almost felt like drinking boiling water. If it weren't for the protection spells on her mystic codes, she was pretty sure that just breathing the air in would be enough to cook her alive. This whole event also gave her a far more horrific realization. Jeanne Alter didn't really need the wyverns or the Servants. She could literally just blow everything away with Fafnir's breath attack, and nothing would survive. So, that first option was solely being done for the sake of sadism. Either that, or Fafnir was just really petty with what it chose to attack.

'

If she had to guess though, it was the former, seeing how Jeanne Alter was looking down at them with a disgustingly pleased smirk. "Well look at that. Your flag of delusion actually managed to block Fafnir's breath," she cackled, her smirk twisting into a grin that would give Lemminkäinen a run for his money. "But, how long can you hold out?"

'

"Ugh!" Judging by Jeanne's pained expression, she was just as aware of their chances as Ritsuka. If the worst came to pass, they had it in them to block one more shot like that, which would drain her to the point of passing out, and then it was game over. By the minor increases of magical energy behind her, the Master could tell that some of the other Servants were getting ready to fight. It was infuriating, but if each of them went all out, some of them might be able to escape. That would be necessary, seeing how a short distance behind the giant beast, a swarm of wyverns were approaching. And with them, more Servants. Since it was her idea that had led to this outcome, Ritsuka would've happily given her everything to let the others escape, but she lacked that luxury. As the last Master of Chaldea, she had to survive no matter what...

'

"...I was wondering what you found, turns out it's just another dying Servant. Very well, you can all die together!" Sneering at the group below her, Jeanne Alter gave her command: "Now, incinerate them all, Faf-!" ...Only to stop, looking completely baffled. And it only took a second for Ritsuka to figure out why. It was because of her mount, Fafnir. It was staring at them intently. No. Not at them. Just a single individual among them. And that individual was scaring the beast. "...Fafnir is trembling... That Servant, could it be-?"

'

And then, one of the rising magical energy signatures jumped far above the others, gaining gasps from those around it. "It's been a while Evil Dragon Fafnir. If you've resurrected, I will send you back to your slumber..." Ritsuka, Mash and Jeanne all turned around in disbelief. It was Siegfried. Despite his horrific wounds, he walked past the gawking women as his magical energy kept rising, a massive sword now materializing in his hands. With a thunderous voice, he pointed the blade at wide-eyed Fafnir. "Hear me, One Who Rules the Blue Sky! My name is Siegfried! He who once defeated thee!" Then, grasping the blade with both of his hands, the Saber held it in front of him and twisted the hilt. A torrent of blue energy like a hurricane burst forth from the sword, pushing everyone back a few steps. Ritsuka could hardly believe what she was seeing. Even in his awful state, Siegfried still had enough strength left to fire off his Noble Phantasm!? "Noble Phantasm, release! I will bring you down! Balmung! [Phantasmal Greatsword - Feller of the Sky Demon]"

'

As Siegfried brought down the sword, it released a flash of light, a surging wave with the simple purpose of destruction. Ritsuka had no doubt that this magnificent force was what had caused that giant trench outside the city. And now, it was aimed straight at the dragon flying above them. Looking absolutely terrified and seeing no way to block the attack, Jeanne Alter jumped off her mount in a hurry, only to get tossed aside like a leaf caught in a storm as the wave of energy collided with Fafnir, completely hiding it from sight. And within the few following seconds...

'

BOOOMM

'

Fafnir crashed into the ground on his back with enough force to nearly knock Ritsuka over, but she didn't mind it too much. After all, that just proved that she wasn't just seeing things. Like Siegfried had stated, the great dragon had just been brought down. A silence fell over the area, as everyone just stared in disbelief at what had transpired. And if there was anyone still doubting, Dio's excited cheer convinced them that this was real. "Oh shit! A straight up OHKO!?"

'

Ritsuka felt so relieved that she almost fell to her knees, the only thing stopping her being that the solid stone ground would really hurt them. So instead, she just let out a laugh and gave Mash a quick hug, one that she was still too shocked to return. She heard some cheers from behind her, mostly from Marie, and Jeanne turned to her with a smile while Siegfried still stood there unmovingly. The situation had done a complete one-eighty in an instant. The wyverns and the Servants riding them had all stopped, staring in complete bewilderment at the fallen beast. But, there was one person who was neither happy nor shocked. Rather, she was absolutely irate. "Dammit! Fafnir, climb up now!" Jeanne Alter screamed as she ran to her fallen mount. The Dragon Witch looked just about ready to explode at any moment.

'

But then, without warning, the longsword faded from Siegfried's hands as he fell to his knees, arms struggling to keep him from falling face-first into the ground as he gasped for breath. "Sorry... This is-huff... the best I can do. Ghh-Get out of here... before they get a chance to recover..."

'

As Jeanne rushed to assist him, Ritsuka took a thorough look at their situation. Fafnir was down for the count and the rest of their foes were extremely disoriented. This was technically a chance to finish this war for good. But... No. It wasn't worth the risk. Their chances were higher than before, but still far too low for her liking. They'd need to regroup and get Siegfried fixed up before they could truly end this. With that in mind, Ritsuka pointed in the direction opposite from their enemies and shouted: "Everyone, let's retreat while we can!"

'

As the Servants on the redhead's side rushed to do just that, Jeanne Alter screamed like a banshee: "Like hell!" A noise that finally snapped all her forces from their shock and caught their attention, and she immediately directed them towards their new goal. "Listen up, Servants! That 'Dragon Slayer' is the prize. Concentrate on getting him. This time, finish them off for good."

'

As Marie materialized her carriage and Mash moved in front of Ritsuka with her shield, the Master took note of the approaching enemies and immediately noticed the difference in comparison to La Charite. Instead of the earlier black variants, most of the other Servants were now riding on grayish blue wyverns with glowing red eyes. And if Ritsuka had to guess, they were even stronger than the other ones. Great... In addition to the old foes, there were also two new Servants, a white haired man in a black long coat and a fog-covered figure, with the former seeming like an Assassin almost identical to Carmilla in strength, down to a D Rank Presence Concealment. While he would more than likely have some sly tricks up his sleeves, as far as enemy danger levels were concerned, he seemed to be fairly low at the moment. But, a far bigger concern was the other newcomer, that black... knight? Honestly, she couldn't tell. She was fairly sure she could see some armor through all that... mess, but that was all. She couldn't get anything else out of it. It was like she was looking at a real life off-focus photograph. This was more than likely an effect of a Skill or Noble Phantasm that allowed the knight to obscure their skills and appearance. But whatever it was, it was really starting to irritate Ritsuka's eyes, so she moved her attention back to the others. "Jeanne, please get Siegfried to Marie's carriage! Everyone else, help us stop the assault!"

'

As the Ruler picked up Siegfried and ran towards the carriage with ease despite the hilarious difference in size, the other Servants, minus Mozart, all moved to face the approaching enemy. But, the one stepping right by Ritsuka's side was Lemminkäinen. "Damn, this sure is a lot of enemies..." he muttered before giving his Master a glance. She immediately understood what he was asking, and nodded in confirmation.

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"Go for it, Saber."

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A grin split his lips to such a degree that Ritsuka got worried he might literally split them. And without another word, Lemminkäinen stepped forward, moving in front of all the other Servants. He was more than likely miffed that Siegfried got to steal his thunder in taking out Fafnir, but right now she didn't care about his motivations. All that mattered to her was that he could get this done. The Saber raised his blade with both hands, moving it into a swinging position, and his magical energy surged. Not to the same level as Siegfried, but still to the point that Ritsuka felt her skin crawl from the sheer power output. And as the wyverns with the Servants on their backs charged, far too late to stop at this point, he was ready. "Flare up, my blade, and show them the flames of Hiisi! Tuliterä! [The Blazing Sword of the Fiery Hero]"

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As he spoke the True Name, the golden eagle at the hilt of the sword came to life. Its ruby eyes glowing brightly as the beak holding on to the blade opened even so slightly, unleashing its full firepower. When used normally, the sword had a versatile effect of being able to emit fire from any part of the blade with great efficiency, allowing it to be used in all kinds of attacks, even ones that would normally be impossible like rapid change of direction. But, what if all of that firepower was instead concentrated to a single point, in a single direction? The result should've been obvious, but seeing it in person, not to mention so suddenly, would be enough to surprise even the most battle hardened Servant. Much like with Fafnir's breath, a massive surge of heat took over the area as the sword Lemminkäinen held released its blaze. Instead of something akin to a flamethrower as one might expect, the greatest flame his sword produced was more like a giant blowtorch. It was as if the entire blade of his sword had turned to fire and grew to about 20 meters in length. Unlike the giant wave of energy Siegfried's Balmung unleashed, this attack couldn't wipe out an entire army in a single swing. But, it could completely annihilate anything that stood within its range. With reflexes that surpassed those of the wyverns, the enemy Servants looked at the weapon in shock, and as soon as Lemminkäinen started his swing, they all rushed to escape. A single strike from a sword. A single swing from a blade of fire 20 meters in length. In one fraction of a second, the wyverns were charging. On the second, they were cleanly sliced through. And on the third, they burst into flames like flies that flew into a fire. The attack was just that: A single swing. It ended in an instant. Far too fast for a normal human brain to comprehend. And yet, despite its suddenness, a dozen black wyverns and some of the bluish gray ones were gone, just like that. Their charred remains fell on the ground as another shocked silence within the last few minutes fell. Again, both the enemy and ally Servants were staring with clear surprise at the Saber. Ritsuka would have been too, had she not insisted on Lemminkäinen showing the Noble Phantasm to her while still in Chaldea.

'

However, the man himself seemed quite displeased with the result, frowning lightly at the remaining enemy Servants. "Hmm. All of them are pretty quick. I only got the wyverns and singed some skin and clothes." As Ritsuka followed his gaze, she sadly had to agree. Since the attack was a swing, it naturally hit some targets before the others, giving the ones further away more time to react. The ones closest to the start of the swing on the right had taken some damage. Vlad had lost an arm and both of Carmilla's legs were badly burned, but the others seemed perfectly fine aside from some smoking clothes and the clear surprise. The Master felt a frown twisting her lips as well. She'd hoped that his Noble Phantasm would at least kill one of them, but no such luck. If only they'd all been even a bit closer, giving them less time to react. To make matters worse, the enemy now knew about Saber's Noble Phantasm, letting them plan ahead while fighting him. But still, it wasn't all for nothing, seeing how the enemy just lost a large number of their powerful mounts. And with that in mind...

'

"We're starting our tactical retreat!" Ritsuka yelled, and the Servants by her sprung into action. Mash immediately grabbed her and dashed for the carriage, landing on the roof as the rest of the Servants grabbed on where they could. Marie's crystal horses both neighed loudly (she wasn't even going to ask how) and charged forward, surpassing fifty kilometers per hour in a second and only kept accelerating. The redhead looked back and much to her frustration, their enemies were already beginning their pursuit. Saber's Noble Phantasm had only shocked them for a moment, but it hadn't scared them to not follow them. With that in mind, she turned to Marie, who for once was actually on the driver's seat instead of the inside. "Marie, please give it everything you've got!"

'

An excited smile on her lips, the Rider gave her a wink. "You've got it, Ritsuka!"

'

As the horses accelerated further and rushed to a stone road leading away from Lyon, Ritsuka took a quick look at their positions. Lemminkäinen was shooting his bow at some of the chasing wyverns, Kiyohime and Elizabeth were both holding on the back, Jeanne was peeking through one of the doors, and Mozart... Was just sitting in there... She really should've expected that. But in that case... "Amadeus!" She yelled, catching the Caster's attention. "...Please stay in there and look after Siegfried!" It was practically the only task she could count him on, and he was clearly aware of that, judging by the happy thumbs-up he gave her. And in response...

'

"I apologize for being such a dead weight..." came a somber show of remorse from the carriage, getting a groan from Lemminkäinen.

'

"Man, you really need to stop apologizing so much," he noted while sniping at the wyverns. But as he targeted one of the ones carrying a Servant, all of his shots got deflected by the misty knight. Both Ritsuka and Lemminkäinen grit their teeth. This new guy was good. He had a long weapon of some kind that was optimal for protecting his wyvern from the arrows, letting it chase their group without worrying about them. The other two Servants had directed their wyverns behind the knight, thus protecting themselves as well. It'd take some time, but with their current pace they'd definitely catch up eventually. It seemed that a fight was inevitable.

'

"Marie, please don't slow down unless directly asked to! We need to get some distance between us and the rest of them!" she instructed the Rider as they raced through the forest. After they'd put said distance to cut the foes off from reinforcements and gotten to some more favorable terrain, then they'd engage the chasing Servants. It would be rough against three of them at once, but with Siegfried on their side to defeat Fafnir later, they were too close to victory to lose now.

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Notes:

It's here! And only a day late!

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But hi, long time no see to the crowd that doesn't read the updates. This chapter was overall pretty rough, since my writing pace has been all over the place due to skewl starting. So sorry about that.

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On to the chapter proper. Not too much to say about this one, but yeah, no unnecessary overwork for Roman in this universe. Honestly, if Da Vinci and Dio didn't take care of that, Nightingale would eventually.

Now, as I'm sure that everyone has noticed, Kiyohime and Elizabeth both showed up early. Why? Well, given the locations, I just thought it'd make the story flow better. Plus, this gives them both a bit more screentime, mostly on the next chapter. But yeah, you also probably noticed that I didn't have Kiyohime be completely infatuated with Ritsuka right off the bat. As for that, well, just give it a few chapters. "Ritsuka could only hope that they would get along well in the future." *And the monkey's paw curls its finger.

Also, poor Phantom, lmao. Not that he was going to have a bigger role, but I was going to make his fight just a bit more detailed originally. That was a part I had to streamline to get the story out just a bit sooner, but you didn't loose much. It was mostly going to be just him getting rekt. He might have Madness Enhancement boost, but the poor guy was still just hilariously outnumbered and outgunned.

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As for Lemminkäinen, yeah, that was the Bridling of Hiisi's Fiery Gelding from Kalevala. It was mostly the same, but I added a bit of extra trauma for the horse, seeing how terrifying a hailstorm from hell like that would be. Also, the horse has like 90% extra sass in my version lol. If you want some more details on the man, the World Revisions-thingie has it. I haven't updated it at the moment this chapter goes live, but I'm still doing it today, so look through his profile for those [NEW] points.

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Hopefully next chapter doesn't take as long to come out. It'll overall be a bit more chill one, aside from the fight at the beginning.

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And as always, don't forgor to liek, cament 'nd subscribulate.

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Next time: [Preparations for the Showdown]