Police had already made it clear that a new curfew was to be set in. Claiming that for the citizens safety, everyone should go home early when night would come. During the day, avoid any particular large gatherings alongside areas that have been attacked. Of course, the police then added that the recent destruction of the hotel was an accident caused by neglect from the safety inspectors.

"It's a trick I tell ya. Probably some conspiracy." Needless to say, many people in Fuyuki didn't believe that load of bull, and Taiga Fujimura was one of them.

Out with her friends, a kendo wooden sword by her side, in a school uniform, Taiga was out on what she called patrol. In reality, she was just going home with her friends. With the recent attacks on the city, classes were canceled for a time as a precaution measure.

"Maybe." One of Taiga's friends responded, checking her school bag to be sure she didn't leave anything behind. "But what are we supposed to do about it? Anybody, really?"

"Keep an eye out for any suspicious activity." Taiga declared.

"...right." Her second friend, clearly not believing this, rolled her eyes. Instead she was more focused on doing her homework and studying for the next test than going around looking for shady men in black outfits and sunglasses. "Then you do you I guess. Because like hell you're going to find some suspicious person tha-" The girl then trailed off, stopping.

"And I already told you, change into something else dammit!" Because up ahead are two people. One looking like some guy in high school, whiny at that, and another wearing a full set of armor.

"But Master, what am I supposed to wear? I've only ever worn an apron with this suit." Where the two spoke rather suspiciously aloud. Shady one might say.

"Aha!" With Taiga instantly taking the chance to catch them with whatever they were doing. Running up to them like a cheetah, refusing to lose sight of them. Eventually the two shady men noticed her, the whiny-looking one gulping.

"Hey!" Taiga shouted as she leveled her kendo sword at them. "What are you two doing?"

"Wh-wha-me?" Pointing at himself, the boy shook a little while the man acted a bit nervously. Clearly they were up to something. "N-Nothing!" The boy tried to tell Taiga, shaking his hands and head. "We were just, uh, to be honest the two of us were…" He tried to give an excuse, but Taiga wasn't having any of it. She wouldn't be fooled by such poor acting.

"You two are certainly suspicious." She bluntly told them, taking a step forward while the boy took a step back. The man looked conflicted on what to even do. All while Taiga's friends just watched nonchalantly, not bothering to do anything to help. " Wearing strange clothes, acting nervous in front of a lady, whispering suspiciously, who are you people!?."

"Well, Master is from this Clock Tower as he told me," The man then said, attempting to explain himself, if poorly at that, "As for me, well, I come from a place where war and death is rather comm-"

"Shut it!" The boy growled at the older man. Finger shoved to his suit, upset. "S-She doesn't need to know that."

"Who says, kid." Taiga narrowed her eyes, now convinced these two weren't normal.

"K-Kid?!" With the boy now going from frustrated to angry. Now he was glad he took some lessons for Japanese, as who knew what insulting things this girl could have said behind his back. The nerve! "I-I'll have you know, I'm way older than you. And I have more accomplishments than you would ever have!" First things first, show who's at the top of the pecking order.

"Hmm?" Taiga, giving a coy smile, an insulting one at that, merely leaned her head forward with her hands on her hips. "Really? You don't say?" She didn't seem convinced one bit. "You don't look like much."

"Oh, yeah!" Stepping forward, Waver snarled. "What would some school girl know? Why, I bet you aren't even in the top of your class." Granted, Waver wasn't at the top either, but his classes involved magecraft and the like. Much more impressive to some mundane studies this girl had.

"Hah! Shows what you know, boy." With a tease at the boy part, Taiga grinned. "I'm the best in the kendo club. See this." Taiga showed her own wooden sword. "The teachers say I'm great at it. Why, soon, I'll be getting my own personal shinai. Cause I'm awesome!"

"Sure. Cause it's soooo impressive to have a sword you can only use in a tournament." Waver made a mocking tone while shaking his head. Crossing his arms before looking at Saber. "Heck, I bet your nothing compared to Sa-er-thi guy here."

"What?" Saber realized the girl's attention was on him, who gave a quick look over at him. She then puffed her cheeks and laughed. That hurt a little.

"S-Sure." Taiga giggled. Holding an arm to her stomach. "Like your cosplayer friend is good at swordsmanship. Maybe you should stop focusing on fantasies and instead pay attention to reality."

"Y-You!" Waver felt his face turning red.

"Come now, Master." Saber, not wanting to let this go on further, walked to Waver and grabbed his shoulders. "No need to start a fight with the locals. If anything, we should…you know." Saber played his words carefully. Not wanting the girls to even get a hint of what the two were actually doing. "Meet up with your playmates to have fun."

"Playmates!" Waver turned to Saber, shocked by the language he used. Acting as if he was some kind of kid!

"Oh. Playmates." With Taiga taking that chance to prove herself superior. Giving the most obnoxious smile Waver has ever seen as she walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then I guess you shouldn't keep them waiting, kid." Patting him on the shoulder a few times, Taiga then walked past him, ignoring the way Waver stuttered to get a single word out.

Her friends quickly catch up while giving the two men an apologetic look. "Uh…good luck with your friends." One of them told them.

"Yeah. And, nice costume." The other added before they left, leaving Waver to fume at how some girl just mocked him like his other classmates back at home. The jerk.

"Ooohhh. J-just wait until I win this war. Then she'll respect me." Waver mouthed off, ranting. "Everyone will respect me!"

"...right." With Saber doing his best to not make his Master anymore upset, wondering if he should console his Master before forgoing it. Waver would just as likely get upset by such a thing. "Um, anyway, we should probably get to the others, Master."

"Oh! You mean my playmates!" Waver snarled at Saber. "The hell man! Couldn't you have come up with something better?" Honestly, he probably should have. Still, it seems his Master was calming down, huffing as he walked past Saber. Grunting out, "Let's just go."

He followed close behind, making no further comments. Instead, dwelling on his thoughts, on what he heard his Master yell out. Respect. 'So that's what he wants?' The reason he joined the Holy Grail War was for respect of all things. That honestly felt…underwhelming.

Taking a look at his Master's back, the Servant pondered briefly if he should ask for confirmation, just to be certain. Because while Saber doesn't deny that having and wanting respect isn't a bad thing, to fight for it in a ritual that could get you killed is the height of foolishness itself, and he knew what foolishness was, having experienced it more than a few times himself during his battles.

Now wasn't the time to talk about such topics, though. Entering onto the streets, where due to the constant disruptions in the city, there were fewer people and vehicles. This meant that meeting them was much easier.

Sitting on a bench, two women were relaxing, Rider and her Master.

Rider had come around in the morning. Where she went, Irisviel didn't know. Still, it was a relief to see that she was doing fine, all things considered. It meant that she hadn't outright abandoned them.

Things got a little better when Kiritsugu, after doing what he must, had also come, a bit before Rider. Irisviel explained all she knew to him, including the possibility of an alliance between Saber and them.

He agreed immediately, which caught Irisviel by surprise.

"Once we deal with another Servant, we can kill them from behind." His lines after weren't as surprising. Whatever it was he saw in Rider's dream really had him worked up. She could tell. His shoulders were more tense, his face rigid, and he was smoking more and more as time passed on. He was very stressed.

'And I can't even help him.' Irisviel berated herself, feeling that the distance between the two was growing. Just before he fell asleep, he mentioned that he would have her and Rider live elsewhere, a new ploy so that nobody realized he was the true Master and keep his distance away. It also meant that she couldn't comfort him if she could.

Sighing, Irisviel found herself feeling useless. She wanted to help Kirisugu so much, to tell him everything would be alright. But nothing was right, with her unable to comfort the one she loved most. She could only hope that as time progressed, he would get better. Even so, what he did last night with the hotel was far from a man who was alright, because despite claiming it was necessary, his eyes told another story.

If anything, the best Irisviel could do right now, was lift his burdens. 'And this is the only way I know how.'

Turning her head, Irisviel saw two faces. Saber and what she assumed was his Master. Why the Master was showing up in person was a mystery, though perhaps she shouldn't say that considering her position, even if she was a fake Master. As for how they're meeting now, it was simple. During the morning, Rider released her mana in hopes of getting a response, on the chance that maybe they could find Saber.

"Hey." It seems they were right. Stepping forward is Saber's Master, who kept an eye around him before settling on her. "Saber said he felt Rider. So, I'm assuming you wanted to talk."

"We did." Standing up, ensuring she was presentable, Irisviel stated, "And I believe a partnership between us would be beneficial." She kept her face straight. Unwilling to show joy or suspicion. She couldn't allow herself to cause Kiritsugu any more trouble. As for Rider, she stood up herself, remaining silent as the conversation occurred between them.

Saber, giving a small smile, said, "Then as a sign of good-will, perhaps we can aid you all in dealing with any current problems you may have." That sounded nice. She wouldn't admit it, but Irisviel felt the prospect of having their aid in double-teaming against another Servant sounded rewarding. Though before she could say anything, Rider spoke up first.

"How are you?" The three turned to Rider, who looked straight at Saber. Where the Servant and his Master, now looking at Rider out of uniform, seemed a bit surprised at how young she looked. Rider paid no heed to their gazes, instead, repeating again, "How are you doing?"

"Me?" Saber pointed at himself, Rider nodding.

"You got hit by that thing's attack, didn't you?" Some strange move that consumed Saber in some way that must have done something to him. Saber and Waver looking at one another, the two coming to an immediate understanding. After all, they spoke of this just recently.

"Your what?" Waver cried out, hands held on his head with his heart feeling as if it'd pop out of his chest. Beating inside rapidly at the ill news Saber had just delivered to him.

"It is as I said, Master." Giving a small wheeze, Saber looked tired. He slouched like an old man, giving off the air of someone who did too much exercise and was sweating a bit. "My stats, they've been…reduced." All while delivering news that did nobody any good.

"Wh-bu-...How?!" Was all Waver could say. Overwhelmed by such words that he couldn't even think of proper words to scream out.

Saber, to his own shame, simply lowered his head. "I believe it was…the creature's doing." He recalled the fight, the battle he and the girl known as Rider committed together. Including what the beast did at the very last moment.

"...I don't know how it did it exactly, but my overall strength has been reduced by half at the very least. Including magical consumption."

"T-That-!" Wasn't good one bit. For Waver, this could be considered one of the worst scenarios ever. Saber was already someone who wasn't very strong, apparent by the unmistakable showing he made against the other Servants at the construction site. Even so, it was clear he could at least keep up to a degree, backed by the skills he had as a swordsman.

Now, however…

Much as Saber didn't like to admit it, he knew that his swordsmanship, while something he is proud of, wouldn't save him from opponents who were too strong. So being weaker made things worse for him and his Master in the long run.

"A-A Command Seal." Waver then realized. "What if I used one to increase your strength? Get it back to how it was originally. O-Or will it go back to normal after a day or two?"

"I don't think it works that way." Some nagging feeling in his body told him so. "For me, the way I can describe this feeling is as if…hmmm, where I was once a tall cup full of magical energy, the cup's now swapped to something half the size, including the contents. So you can give me more mana, but it'll never give me back my former strength in the long run."

That didn't assure Waver at all. To know that he could give Saber a boost was alright, but the fact that Saber is stuck like this for the entire war is a problem in itself. Especially if anybody else were to realize this new feeble state Saber was now in.

Breathing in, Waver felt his chances of winning slipping more and more from his hands. That the path he was on now led to what could be a grimly demise with his body sprawled on the ground. It wasn't a good image.

As such, measures needed to be taken.

"I'm alright." Saber lied, keeping his usual expression from showing any signs of his deceit. "The attack did weaken me tremendously. A fatality were I to continue fighting against the beast back then, but now I'm much better."

Rider, not realizing this trickery, merely nodded, with Irisviel buying it as well. The two men were now more than grateful they were getting an alliance. They already knew Rider was strong, ridiculously strong. As such, they could use her strength and just hope neither her or her Master realized the truth about Saber.

"Moving on," Waver decided to change the flow of the conversation, just to be on the safe side. "You guys have any problems, or are we going to the one that the Church wants us to deal with? Assassin."

"I still question how such a creature is an Assassin." Saber muttered, crossing his arms. "Or how it even connects to them."

"It's likely a creature connected to them." Irisviel, someone who's well-versed in the mechanism of a Holy Grail War, decided to help Saber out in his understanding. "Heroic Spirits are all Servants who wield unique traits they have in life. And while Assassin is normally considered the weakest Class, that doesn't mean they don't have a few contrivances they can bring out."

"There's also the fact that Assassins are normally the Hassans from what I read." Too bad that book now proved to be useless, as all the Servants here were much different from what Waver imagined.

"Mmm, true." It was pretty clear the Servants all summoned felt a tad more unusual than what Irisviel expected. "Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that whoever Assassin is, must hold abilities that can endanger us. Rider already told me how this creature was immune to your attacks I believe."

"You are correct." Saber scowled. Disliking the creature and all it wrought. "There was something unusual about it. Somehow it was completely invulnerable to any attack we brought on its body, no matter how much strength we put into our attacks. It was only until Caster showed up that progress could be made."

"Most likely a skill." Irisviel concluded, Waver appearing to agree on that suggestion. "Perhaps Caster holds some innate ability to bypass whatever invulnerability it holds. Regardless, it seems thanks to you, it's gone."

"...yes…about that." Saber figured it was best to come clean. He already told Waver about it, best to tell their new partners the same. "My ability didn't actually kill it." That caught the two women off-guard. "The truth is, I sent it away into another dimension. Where, I don't know. But it'll come back."

"That's…not good." Irisviel sourly said.

"Worse, that creature can use the same attack it did on me two more times with those overlay units." Saber added on the bad news.

"I'm sorry, over-what now?" Waver blinked with Rider tilting her head. The term being new to everyone except for Saber, who realized he had forgotten to explain to Waver about them.

"Yes, that." Clearing his throat, the old soldier explained, "I'll admit, I don't know the exact implements of what an overlay unit is, but an old friend of mine told me about them. Using one allows an Xyz monster to use their primary ability, and I saw it had two more Overlay Units left after I was hit."

"I didn't see anything." Rider pointed out, having seen nothing that resembled an overlay unit.

"And what the heck is an Xyz monster?" That didn't sound like any phantasmal Waver knew of.

"You don't know what an Xyz is?" Now it was Sabers turn to feel confused. According to the Holy Grail, he was sent to a place where Heroic Spirits of the past fought in what could be considered their future. Yet they had no idea what an Xyz monster was? Very strange.

"Well, for now we should push past this conversation and get to why we're gathered. Stopping Assassin." While Irisviel would like to know more about these overlay units and what an xyz monster exactly was, the important matter was to deal with Assassin. "Once we defeat him, I believe each of us will get our reward."

"A Command Seal." One that could give any Master a good advantage. Or, judging by Rider's grimace, another seal to control. Still, the fact was that Command Seals were important to any Master that wished to have another ace up their sleeve. And killing Assassin was the way to go.

"Still, how will we find the fiend?" Saber asked, as he was a soldier, not a tracker. "Master already told me that Assassins are a devious sort who slink into the shadows to ambush their target."

"Yeah. No way Assassin will just show himself." If anything, Waver felt that finding them would be impossible. No clue to who their Master was, let aside any notable movement from them since the massacre they caused.

"That is true." It felt despicable, but there was not much any of them could do in locating Assassin. At best, they could try and draw him out. Though that left the question of how exactly. A way to lure them out without making them realize it was a trap. Even so, there was still the complication of the beast that Saber claimed would return.

Sighing, Irisviel wondered if Kiritsugu would have found a way to figure this out. A man of his skill and talents may be what they need here to locate Assassin and their Master. Sadly he was busy, stating he was heading to Einzbern Castle, planning to make it their base, but only after securing the area.

"!" At the same time Irisviel thought this, Rider herself felt her body go stiff. Hearing a familiar voice in her head.

"Rider, get over here, now!" It was Kiritsugu. And while Rider normally ignored him, there was something in his voice that made her realize he was panicking. At first she wondered what made her normally stoic Master sound like this.

"By this Command Seal," To her shock, she then felt a great tug onto her own existence. All while realizing her own Master was using one of his three Command Seals to forcibly bring her to where he was at. "Come to me!"

Rider turned, her body glowing. The other three noticed this, with Irisviel opening her mouth. "Ri-" Rider was gone before her false Master could even finish.

"-erish for DARING to kill the one I held dear!" Now overhearing a cry of rage and hate, followed by the crumbling sounds of an entire floor crashing onto the ground.

Things were moving too fast. Rider had no idea what was even happening. To compensate, she quickly looked around to get an idea of what was even occurring, adjusting her sight. Nothing portrayed a good picture.

To her right, she saw her own Master, clutching his head which was bleeding, possibly from debris. He looked tired, his eyes meeting hers, only to look away, focused on something else. Likely the cause of all this.

Because to her front, she saw what could only be described as a monster. The source of all this. It was made of metal, yet it didn't look like the machines she was used to. It was silvery and moved like a liquid, all while it loomed over her and her Master as if they were mere ants. Having a muscular frame that put to shame any body-builder and held a cold expression that showed neither mercy or hostility. There was also the fact that it was huge, far larger than the castle they were in. In fact, the entire part of the castle where this monster stood in had been completely demolished, walls and roof torn down by this behemoth.

"Now." Where on its shoulder, a man stood holding his face with a hand dyed in red, gazed at the two with fury. "Face your tormentor! Go!" As if judging them, Kayneth screamed at the top of his and pointed at the two, not even caring Rider had just appeared. Simply shouting aloud with visible veins throbbing, "Attack! Egyption God Slime!"

It only dawned on Rider now that this creature, this terrifying threat, is actually Caster somehow. She didn't know how or why she knew this in spite of how different they looked aside from the silver texture they had. Only now, whatever transpired for it to become this, is now aimed directly at them.

Which included the fist coming right at them.

Two Masters. Two Servants.

Needless to say, only one of each will live. Here's the Egyption God Slime Stats.

Profile: Once upon a time, a certain familiar would be called upon an era where magic had dwindled and only scants of it remained. Summoned in battle, in a Shadow Game, it would unintentionally copy the essence of the nameless Pharaohs own Egyptian God known as Obelisk the Tormentor.

Through this, Metal Reflect Slime's primary core would ascend into a higher state and would gain a form similar to the Egyptian God and gain a fraction of its power for its own. Permanently altering it and allowing it to be accepted into the Throne of Heores.

Its original name was discarded and became something else altogether. Though it has yet to develop a proper ego and thus can only obey whoever commands it. This may change though given the chance…

Name: Egyptian God Slime

Master: Kayneth El-Melloi

Servant Class: [N/A]

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Strength: A+

Endurance: EX

Agility: C-

Mana: C

Luck: C

Noble Phantasm: B

Class Skills:

None

Personal Skills:

Familiar God (EX):

Even when its Spirit Origin ascends, it is still a familiar at its core. Only now it could be considered different from its mass-produced brethren. Changed by its encounter with a God from another world.

Divinity (B+):

Upon initiation of its Noble Phantasm, Metal Reflect Slime ascends and gains a proper Divinity rank. Normally, this skill would be ranked at A++. However, as it is only copying what essence it could from the God it reflected, it is at a lower rank.

Noble Phantasm:

Egyptian God Slime (B):

All parameters increase though it loses its status as a Servant altogether. It still requires immense magical energy to continue existing, thus needing a Master for mana consumption.

All who face it cannot face anybody else but it and only it, be it through battle or spellcasting. Even so, it cannot be destroyed in any normal battle, a testament to its new power as a fledgling God.