"I'm not gonna lie, sounds like you all are in some deep shit." Caster responded with a frown to the information provided before shrugging in a seemingly uncaring manner. "Then again I've got my own shit to deal with here too."
Roxas could nod in agreement with a shocked look at the explanation. The entirety of humanity erased, just like that? Sure, Heartless were able to cause a world to fall into darkness, but it wasn't exactly something that just happened, it took time for them to do it.
Not to mention having to deal with singularities all through out history. Man is he glad Heartless can't travel through time, that would just add an entirely new level of complications and trouble.
"Honored Heroic Spirit." Romani started. "We would appreciate it-"
"Who even is this weakling you've got with you?" Caster said as he squinted his eyes at Romani. "Seriously, I don't really care all that much for grand standing."
"E-Eh?" Romani recoiled as though he was physically struck.
"That was little harsh, wasn't it?" Roxas said.
Caster shrugged. "I've got important things to do and people to kill."
"W-Weakling... I've been called a weakling by someone I've never met before." Romani slumped in his chair, downcast. After a few moments he took a deep breath before and looking at Caster. "Anyways Caster, I'd like to confirm somethings with you."
"Go for it."
"According to our records, you were a Servant summoned into a Holy Grail War of which you were also the only Survivor, correct?" Romani questioned.
"I was, until everyone came back." Caster grunted.
"What?!" Olga yelled in shock.
"Holy Grail War?" Roxas couldn't help but question.
Mash decided to be the one to explain it. "Ah, you see Roxas-san, the Holy Grail is a vessel of great magical energy which can grant the wish of whoever holds it. The main reason Heroic Spirits are summoned are to participate in a ritual where seven Heroic Spirits fight and slay each other in order to obtain a wish from the Grail. That is the Holy Grail War." She explained as Ritsuka listened closely, wanting to know what it was as well.
"So... The main reason Servants get called is to fight and kill other Servants for a single wish." Roxas spoke slowly as he summarized the information.
Caster raised an eyebrow. "Why do you sound more concerned about the part with Servants killing each other than the part about getting an actual Wish?"
"Let's just say I've seen a lot of things and leave it at that for now." Roxas told them, deciding to wait to tell them about the genie he met until they were at a safer place than a ruined building in the middle of a burning city.
"...We are going to put a pin in that for later but back to you!" Olga turned to Caster. "What do you mean the Servants came back?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Everyone else got died, I survived, but before I could get the Grail weird shit started happening and the Servants all got resurrected, starting with Saber." Caster explained. "Then Saber started the Grail War up again and corrupted the other Servants except for me."
"She... corrupted them?"
"Yep, after coming back Saber beat them and used some weird mud from the grail and turned them into her minions. At least Berserker managed to injure Saber pretty badly during their fight." Caster explained. "She should still be healing with the grail."
"If you know Saber's injured, then why haven't you gone to beat them while weakened?" Roxas asked.
"Well even though she was hurt pretty badly, she's probably healed a bit and even then I'd have trouble against them even if they're weakened." Caster ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Which sucks because I would be able to take them on at full power if I had my spear!"
"Huh?" Romani's voice cut in. "Spear? Caster, you could've been summoned as a Lancer?"
Caster blinked. "Wait, did I not tell you who I am yet?"
At the blank stares and head shakes he rubbed the back of his neck. "Huh, Weird. Could've sworn I told you already." He muttered before throwing his arms out wide. "I'm Cu Chulainn!"
"Cu Chulainn?!" Romani exclaimed in shock.
Roxas tilted his head. "Who?"
"The greatest hero of the Ulster Cycle in Irish mythology who wielded the demonic spear Gae Bolg! If he was summoned as a Lancer then he'd undoubtedly be a top tier Heroic Spirit!"
Cu gave the doctor a blank look. "Thanks for reminding me of my shit luck." He drawled and Romani paled as he shrank away and gave a sheepish look.
"What about all the people in the city?" Roxas asked. "We haven't seen a single other person that wasn't a Servant. Don't Servants need Masters to stick around?"
"About the same time as the other Servants coming back, all the humans in the city disappeared. Probably another problem from the Grail ad so long as Saber has it, the war will never end." Caster explained with a serious look.
"This Saber. It sounds as thought you know their identity, there aren't many Heroic Spirits stronger than you." Olga pointed out and Caster nodded.
"Anyone who's heard of their legend will recognize them once they see their Noble Phantasm."
"What is a Noble Phantasm anyways?" Roxas couldn't help but question despite the tense atmosphere.
"A Noble Phantasm is the crystallized legend of a Heroic Spirit, Roxas-san. It is the most well known part of their legend, such as a weapon or a feat they achieved in life." Mash explained.
"That's right, and Saber's is one of the most well known. The holy sword said to promise victory, Excalibur." Caster stated, shocking everyone except Roxas who merely looked at everyone confused.
Already recognizing the pattern with Roxas, Caster continued. "The protagonist of the famous Arthurian Legends and the King of Knights, King Arthur. With the Holy Sword Excalibur in hand, they're one of the strongest Heroic Spirits."
Roxas nodded with a serious look on his face. Even without knowing a lot about his legend, to labeled as one of the strongest Heroic Spirits and have the title 'King of Knights', it didn't take a genius to tell they were extremely powerful.
"Which is where you come in." Cu Chulainn suddenly said, catching their attention. "See I didn't help you for no reason. I need to defeat Saber to end this war, but I'll have too much trouble fighting her alone. But with your help, we'll have a better chance at beating her." He explained and Roxas narrowed his eyes, yet another person who helped because they want something from him.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Olga glared. "Telling us you helped us because you want our help in return and expecting us to just go along with it?!"
"You do realize we have the same goal of beating Saber and taking the Grail, right?" Cu sighed.
"Now hold on, he seems like a sane Heroic Spirit so we should at least hear him-" Romani started to say before the connection got cut off.
"Seriously?" Roxas couldn't help but question the timing of that.
"What should we do Senpai?" Mash questioned as she watched in concern "The Director seems to have lost her cool."
Ritsuka cupped her chin. "...Yeah, first, we gotta do this..." She muttered before walking up to Cu. "Cu Chulainn?"
"Huh?" Cu looked over to the Master.
Then, to everyone's surprise, she bowed and held out her hand. "Thank you so much for saving us. We'll be in your care."
"Wha-?!" Olga stared in shock.
Roxas was surprised by her willingness to trust him just like that after he admitted to helping them only because he needed their help in return. Sure he was thankful for the save but he still would've been a bit suspicious after what Cu admitted, an image of a certain boy with brown hair and blue eyes flashed through his mind as he thought about Ritsuka's actions. 'Hopefully she doesn't get in to as many crazy messes.'
Oh who is he kidding, he knows how this goes and it's only gonna get crazier.
"Hahaha... That's a good greeting, kid." Cu smiled before taking Ritsuka's hand. "You'll be taking care of me too, Master."
"Eh?" All of other occupants in the room said.
Cu just smirked. "I'll be in need of your support so from here on out I'll treating you as my Master."
He then got up and started to head towards the door. "Where do you think you're going?!" Olga shouted.
Cu turned to look at them over his shoulder. "To Saber's lair of course. Can't beat her if you don't know where she is."
"There, that's where Saber should be holed up." Cu pointed to the distance.
Ritsuka squinted at what he was pointing at. "A mountain?"
"Well, under the mountain technically." Cu shrugged. "But yeah, underneath is a cave where the Grail resides along with Saber."
Suddenly everyone felt the ground rumble.
"What was that?" Roxas immediately brought out his Keyblades.
"Shit." Caster muttered. "I thought he would be on the other side of the city."
"Who would be on the other side of the city?" Mash questioned as she immediately positioned herself right next to Ritsuka and Olga.
"There's a Servant Signature coming right towards you!" Romani called out as something burst through a nearby wall.
A tall figure stood where the wall was, it was bulky and appeared to have large muscles and wielded what looked like some sort of sword. However it appeared as though it's body was made from darkness and possessed red, glowing eyes and lacked any other feature. To Roxas, it looked pretty similar to a Heartless except for the fact it didn't have their signature piercing yellow eyes.
"That would be Berserker." CU readied his staff.
"A Shadow Servant!" Romani called out. "It's usually formed when the summoning is incomplete or flawed, but don't be fooled, it's still dangerous!"
The Shadow Servant let out an inhuman roar before charging towards the Chaldean group at great speeds, certainly faster than you'd expect from something of that size. Roxas quickly raised his Keyblades and clashed with Berseker's sword, both pushing against each other in seemingly even contest of strength.
"Move!" Caster called out and with a hard push, Roxas pushed Berserker away and jumped back as Berserker was engulfed by a ball of fire.
As quickly as they appeared, the flames were dispersed with a swing of Berserker's sword as it roared and lunged towards Mash. Mash barely having time to raise her shield to block the brunt of the blow as she was sent flying into a wall.
"Mash!" Roxas called out before Berserker swung it's sword at him. He quickly managed to avoid it and get behind the Shadow Servant and impale it through the chest.
Berserker roared in pain as it turned around, slamming it's fist into Roxas and sending him flying into the building.
"Roxas!" Rituska looked on in worry.
Roxas managed to quickly pull himself out of the whole and shook his head. "I"m fine! Focus on Berserker!"
Caster slammed his staff onto the ground and a magic circle appeared on the ground below Berserker's feet before roots sprouted out and wrapped themselves around Berserker. The Shadow Servant swiftly ripped itself free and raised it's sword to crush Cu Chulainn.
But the blow never came as Berserker noticed it's arm felt lighter and checked it to find out it was missing, courtesy of Roxas. The Nobody then swung Oblivion right into it's face and knocked it back before coating his blades in light and wailing on the injured Shadow Servant. With one final slash, Roxas decapitated the Berserker and it's body disappeared.
Cu whistled. "Nice job kid. Honestly thought he was going to be tougher."
Roxas grunted as he got back up before turning to the others. "You okay Mash?"
Mash, looking no worse for wear, nodded. "Yes, I have received minimal injuries!" She stated before looking slightly down cast. "Although I do wish I was able to assist more."
"Hey, you've only been in like 2 Servant fights so far. I'm sure you'll get your time to shine eventually, for now though you do a great job at keeping them safe." Roxas reassured the Shielder who gave a small smile in thanks.
"Now then, I think that's enough distractions. Let's get to Saber's hideout and take her down." Caster said as he continued walking.
"So, this is the gate?" Roxas questioned as they came up to a large gate at the mountain.
"Yeah." Caster mumbled with a serious look on his face. 'I don't get it. We haven't seen him yet, so he must still be around. But where?'
"Look out!" A shout shook Caster out of his thoughts as he turned to see Roxas fire spheres of light to shoot down several weapons of different kinds heading towards them as Mash blocked whatever stray weapons came for the Masters.
"I'm impressed you managed to counter my weapons." A voice called out as everyone focused on the one who fired all those weapons. It was a man with short white hair, tan skin, darkened yellow eyes and red veins on the left side of his face and his left arm. His body armor consisted of a sleeveless black shirt with silver trimming, seemingly highlighting his muscles as well as black pants, boots and gauntlets.
"So Saber's disciple has finally decided to show himself." Cu glared at the man.
"I do not remember becoming a disciple. I am merely doing my job and keeping out guests." The man said impassively, but there was still an underlying tone in his otherwise emotionless voice.
Roxas resisted the urge to growl at the way the man acted. 'He's like Saix!' Quite frankly that only made him dislike the man more. "'Keeping guests out'? What kind of security guard are you?!"
The man narrowed his eyes at the boy, even with his Servant nature, there was something unusual about him. He didn't sense the use of any magecraft or magic circuits when the boy shot down his projectiles. Then there were those weapons, aside from the obvious unusual shape of them and the power coming from them, he wasn't able to get any details on it with his ability.
"One who hates wasting time." He materialized his bow in his left hand and, oddly enough, a sword in his right hand before the sword transformed into a drill-like weapon.
Roxas glared. "That makes two of us." Suddenly thirteen pillars of light surrounded Archer. The Servant of The Bow's eyes widened as he jumped into the air to avoid the pillars closing in on him.
Roxas took advantage of this and charged at the man, running up the wall and jumping into the air towards Archer. Roxas swung down Oblivon as Archer projected a pair of black and white short swords to block and were shattered upon impact.
Archer kicked Roxas in the face in the face and sent the Nobody flying away before Roxas fixed himself and landed on his feet. He briefly turned back to see Mash, Ritsuka and Olga weren't there and most likely went inside. He glanced back in time to see Archer charging at him and striking with his blades.
Raising Oathkeeper, Roxas parried the first strike and then parried the second with Oblivion before countering and shattering Archer's blades once more when he tried to block. Archer projected another pair of swords but jumped away to avoid an explosion from Caster.
"You are really something else kid!" Caster laughed as he appeared beside Roxas.
"Did you forget I'm a Servant too? Besides, I've already fought plenty of powerful things in life and a Servant won't be much different." Roxas retorted.
Before Cu could say anything they felt the ground rumble a bit. "Looks like they encountered Saber." He said with serious look on his face.
Roxas glanced at the entrance in concern. "What do you think her chances are against Saber?"
"Not to be rude to her but I don't like them." Caster said before nodding to the entrance. "You go on ahead and help them, I'll deal with this prick."
Suddenly dozens of weapons appeared in midair and launched themselves at the duo. Caster pushed Roxas away as he created a rune in the air just before the weapons made impact.
"I fired off that many swords, and you blocked them with one defensive rune." Archer commented as he approached Caster.
Caster turned his head towards Roxas and shouted. "Go!"
Roxas nodded and sped off towards the cave to find and help the others. Feeling the ground shake again he increased his effort and moved faster into the cave.
He was already able to feel Darkness as a Nobody but now as a Servant he could also sense magical energy too, and he could feel a lot of both up ahead.
When he finally reached an opening he found a large room as well as the source of the magical energy. A girl with pale skin and pale blonde hair in black armor was firing a massive blast of dark colored energy at Mash who struggled to hold the shield up against the overwhelming blast with Olga and Ritsuka right behind her.
Roxas' eyes widened and he was about to jump in before Ritsuka did something unexpected. 'What is she doing?! ' He mentally yelled as he watched Ritsuka come up next to Mash and place her hand on Mash's on the shield.
Suddenly the shield emitted a bright light which grew brighter as it formed a wall which slowly pushed the stream back back before repelling it completely as the group were revealed with the wall of light protecting it.
'Oh, so that's a Noble Phantasm.' Roxas watched in awe.
The girl with the sword raised her sword again. "Excalibur..."
"What?!" Olga stared in shock.
"A-Again...?" Mash muttered.
Saber never finished her attack as she turned to parry a thrown Oblivion before her head snapped upwards, Roxas having swung Oathkeeper up after using Oblivionas a distraction. Before Saber could recover Roxas coated his Keyblades in light and unleashed a flurry of attacks before landing one last attack across Saber's face and knocking her back several feet.
"Roxas!" Ritsuka exclaimed in a mixture of shock and relief.
"T-Thank you for assisting me once again Roxas-san." Mash thanked the Avenger.
"Hey, if weren't for you I would've made it too late." Roxas told the Shielder before turning back to the enemy Servant.
"That is quite the weapon you have there." Saber commented as she recovered from the surprise attack.
"It's called the Keyblade." Roxas rolled his eyes, knowing how this song and dance goes. Although her eyes somewhat reminded him of Xemnas and Saix. "Whatever, I need to deal with you so I can get to Saber."
...
"What?" Roxas questioned upon seeing the looks on their faces. "Was it something I said?"
Olga facepalmed, Ritsuka sheepishly chuckled, Mash coudhed into her hand, Fou tilted his head and Saber gave him a blank look.
"...I am the one who holds the title." Saber informed him.
"What?" Roxas stared at the girl in confusion. "But I thought King Arthur was supposed to be Saber? Where is he?" He looked around as if trying to spot some hidden enemy.
"Roxas..." Ritsuka spoke slowly. "That IS King Arthur."
Roxas blinked. "Wait WHAT?!" He looked back and forth between Saber and Ritsuka, trying to find out whether or not they were messing with him. He then pointed a finger at Saber. "But your a girl! Aren't kings usually men, why aren't you called Queen Arthur?"
Saber sighed exasperated as rubbed her forehead. "Do you really think that anyone would accept a female to be a ruler during those times?"
Roxas shrugged. "I don't see why not." The Organization had Larxene, sure she was only one rank above him but it was no secret she was one of the stronger members as well as the fastest. Not once does he remember hearing a genuine insult towards her abilities, even though her personality could cause problems.
Saber just stared at him. "Roxas-san..." Mash spoke up, catching his attention. "During her time, women weren't as generally accepted and could not be certain positions, such as a knight or ruler."
Roxas blinked. "That's stupid." He said bluntly.
"Hmph."
Saber put her hand back on her sword's hilt before lunging at Roxas with speed faster than you'd excpect form someone in heavy armor. Roxas raised Oblivion to block her swing as both weapons clashed.
"I guess we're back to this now!" Roxas pushed Saber away and swung his own flurry of attacks at the King of Knights. Their respective weapons clashed repeatedly, either blocking, countering or attempting to strike the other as their movements looked like blurs.
The Chaldeans simply watched in shock at the fight, while Roxas was far from a weak Spirit, they never expected him to go face off against a Servant the likes of King Arthur so evenly. Saber had a close call but Roxas avoided it and his Keyblade struck her Armor and pushed her back.
"That's amazing." Mash said in awe as she watched the duel between the Avenger and Saber.
Roxas lunged at Saber and thrusted Oblivion towards Artoria's head. The Saber tilted her head, just managing to avoid the Keyblade striking her and charged her weapon with energy and swung it, blasting Roxas point blank and sending him flying away.
"Roxas!" Ritsuka cried out in panic.
Roxas hit the wall of the cave before falling and hitting the ground, he got up with with a groan before hsaking his head. Saber watched as his body was coated with light before dashing towards her with greater speed than before, looking like a stream of light for an instant. She barely registered him appearing in front of her and tilted her head to avoid it being split open as Oblivion dug into her shoulder.
She raised her arm and punched Roxas in the gut knock him away. Roxas landed on his feet and stared down Saber. Despite her injury, Saber readied her sword and prepared to charge at the Avenger, an action Roxas did as well.
Roxas used his Mana Burst Skill to charge his Keyblade with light and swung it to release a blast not unlike Saber's attack.
Saber raised her sword to block the incoming blast and managed to hold out back despite being pushed back several feet and creating trenches in the ground. with a grunt she moved her sword and knocked it away, only to see Roxas right in front of her.
Roxas swung towards Saber's neck to take her head off but the King of Knights leaned back and swung her sword at the Nobody's side cutting into it and causing blood to poor out the wound.
Rixas gasped in pain before getting punched in the face by Saber's armored fist and being knocked away.
Saber approached him quickly and roxas retaliated by summoning pillars of light.
Saber swiftly sidestepped each pillar that was sent her way before bringing her sword down on Roxas.
The Avenger rolled out of the way and charged Oblivion with light before thrusting it into Saber's gut, blasting her away and damaging her armor.
Roxas dashed towards her and threw both his Keyblades at the woman.
Saber swung her swords upward and defected the weapons before bringing down Excalibur which Avenger responded to by recalling Oblivion and clashing the blades head on.
The both pushed away from each other, they stared the other down as they began to use their Mana Bursts. Saber charging her Sword while Roxas charged his whole body.
Both sides stared at each other for several tense moments before both dashed forward, once they neared each other both swung their blades.
Both of them stood still for a moment before Saber fell to her knee as blood poured out from the gash in her chest. Her already damaged armor failing to stop Roxas' strike.
"To think I would have fallen first. That old man leaves only troublesome things behind." Saber muttered.
"Are you here to laugh at me? Ireland's Child of Light." She felt the Servant appear next to her, tip of his staff pointed right at her head.
"I've got no interest in that. Just here to finish things." Caster told the downed Saber. "There's a rune installed at the end of this staff, see. When activated, liquidized magic is fired out at high pressure."
"So that's how you defeated Archer... Very well, do as you please." Saber said. "It seems no matter how fate changes, I am destined to fall alone." Golden motes of light began to come off her body.
"What does that mean? Do you know something?" Caster questioned the king.
"Eventually, you will come to know, Ireland's Child of Light." Saber responded. "Grand Order..."
The Chaldean group, who had recovered and caught onto the end of their conversation, were confused by those last words, except for one. Olga felt shock go through her body as Saber said those words.
"The battle for the Holy Grail has just begun." Saber left them with the ominous warning before completely disappearing.
"Hey, wait! What does that-" He paused upon seeing he was disappearing as well. He clicked his teeth in annoyance. "Kid, I'm leaving this to you!"
"Caster!" Ritsuka and Roxas called out.
"If there's a next time, make sure to summon me as Lancer. I want take a shot at the Keyblade, too." He told them before fully disappearing as well.
"Cu." Roxas muttered as he stared at the spot where Cu was while the others talked with Romani on the communicator. He saw his woungds be covered in a blue light as they began to slowly stitch themselves back together. It was no mid-fight cure spell but it was still damn useful. He returned to the group in time to overhear Olga naming Mash's Noble Phantasm Lord Chaldeas.
The sound of clapping caught everyone's attention. "My, I never thought you would make it this far." Everyone turned to where the Greater Grail was located to see a man in a green suit and top hat walk out of the shadows.
The instant the man revealed himself Roxas felt his instincts screaming at him. He could feel darkness practically oozing off of him. 'He's as bad as Xemnas!'
"Hey, isn't that...?" Ritsuka was surprised to see the man.
"It's Doctor Lev!" Mash said happily.
"Lev! Lev!" Olga said happily as she ran towards the man. "Thank goodness! You survived that explosion!"
"Stop!" Roxas got in front of Olga and held Oathkeeper in front of her to stop her while glaring daggers at the man. "This guy is dangerous!"
"What? What are you talking about? It's Lev! He's a friend!" Olga questioned the Nobody.
"Lev! Proffesor Lev you say? He's there?" Romani asked.
"Hm? Is that Romani I hear? So you survived as well." Lev commented. "I told you to come to the command room immediately, but it seems you didn't listen. Honestly..."
"Trash who can't even follow orders. Just the mere sight of it makes want to throw up. Why is it that humans always try to avoid their preordained destiny?" He then opened his eyes and glared at them with a look that made him appear like a devil in disguise.
Those who knew the man were shocked by his word while Roxas growled, Lev's words and demeanor reminding him of the higher ups in the Organization.
"The 48th Master candidate who I over looked because they didn't know anything up! you became a Demi-Servant Mash Kyrielight! You didn't listen to wht I had to say and ended up surviving Romani Archaman!" Lev shouted, not caring about the flinching of said individuals. "All these unexpected events are really starting to piss me off! Then there's the most unexpected thing of all!" He turned his glare towards Roxas who returned it in full.
"The unknown Servant with the key and the girl who doesn't even realize she's dead! The miserable, pathetic Olga Marie!"
Everyone froze at his words. Olga's eyes went wide in horror as she stared at the man she admired for so long in confusion and panic.
"What...?"
"Has you brain stopped working since you've died?" Lev asked as he had pleased smile on his face, enjoying Olga's despair. "Whatever. I'll tell you anyway. The explosion went off at your feet. Why? Because I put it there. You died. Your body is long gone with not even a trace left. The you here is nothing more than your residual consciousness."
"Liar..." Olga whispered with horror and disbelief.
"Oh? Have you forgotten how Rayshifting works? In that case, let me remind you. It converts a person's soul into data and projects into different time and place. In other words, to Rayshift, the only thing holding you back is your body." Lev explained with a taunting smile.
"Do you get it now? For you with no aptitude, what could possibly cause you to Rayshift? Simple, you're body no longer exists." Lev continued. "That is why you can no longer return to Chaldea. Without a body your soul will have nothing to return to and your consciousness will cease to exist."
"N-No..." Olga muttered in terror. "You're wrong... You have to be... What are you saying?!"
"I care too much for you to see you in this pitiful state. There for I shall grant you're final wish!" Lev raised his arms out wide. "I will show you your precious Chaldeas one final time!"
Suddenly a portal opened above Lev to reveal what looked like some sort of high tech globe completely glowing a bright red.
"Is that... Chaldeas...?" Olga asked, dread and horror filling her voice more than before as Mash and Ritsuka looked on in horror.
"Observe your precious Chaldeas! See that there is not a single speck of blue in it! That is because all of humanity has been erased!" Lev called out madly. "I, Lev Lainur Flauros have been assigned to oversee the year 2016!"
"No! You're lying! You have to be!" Olga cried out in terror. "I has to be a virtual image."
"It is the real thing. I have connected space-time for you to show you this." Lev told her. "Now, scion of the Animusphere family, witness the results of your family's lunacy!"
They watched in horror as Olga began floating towards the portal. "Now, go claim your final wish and
"What are you doing?! No stop!" Olga cried out. "You can't! That's Chaldeas!"
Lev grinned sadistically. "Yes, with power akin to a black hole or perhaps even the sun. Either way, if a human touches it, they will be torn apart on a molecular level and experience infinite living death."
Ritsuka reached her arm out to grab Olga. "You can't!"
"No!" Mash held her back by grabbing her arm. "Stay back!"
However Roxas wasn't paying attention to them, he was only glaring at the man with a look of pure hatred and fury. His words echoed in Roxas' head...
"Why care for that good for nothing?"
"She is a broken doll."
He remembered the words Saix had said in the Organization. He doesn't know who Saix was talking about, but he could feel as though those words were said to someone very close to him. There were few people he hated and wanted to kill as much as that doctor and Xemnas, but in less than a minute of knowing this guy existed, Lev as shot up to join those two.
With a roar of anger, Roxas called his Keyblades and charged at Lev, ignoring whatever Mash tried to say to him. Lev merely looked at him with disinterest right up until Roxas seemingly disappeared only to reappear right in front of him and slam Oblivion into his side and send him flying into the wall.
He turned to see Olga has nearly reached the portal, suddenly he felt Oblivion shake and move around on it's own to point at the portal. His mind immediately recalled Sora's Keyblade doing this when he first found a Keyhole. 'Seriously, it works for this too?' Roxas mentally questioned but decided not to complain right now as Oblivion fired a beam of light right at the portal and forced it close just Before Olga went through.
Roxas jumped and grabbed Olga before going back down and carefully setting her back down on the ground.
"Roxas! Olga!" Ritsuka called out as she and Mash ran up to them.
Roxas carefully set Olga down on the ground. "How are you holding up?"
Olga still had a look of shock on her face as her mind began process what just happened. "AAAAAAHHH!" She cried as she began to breakdown.
They all looked at her in concern as Mash quickly went to her side to comfort the poor mage.
"You..." A voice growled out, the Chaldean turned to see Lev prying himself out of the hole in the wall Roxas put him in. "How dare you use that weapon on me?!" He glared at the Nobody with rage as he held his ribs where he was hit while blood driped down from his mouth.
"You know, I nearly forgot about you." Roxas said as he glared at the man and readied his Keyblades. "But now I'm gonna finish what I started." He charged at the man, intent on putting him down for good when the whole cave started shake for moment and stopped him. "Now what?!"
"Tch." Lev clicked his teeth in annoyance. "Listen well Romani, as a friend who studied alongside you, I will give you one final piece of information. Chaldea no longer has a purpose. You can no longer see into the future anymore. You can't reach the outside world and the personnel you sent outside has yet to return yet, correct?"
Back in Chaldea, everyone went silent at the revelation from Lev's implications. Romani clenched his fist in anger and greif.
"You may be protected by the magnetic field of Chaldeas. But the fate of the rest of humanity has been decided!" Lev stated with a grin that showed inhuman, triangular teeth.
"That's why we haven't been able to contact the outside. It wasn't because of technical issues. It was because there was no one to contact to begin with."
Olga, Mash and Ritsuka gasped in horror while Roxas gripped his Keyblades tighter and glared at Lev.
"It was not the result of you're inability to evolve, nor a war with a foreign species! It was the result of you're incompetence! Because of you're meaningless existence! You have lost the favor of our king! Now you'll burn away like the wastes you are-"
"Are you done?" Roxas cut him off, voice deadly serious.
"Huh?" Everyone looked at him confusion
"I said, are you done? Because you're wrong." Roxas stated.
"Wrong? About what?"
"Humanity perishing, they're 'meaningless existence', honestly you've mostly just been spouting bullshit since I've met you so it's hard to pick just one." Roxas told the man in a serious tone, causing the others to stare at him in shock.
Lev growled, growing increasingly annoyed. "Were you not listening! I told you, humanities' fate has been decided! All because you have lost the favor of our king!"
"If it's decided then why do you seem so upset some of us survived?"
Lev just stared at the Nobody in confusion. "What?"
"If it's been decided then you shouldn't care whether or not they survive since it shouldn't be possible to change it, right?" Roxas asked rhetorically as he stared own the green clad traitor. "But you tried to kill all the Masters and got mad when you find out you some of them survived. That's afraid, right?"
Lev growled in fury. "Afraid?!"
"Afraid that Chaldea will screw up your plans." Roxas stated as he gestured to the Chaldeans. "All because of these guys."
"Because of us?" Olga questioned as Ritsuka and Mash stared at him in awe.
"Chaldea is humanities last bastion so as long as they are around they will screw over whatever plans you have a return humanity back to normal. I know your type, act like you know everything and you're superior but once things stop going you're way you throw a hissy fit. I honestly don't care much about what else you have to say and I think these guys are tired of you too. So why don't you piss off to whatever hole you crawled out of and watch as we ruin your work, or if you don't like that you can come down here so I can take your head right here and now." Roxas told them man with a dead serious tone.
Everyone stunned by Roxas' words, including those at Chaldea who heard them. The boy who had only met them a few hours prior stated with confidence that they will succeed in their task despite what had happened while telling off Lev.
Lev growled in sheer fury at this insects words, which then turned into hate as he saw everyone had gained a loathsome look of hope on their faces. Including that pathetic brat Olga Marie who was supposed suffer an infinite hell!
"You little-!" Lev was cut off as the entire cave begun to shake violently.
"Damn it, what now?!" Roxas shouted.
"It's not an earthquake!" Romani cut in, breaking out of his stunned silence. "With the defeat of Saber and retrieval of the grail, the whole singularity is collapsing!"
Lev scoffed. "How fortunate for you." He begun to float into the air and glared down at the group before smiling. "Allow me to introduce my self once more, I am Lev Lainur Flauros. I have been assigned to the year of 2016 to oversee the destruction of humanity." A portal opened behing him.
"A bid you farewell, 48th Master candidate and Avenger who wields the Key." With that he went through the portal before it closed.
The shaking suddenly started becoming more violent as rubble began falling from the ceiling.
"Don't suppose you guys have an escape plan, do you?!" Roxas asked. Sure he might be able to use a Corridor of Darkness but he doubts they can.
"Hold on! I'm getting you all ready for departure!" Romani said frantically.
"But what about the Director?!" Ritsuka questioned. "If we leave she'll-!"
"Master candidate 48." Olga's voice cut her off, stern. Everyone turn to look at her, her eyes covered by her hair before she recomposed herself and looking at them seriously. "As the Director of Chaldea it is my duty to oversee both the completion of our objective as well as the safety of our members. Therefore I have no choice but to trust you with this task."
"But director-!"
"Master candidate 48. You are the only one still able to continue, therefore there is no reason for to stay here. I will ensure you make it back safely even if I must stay behind." Olga tried to stay composed but they could notice her voice cracking and tears in the corners of her eyes. "This is my order as director."
"Director..." Roxas looked at her sadly and placed a hand on her shoulder.
He clenched his fist in remembrance of who it was that caused this in the first place. "I'll see to it myself that he pays for this."
"Revenge won't be required..." Olga said and Roxas frowned. "But... See to it that you complete the mission to eliminate the threat to humanity."
Roxas didn't need to think long to understand the meaning behind those words, Lev created the singularities and can be considered a threat to humanity. He gave a determined nod. He was an Avenger, and Lev just made his way high up onto his list.
"All right! Ready to Rayshift you out in 3... 2... 1!" Romani calle dout and Roxas' vision was enveloped by light.
Chaldea POV
Roxas felt himself come to as he stumbled out of some sort of pod and fell to his hands and knees. That was definitely more nauseating than Corridors of Darkness.
"Good to see you made it back." He looked up at the voice of Romani to see the man himself in person before Romani turned to Ritsuka. "Despite being forced into such a situation you managed to clear the first singularity. For that you have my thanks and respect.
"Yeah... But... The losses were too great." Ritsuka said solemnly.
Roxas and Mash looked down. "Director..." Mash muttered in sadness.
"Yeah..." Romani agreed. "You already know about the director, but 70% of the staff died in that explosion. All the other Master candidates aside from you were wiped out as well. The equipment in the control room and elsewhere has been restored but there's still a lot we haven't been able to do."
"Wow..." Ritsuka muttered. "The situation is really that bad..."
"Lev." Roxas growled in anger.
"Yeah, Lev managed to do all this by himself. But that's why we'll take over from those who died." Romani said.
"Huh?" Mash tilted her head.
"Despite all that's happened, I, along with the rest of the staff are gonna take over the positions of those who died in order to protect humanity." Romani explained.
"Wait, you mean-!" Ritsuka began to say before being stopped by Romani.
"No, we still can't see the light of civilization on Chaldeas beyond 2018. So Lev was probably right about it being fixed, in spite of fixing the Fuyuki singularity." Romani explained as he gestured to a screen behind him.
"Please look at this, we've once again scanned the Earth's past with the newly fixed Shiba." 7 dark spots appeared on the screen.
"This is...!" Mash trailed off alarmed.
"Singularities." Romani confirmed. "7 singularities Lev is using to incinerate humanity by placing them at turning points in human history."
"'Turning points in human history'?" Roxas questioned.
"'If this war hadn't ended', 'If this voyage wasn't a success', 'If this invention wasn't made'. Places and times where 'if that past was changed, the history of humanity would deviate greatly'." Romani explained. "Those are turning points."
Romani then turned to Ritsuka once more. "In order to fix them we need to Rayshift directly into them. But the only one who can do that is you." He looked at the girl seriously. "Do you have the resolve to face all 7 singularities alone?"
"I'd thought that..." Ritsuka began speaking, voice cracking. "I'd make a call to mom, to dad, to my friends. Since I disappeared so suddenly, they were probably worried about me..."
Everyone stared at at the girl in sadness as the realization of what happened finally hit her.
'Getting dragged into something you never wanted and forced into a role, huh?' Roxas thought as he watched in sympathy. He clenched his fist, He'll take Lev's head for this, even if it was the last thing he did.
"But... Everyone... They're nothing but ashes!" Ritsuka cried out. "I don't think I have the resolve. I don't even think I understood everything you said. But I just can't stand here and let it end like this!"
"So if I'm the only one who can, I'll do it!" Ritsuka stated with a determined look.
"Hey, who says you're gonna be doing this alone." Roxas walked up to the girl with a smile.
"You'll really keep helping us?" Mash said with a hopeful look.
"Of course, I've already helped you this far and I hate this situation just as much as you." Roxas gained a serious look. "Besides, I swore to the Director I'll make Lev pay for this and ruin his plans."
Romani smiled. "Thank you, both of you. Those words will save the future."
He then turned to the rest of the staff. "Alert all surviving staff members! As of now Doctor Romani Archaman is officially taking control as commanding officer! We will act on the plans of the previous Director, Olga Marie Animusphere and fulfill her mission of continuing the human order!"
All the staff members in the room immediately started moving to get to work. Romani turned to the trio. "As for you three, you did a good job today but no doubt it was taxing. It'll take us some time to find the next singularity so please, get some rest in the meanwhile."
All of them nodded at the man. 'Man, getting into something this crazy. Sora must have been rubbing off on me more then I thought.' Roxas thought. He thought back to his time at the Organization, now he was working with another, only this time it wasn't to fight Heartless and collect Hearts. It was to save the entirety of humanity from the work of a monster as bad as Xemnas.
Happy New Years!
Wow, 7k words, that's a lot longer than I intended. I also managed to finish Camelot so soon enough I will make to arc 2 of FGO.
Edit: After careful consideration, I changed the ending of this chapter due to it being too similar to a couple other stories and being unable to find many good ways to save olga other than 'Keyblade bullshit'.