The thirty minutes passed in the blink of an eye and before I knew it, we were all once again standing at the base of Mt Enzou. I could feel the tension in the air; we all were waiting for Archer to start attacking like last time; however, the seconds ticked by, and no arrows were fired.
"Why isn't Archer attacking like last time?" Mash asked.
"Because there is no point," Caster replied, "not only did you escape his first attack, but you also survived and defeated Lancer. Add me to the equation, and he's not going to waste time trying to shoot us from a distance when he knows that we'll be able to block it."
"So instead, he is waiting till we reach the top to ambush us?" Marie theorised out loud.
"Sounds like something he'd do. For an Archer, he has the mindset of an assassin," Caster replied.
"But wouldn't that put Archer at a disadvantage?" Fujimaru asked.
"And why would he be at a disadvantage?" Caster asked in reply, turning to look at Fujimaru.
"Because you know," Fujimaru mimed firing a bow, "he's an archer."
I heard Marie sigh in exasperation before she spoke up. "Just because a servant is an Archer doesn't mean they are restricted to weapons and skills of that class."
Hearing an "ohhh" of understanding from Fujimaru, I got everyone's attention. "I think we've wasted enough time. Come on, let's end this." I started up the stairs and heard the rest following behind me. I was about to ask Mash to take the lead and guard us against any surprises; however, she beat me to it by speeding up to walk ahead of me, shield up and eyes peeled as we walked. She looked back, and I nodded in thanks, to which she smiled back before she focused back on the stairs ahead.
The climb was long but uneventful. With the weight of the confrontation ahead making everyone silent, I tried to think of a strategy to deal with King Arthur. I immediately scrapped having Richard counter Excalibur with his own; Richard's own Excalibur wouldn't measure up to the genuine article. The only other plan that came to mind was having Richard engage Arthur at close range and hunker behind Mash when he goes for Excalibur.
I voiced my plan to the group as we climbed and received murmurs of agreement in reply. "It's probably the best plan we have at the moment," Marie agreed.
"I'll do my best, Sempai!" Mash exclaimed ahead of me, her voice filled with determination.
We all fell silent again and carried on climbing. And climbing. And climbing.
"Are the monks that live here professional athletes?" I questioned in my head, my body starting to ache from the constant climbing. I looked back to check on the other human members of our group to check on how they were handling the climb.
As I expected, Marie was handling the stairs as she did anything, suffering in silence and pushing on. The only giveaway was the sweat on her brow and the exhaustion in her eyes. As for Fujimaru….
"Pant…pant…are we there…yet?" she asked exhaustedly, just barely dragging her feet up each step. As much as I wanted to give the girl some rest, we couldn't afford any more delays.
Slowing down to let her catch up with me, I looped her arm over my shoulder and half-carried her the rest of the way. "You…don't have to…carry me, Sempai", Fujimaru tried to protest, but I ignored her and kept climbing.
Eventually, the stairs ended, and we found ourselves at a clearing with two distinct paths. "The path on the left leads to the temple itself; we're heading to the right. That one leads to the cavern where the Grail is," Caster spoke, directing our gaze with his staff.
"This is it," I thought ".There's no turning back now." I looked at Fujimaru, her arm still looped around my neck. "You going to be okay from here?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks, Sempai." She slid her arm from my shoulder and stood on her own again. She took a moment to get her balance before she stared at the path leading to the Grail. "So, we head that way, right? So, what are we waiting for?" She asked, her voice full of obvious false bravado and made to take the first step.
Before she could, Caster grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and pulled her back just in time for an arrow to hit nothing but air. Immediately, my wand was in my hand as I searched the clearing for Archer's position.
"Tch, I was hoping to get at least one of you," a voice echoed in annoyance. My eyes were drawn to an area between the two paths as what could only be Archer materialised. The servant was a tanned man with white hair and silver eyes. He was dressed in an armoured chest plate, red waist cloth, weirdly modern trousers and boots for a hero of ancient legend.
"Well, if it isn't the disciple himself," Caster exclaimed, walking between us and Archer, his staff at the ready.
"I don't recall becoming a disciple," Archer replied, "but I can at least chase off any unwanted visitors."
"A gatekeeper then," Caster taunted. "I don't know why Saber needs protecting, but let's end this now," Caster challenged. Archer merely snorted in amusement and raised his left arm, materialising a bow as he did. The bow was nearly as tall as Archer and, just like his clothing, was more modern than I was expecting. A glow from his right hand drew my attention, and I saw….
"….a sword?" I exclaimed in surprise.
I wasn't the only one, as I heard everyone other than Caster let out confused sounds at Archer's bizarre action. The sword in his hand glowed to my surprise, was warped into the shape of an arrow. Realising what was coming, I tried to cast a barrier. However, Archer had already aimed the bow.
Archer let the sword/arrow loose at tremendous speed, a Protego on the tip of my tongue. Mash was moving to shield Fujimaru and Marie, and Richard had drawn his sword. However, it was all unnecessary.
"Eihwaz!" Caster's voice echoed throughout the clearing, and in response to his voice, the sword/arrow burst into flames and disintegrated into nothing. "Getting ahead of yourself there, you can't just attack the Master right off the bat," Caster mocked, "you have to get through the servant first!" he yelled, drawing runes with his free hand in the air, which launched at Archer.
Archer reacted quickly and leapt out of the way of the fireballs, landing in front of the temple path. "Don't just stand there, go! Saber is down the other path, deep in the cavern," Caster shouted at us, his eyes never looking away from Archer.
"Understood. Come on, everyone, this way," Marie ordered as she started running down the path to the cave. Following Marie, I grabbed a reluctant Fujimaru and pulled her along; looking back, I saw Richard and Mash bringing up the rear. Even further back, I saw Caster and Archer staring each other down.
"Are you sure we shouldn't help him?" Fujimaru asked, pulling her arm free from my grasp.
"Caster said he'd be able to handle Archer himself. Besides, we need all the power we can spare even to have a chance against King Arthur," Marie answered from the front.
"Is Arthur really that strong?"
"Yes, Arthur Pendragon would be a sure-fire win in a normal grail war," Mash explained. "His sword, Excalibur, is one of the greatest swords in human history. That, alongside his fame, makes him a top-class servant."
"Fame affects a servant's strength?" Fujimaru asked.
"It does," I answered, "the more famous a servant, the more a boost their stats get. For example, you know of Heracles, yes?"
"Of course I do. Everyone does," Fujimaru answered with a roll of her eyes.
"Exactly. However, does the name Paracelsus mean anything to you?" I continued to ask. Fujimaru cupped her chin in her hands as she tried to answer my question.
"No, I don't think so," Fujimaru answered, shaking her head.
"That's because Paracelsus is only known in England, specifically within magical communities," I explained. I was going to explain more but was interrupted by Marie.
"We're here."
And indeed, we were. While I was teaching Fujimaru, the path we were walking led to an opening in the mountain. Unbidden memories of the cavern were Dumbledore, and I found the fake locket rose to the forefront of my mind.
Hopefully, no Inferi are waiting for us, I thought. Looking at the others, I could see the weight of what we were about to do sitting on their shoulders. Fujimaru looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here, wringing her hands and looking around like a cornered animal. In contrast, Marie was stoic or tried to be if the nervous swallowing was any indication.
Looking over at our two Servants, Richard was determined; no doubt or hesitation was betrayed on his face. On the other hand, Mash looked like she was facing the end of the world, trying not to panic by taking deep breaths. Noticing Mash's near state of panic, Richard walked over to her and gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder.
"We ready?" I asked aloud, getting everyone's attention. A mix of shaky nods and a confident hmm was the response, and deciding that was the best I would get, I stepped into the cavern.
The walk through the cavern was uneventful; there were no traps or enemies to hinder us as we descended. As we walked, I started to feel a tingling on my skin. I looked back to ask Marie what it was but was beaten to the punch.
"We're close," Marie said aloud, "that tingling sensation you're probably feeling is from the amount of power the Holy Grail has. Not surprising from a wish-granting device."
"What!? The Grail can grant wishes?" Fujimaru exclaimed in surprise.
"Did I forget to mention that?" Marie asked.
"Yes!" Fujimaru shouted, "you also knew." She accused, pointing her finger at me.
"I did," I admitted, "I didn't mention it because it wasn't important. We're not here to use the Grail; just retrieve it."
Fujimaru opened her mouth to protest, then stopped, closed her mouth and crossed her arms in a huff. "I'll accept it this time, but I don't want to be kept in the dark next time," she grumbled.
"Of course, we only did this time because we were short on time and didn't have time for questions. Once we are back at Chaldea, I'll teach you whatever you want to know," I apologised. Fujimaru stared at me with narrowed eyes before she nodded in acceptance.
Before the discussion could continue, the path suddenly widened into a massive cave. An ominous purple glow emanated from the centre of a small plateau. And standing at the edge of the plateau stood an armoured figure.
King Arthur, I thought. It was difficult to see in the poor light of the cave, but Arthur was shorter than I expected. His armour was also different for such a noble hero, coloured pitch black and trailing into….a dress? I puzzled.
Seemingly sensing our presence or hearing our conversation echoes, the diminutive figure turned to look down at us. The reasoning for the armoured dress became clear. I looked at the undeniable feminine face, yellow eyes gazing impassively down at us.
I struggled to voice my shock at this reveal, but luckily Fujimaru had no such difficulties. "KING ARTHUR IS A GIRL?!" she yelled out in surprise.
This chapter took a while, and for that, I'm sorry.