Chapter Fourteen

All three sides stay where they are trying to best access the situation. They all expected a fight, but not one with three different teams. Iskandar is the first to speak. "Saber, are you still pretending to be king with your awful ideology of ruling?"

Saber scowls at the King of Conquerors, "You talk big for someone who is obviously corrupted to your core at the moment."

"True, my current allegiance may not be fitting to a Servant of my stature, but I don't hide behind excuses or chase childish dreams." The king mocks.

"Oh Jeanne! Do not pay any mind to him. I will save you from your pain in time." Gilles tells her.

Iskandar looks weirdly at his partner. "She's not Joan of Arc, she's King Arthur you damn fool. I figured you would have realized that when she used Excalibur on your monstrosity in the last war." He turns his attention to the other Servant he recognizes from the previous war. "Berserker too? Did everyone get resummoned again? If so, I wouldn't mind taking the time to share some wine with Gilgamesh again."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible since he has already died." Skorr tells the Servant.

The king lowers his head a moment, "What a shame. It's rare to meet a man like that and consider me his equal. Oh well, let's get on to killing you all." He unsheathed his sword. "I do believe we are outnumbered Caster. How about we fix that?"

"Most definitely." Gilles pulls out his book and starts reading his incantation. Around him, amphibious demonic familiars appear from the discolored lake.

Medea looks at him with disgust. "You call that magic? You do nothing but disgrace the title of Caster." With swift motion, she summons dragontooth warriors around her and her group. "Perhaps I will need to show you what a proper Caster is like."

Iskandar's brow arches, "Your accent is very familiar. Would you perhaps be a fellow Greek?"

"Under a different circumstance I would love to talk to a Servant about home, but we are not in any position to do so," Caster answers.

"Well that's too bad." The King of Conquerors sighs. "However we are still outnumbered in terms of Servants. So I guess it's my turn to provide assistance before we start killing each other."

"Provide assistance…" Saber ponders for a second before widening her eyes. "You don't mean?!"

"Exactly! The banners of my people shall charge into battle once more." Iskandar confirms with a grin.

"Saber, what does he mean by that?" Rin asks.

"His Noble Phantasm, Ionioi Hetairoi, is an EX Rank reality marble that contains his every loyal subject that he has formed a bond with during his days as king. However every one of his subjects in the reality marble is a Heroic Servant." Saber explains hurriedly.

"He has a reality marble that contains an army of Servants?!" Caster exclaims. "Anybody on our side hiding any shocking and fantastic abilities they'd like to disclose? I'm open to suggestions."

Archer sighs and steps forward. "Well I guess a good way to counter a reality marble is with another reality marble."

Rin jerks her head back in shock, "I'm sorry. What?!"

The two opposing Servants begin their incantations:

"I am the bone of my sword."

"Now, to the distant ends of the earth!"

"Steel is my body and fire is my blood."

"Their bodies may return to ash, but their spirits still hear my call."

"I have created over a thousand blades."

"These men are my legendary heroes, my loyal followers."

"Unknown to death, nor known to life."

"They are my treasure within treasures; they're my right to rule!"

"Have withstood pain to create many weapons."

"They make up my mightiest Noble Phantasm! "

"Yet, those hands will never hold anything."

"As long as our chests beat with ambition for the horizon, the campaign shall never end!"

"So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works!"

"Raise your cries of war, Ionioi Hetairoi!"

Energy surges from both of them as a bright white light engulfs the area. As the light dies, it is revealed that everyone is in a new place. However this new place is divided between the two reality marbles. On Archer's side, it's a barren wasteland filled with thousands of weapons sticking from the ground and gears in the sky. Saber notes that Iskandar's reality marble looks different than how it was in the previous war. The golden sand that covered the area is stained crimson and the sky is pitch black. The soldiers that inhabit the reality marble have also suffered from their king's fate as they too have pale skin with black armor and red corrupted lines on their bodies.

"Reality marbles being rare my ass," is all Rin is able to say in this situation that has unfolded itself in front of her.

Iskandar takes a look at the opposing marble, "They say reality marbles are a reflection of the soul. Yours being nothing but a wasteland is quite telling."

"What my soul is like is not something you should be concerned about." Archer pucks a sword from the ground as a few other weapons around him come off the ground and points towards the king. "What you should be concerned about is whether your army of soldiers are able to withstand my army of unlimited blades."

Iskandar gets a grin, "Is that a challenge? If so, then I accept it!" The army around him shouts in agreement as they take their formation.

The three sides eye each other waiting for someone to make the first move again. A black knight shouts from the silence with a war cry of his own, "AAAARRRTTTTHHHUURRRR!" Lancelot grabs a halberd from the ground and charges at Saber. This breaks the standoff as red blaster fire starts to fill the area along with spells to counter it. Swords fly through the sky and impale numerous corrupted soldiers. Gemstones rip through the armor of the troopers and skeletal swords slice into the amphibious familiars. Mason clashes his lightsaber with Skorr's lightsabers. Shirou traces a simple bow with arrows and fires them at the Commander who shoots back with his blaster. A hulking Greek is crushing anything and everything without discrimination as his master rides his shoulder casting out her own familiars. Two maids alongside Rin decide to stick with each other and cover their backs. Medea takes to the air and fills the sky in magic as they rain down onto Gilles position who is thumbing through his book for counter spells. The Shadow however, stays to the side and doesn't partake in the ongoing battle for now.

"You must realize how futile it is to resist!" Skorr asks Mason as he furiously attacks the boy.

Mason keeps up as he can with his practice of Soresu. "You might be right, but we won't know until I try."

"Then die in the pursuit of it!" Skorr swings above Mason's head with his right saber and jabs his second towards Mason's stomach. Mason ducks from the first and blocks the second with his own saber. Skorr then sends a knee and catches Mason in the face. The boy stumbles backwards and holds his nose that is now bleeding. He wipes what blood off he can and settles back into his preferred style ready for Skorr's next move. The Sith pushes his attacks again and has Mason on the backpedal. With two lightsabers, he utilizes his weapon advantage to try to overwhelm his foe. The defensive style of Soresu keeps Mason alive as he minimizes his moment and blocks the onslaught of attacks. Skorr lifts both lightsabers overhead and swings them down and engages in a saber lock with Mason. The Sith eyes around the weapons around him and pushes Mason away.

Mason once again stances for an attack, but is caught unprepared as the attack does originate from the Sith. Instead, a mace flies into the back of Mason and stumbles forwards from the impact. More weapons raise and launch themselves at the boy. He tries to block them away, but Skorr jumps in and directs his lightsaber to block him. Doing so, the weapons find themselves cutting or hitting Mason. The sinister look in the Sith's yellow eyes tells him that Skorr is delighting himself in this situation. Mason attempts to send weapons at Skorr, but his foe has the advantage of having two lightsabers and only needing one to deal with him. The weapons are sliced in the air and disappear after being broken.

"I must say, I'm disappointed." Skorr taunts as he effortlessly dodges an attack from Mason. "I had high hopes for you after our brief battle at the temple, but it seems as if you only had surprise at your side that night. Your skill in Soresu is all you have and it ain't much." The Sith kicks Mason's shin and grabs the boy by the throat before throwing him to the ground. He points a saber to his throat, "You are beaten. It is pointless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed like your master did." Mason defiantly swats the red blade away with his own and rolls himself back up.

Shirou knocks an arrow back and shoots it before the arrow is shot out of the sky. Miller trains his aim at the redhead and fires again. Shirou throws his bow forward to block some of the bots and moves out the way. He grips a sword from the ground and throws it at the commander. Miller knows he isn't able to shoot the sword from its path and rolls away. He stands back up and sees Shirou rushing him with another sword in hand. Miller holds his blaster rifle to block the attack and the weapon is cut in two. He jumps back to avoid another attack and produces a vibro-bowie knife from his belt. The two blades clash and Miller shoves Shirou back with his other hand.

"Not bad kid," Miller tells the redhead. "It's not often my Lord allows me the thrill of fighting a skilled opponent and you haven't shown me anything less than that yet. Keep this up, and I'll make sure to keep your death quick so you don't suffer. As someone with a warrior's heart, that is the best thing I am able to offer to my enemies."

"That's not something I thought I would hear from a cult member, but I will do the same for you." Shirou replies as he rushes forwards. He takes another swing and Miller blocks it aside. As they exchange blows, Shirou notes that his fighting form is slowly copying the style from the blade he is holding. A quick trace of it reveals that it is a replica of the Sword of Essen, a sword gifted from Roman Emperor Otto III to Essen. It doesn't appear to have anything special about it, but it does its job as a weapon and gives Shirou a new fighting style. Miller takes notice of Shirou's new style and pulls a detonator from his belt and drops it at his feet. He disengages from the fight and jumps from the explosion from the grenade. Shirou is flown backwards with shrapnel wounds on his chest. He lands on his back which knocks the air out of him. As he tries to catch his breath, Avalon begins its work and heals his wounds that his suit couldn't absorb. The redhead stands once his breath steadies and his wounds heal to a degree of which it doesn't impact his fight. He grabs another sword from the ground and readies himself. "I can do this all day."

Miller cocks a brow, "As I can see. Lord Skorr was right to be wary of you." The commander removes his helmet and drops it to the ground. "I wish to defeat you knowing what the face of your enemy is. Come!"

"Damn it Sir Lancelot," Saber grumbles after deflecting a thrust from said Servant. "I thought we went through this in the previous war?" Lancelot doesn't answer as he continues to deliver more attacks. He does an underhanded slash which is also deflected away. Another thrust also has the same results as the previous. He gets madder at each blocked attack until he gets fed up with using the halberd and chucks it at Saber. Saber moves to the side of it and Lancelot surveys the reality marble for a new weapon. She grimaces seeing another knight of the round table wield the sword that killed her. "Why the hell does Archer have Clarent in here? I'll have to make a note of chewing his ass out later." Lancelot pays no mind to what she is saying as his Knight of Owner takes control of the replica of Mordred's sword. He then runs back towards Saber with the sword held high. Saber releases the winds surrounding Excalibur and it flings Lancelot away. The holy sword is now visible in her hands. "I guess I'm going to have to beat your senses back into you."

Saber takes the lead as she unleashes her own attacks against her fellow knight. Lancelot does well in keeping up with her attacks as the madness from the Berserker class didn't diminish his skills. They both are able to match the other as they both know each other's style through many spars. However Lancelot isn't the most skilled swordsman of the Round Table for nothing. He slowly begins to win over the stalemate and has Saber on the backfoot. She directs what she has into her defense and even utilizes a little Soresu she learned from sparing with Mason to help in that regard. Even if Lancelot was a knight in life, his Berserker state makes him disregard honor as he kicks the red sand into her face. She covers her eyes and he takes the advantage to disarm her and kick her backwards. She rolls from the sand and back into the wasteland until her back collides with something.

Saber groans standing up and is shocked to see what she landed on. Rhongomyniad lay at her feet as if it heard of her need for a weapon. She picks up the replica of her holy lance and notes that, if not for her having actually used the original, she would have thought this was the real one. It being a replica doesn't seem to matter as she can still feel the same power from it as her old one. Saber holds the lance before her and charges the black knight. With renewed vigor, she once again has Lancelot on the defense. She may be a little rusty with using a lance, it comes back to her like riding a bike. Her thrusts are more pronounced and she exerts more mana into her attacks. They cross the boundary of the reality marbles as the crimson sands now make up their footing. Occasionally a random familiar suicidally gets between them and offers nothing but staining the sand even redder. Saber notices Excalibur near and sends a pulse of mana to send Lancelot flying backwards. She quickly runs to her favored sword and grips it in her spare hand. With an extra means of attack, she gets even more aggressive pushing her fellow knight back. Being a ways away from Archer's reality marble, Lancelot is stuck with only Clarent as his weapon and the replica is starting to get overwhelmed. Saber throws even more emotion into her attacks as the replica starts to crack in his hands. She swings both weapons from different sides to meet in the middle. Excalibur crushes through the sword that killed her once before into pieces. Rhongomyniad lands a blow on his helmet with such force that it shatters the helmet. This impact is too much for the replica of the holy lance to handle as it dissipates afterwards. The holy sword is positioned only inches away from the black knight's throat as the King of Knights looks into his now revealed face.

"I give you this one chance Sir Lancelot," The king addresses. "Reclaim what sanity you have and tell me what has made you this way. I wish to know the reason as it was left unanswered in the previous war."

Lancelot glances at his surroundings for what Saber thinks is for a weapon, but they are far enough away from anyone that sand is all there is in reach. "I…" He tries to start, but then the area around them starts to fall apart.

Archer sails upwards as he directs multiple weapons around him at the group beneath him. Each hits their marks as well as a few penetrating the shield some of the soldiers used to protect themselves. He projects his bow and takes a couple pop shots at the King of Conquerors. He only expected them to be deflected away as the king proves his assumption correct.

Iskandar eyes his foe. "I must say, you remind me of the King of Heroes with the way you direct your weapons at me."

Archer lands and fires a few more. "Well I am only a living embodiment of swords and replicas. Nothing I have is original save for this marble. Perhaps I am only a copy of him, but who says a copy can't replace the original? The Romans did that with the Greeks and it worked out far longer and greater than your empire ever did. The Roman empire lasted over a thousand years while your conquest only lasted until your death in which it was quickly divided from so many trying to lay claim to your throne."

"Tsk, I take it back. You are nothing like the King of Heroes. He was pleasant to get along with, you are not." The king rides towards Archer in hopes of getting close to him, but Archer knows better than to engage him on horseback in melee. More swords rip from the ground and launch themselves at Iskandar. He makes an effort to block the attacks, but he is unable to defend the horse as well. The horse falls dead and Iskandar tumbles to the ground.

Archer projects his favored projectile and hooks it to his bowstring. "Caladbolg!" It sails forwards and leaves Iskandar with little time to block it. It impacts hard and sends the king away. Archer presses his advantage and projects the twin swords. He overcharges them and launches them where Iskandar will land. Another explosion takes place and knocks the king away even more. No relief is given to Iskandar as the weapons around him lift from the ground and shoot at the redheaded king in the air. He attempts to knock them out of the air, but Archer gets behind him with his bow in hand and fires once again. The king calls for his army to aid him, but the dragontooth warriors near makes it difficult for them to answer the call. A spear impales itself in Iskandar's left arm and sends him into the wasteland.

He pulls the spear from his arm and grunts himself up. Iskandar watches helplessly as the soldiers rushing to him are cut down by the weapons buried next to them. "Somehow you are even more difficult to get past with your projectiles than Gilgamesh. It seems my mocking of your soul is coming to haunt me. The man who said 'I fear not the man that practiced ten thousand kicks once, but the man that practiced one kick ten thousand times' obviously never had all ten thousand come at him all at once. I'd much prefer the man who practices one kick instead since I would know what to look out for at the very least."

"You won't find such a man with me," Archer comments as he lands. "If there is one thing I learned it's to focus on what you are good at and master it. I am good at creating copies of blades and never relenting on dishing the blades at my enemies. If you wished for an honorable and straightforward fight, you should have kept your reality marble at bay and picked a fight with Saber instead."

"Fair enough, but once I get close to you then you are finished. An Archer excels at range, so our melee will be short." Iskandar taunts.

Archer dismisses his bow and equips his twin blades. "It will be short, but you are wrong about one thing. I am not your average Archer class Servant. I only qualify for it because I happen to shoot swords at people. I am no stranger to using the swords for their intended purpose. However I will not make it easy for you to get close to me."

"That's fine by me. I wouldn't approve of you holding back on me anyways!" Iskandar charges forwards with all he has. Multiple blades raise from their spots and towards the charging Greek. He keeps his momentum and blocks only the weapons that would impair him from reaching his target. He has no wish for the Grail as he knows he isn't in the position to obtain it in his current state. Death is no consequence for him. The King of Conquerors runs forwards receiving many cuts along his body and a few impalements. He momentarily remembers a flashback to the last war when he was in this situation. It seems as if fate has planned for him to experience the same defeat as previously. Iskandar nears Archer and takes a swing at the red cloaked Servant. He takes notice of the lack of chains as of the previous situation and briefly allows hope to fill him. The hope is taken away as Archer blocks the attack with one sword and impales the king with the other through his heart. He coughs out blood and his hold of his sword is undone. "History surely loves to repeat itself." His reality marble starts to crumble and the soldiers that inhabit it go along with it. Soon it's only Archer's reality marble left to fill the area. Iskandar then follows his soldiers when Archer yanks his sword out of his chest and allows the King of Conquerors to collapse on the ground. He wipes the blood off his sword before searching the still ongoing battlefield on where to go next. He then takes off and allows his own reality marble to fade so as to not tax his master on mana for much longer.

A hellfire of explosive magic rains from the sky as Gilles flips through his book for something to protect himself. "What's wrong pretender?" Medea asks as she floats through the sky with a wicked smile on her face. "Can't find a counter spell in that book of yours? You truly are the lowest of Casters aren't you? Hell, I'd even wager you aren't even a mage and only ended up as a Caster because of that book." An explosion lands next to Gilles as he is knocked to the ground. "I've seen children with more power than you." Medea doesn't relent her attack and Gilles is left to crawl himself up and keep running.

"You say that now, but you'll be the one wishing you'd just give up Jeanne to me!" With the reality marbles gone, he rushes towards the lake to unleash his most powerful creation that was strong enough to hold back multiple Servants in the previous war. They say the road to success is pathed with hurdles and this is no different. The only difference is that his current hurdle is much less forgiving than life. Medea is no fool and notices his path so she quickly shifts herself in front of him. She outstretches her staff out and Gilles is left with little time to react as he runs head first into it. He falls backwards and the book he is carrying flies from his hands. Medea quickly grabs the book and exerts little effort in destroying it. She then points her staff right at her class counterpart.

"You must be the worst Caster I have ever heard of," She taunts the man.

"But you have heard of me?" Gilles asks.

"No, and I doubt I'll even remember you. Begone from my sight!" Medea wastes no time in charging her staff and a giant ice cube appears above his head and crushes it. He tumbles over and Medea walks away as he dissipates. "So uncivilized."

Shirou swings his sword but is surprised to see it disappear in his hand before it hits his target. Miller takes the advantage by stabbing his knife in the redhead's stomach. Blood is coughed up by Shirou as he recoils from the pain and yells. Miller rips the knife back out and begins to box with his enemy. He starts by punching the stab wound then breaks Shirou's nose with a powerful right hook. Shirou raises his arms and does his best to block. "As I said, you are good kid. You definitely have the right kit to one day be a major threat, but sadly for you that I ended up as your opponent today. If you truly do become that Servant in your future, then you have the power to maybe kill me. However power means nothing if you ain't got the experience. And from what I've seen in my life, experience always trumps power!" Miller then grabs Shirou's left arm and breaks his arm at the elbow.

He then sends another punch at Shirou's stomach wound, but he doesn't feel flesh. No his fist ended up hitting something metal, sharp metal actually. Sharp enough to cut through his armor and slice his hand. Miller withdraws from Shirou a few feet and looks at what he hit. Protruding from the stab wound is what appears to be a sword. Miller gives the redhead a once over and notices the boy has several swords ranging from different sizes covering his wounds. "What in the blazes?! For Nihilus-sake kid, that's one fucked up regenerative system you got there. It'd be better to put you out of your misery."

Shirou takes a once over at himself then raises his fist. "Misery has been plaguing me for as long as I can remember. Dealing with this is just another day." He moves towards Miller and projects the cortosis blade again to swing at him. Miller jumps back and pulls his knife back out to defend himself again. The commander has learned that the redhead only gets better at fighting with a sword the longer he uses one and he is quickly catching up to Miller's own level at it. Not only that, but the kid has already learned five different styles during their fight as well. A grin forms on his face as he hasn't fought anyone who is able to put him on the backfoot since he was a fresh boot. Shirou continues forcing the commander to backpedal and to not allow himself to be disarmed again. He has already learned that the older one has the advantage in hand to hand, so Shirou is best to keep his opponent at arms length. He also uses the 'sword healing', if you can call it that, to his benefit to block Miller's knife when he isn't fast enough to bring the sword to. They both then clash with their blades and try to overpower the other. However they aren't able to figure out the winner as a wave of energy blasts them away.

Sweat covers Mason as he continuously blocks Skorr's onslaught. It was now that Mason wished he delved more into other styles to help with lack of offense as he had plenty of opportunities to exploit the Sith's overextension but he fails each time. The only thing Mason has going for him is that Archer's reality marble is no more so Skorr no longer has anything to throw at his backside. A yell temporarily brings his attention away from his own fight and over to Shirou. He sees as Miller rips a knife from his brother's stomach with blood following. His distraction gives Skorr the chance to capitalize on it and he swings both lightsabers at Mason's to send it flying from the boy's hand. Mason is brought back to his own fight too late as Skorr then lands a hit on his shoulder. The suit takes most of the damage, but leaves a nasty burn.

"Now we're even," Skorr gestures to his own shoulder wound that he received from Mason at the temple. Mason desperately upholsters the calico submachine gun and fires it at the Sith. Skorr covers his head as the bullets collide with his armor. Most just leave dents in the armor while a few manage to find the gap in his armor and hit flesh. Mason keeps his finger on the trigger as he searches for his lightsaber. When the gun runs out of ammo, Skorr then swings a lightsaber low and destroys the gun. Mason flips over and holds his arm out to where the lightsaber is and pulls it to him. The Sith steps on his hand and the lightsaber flies past his hand. "A valiant attempt, but a failed one." Skorr lifts the stolen lightsaber into the air and points it at Shirou with the orange blade ignited. "Now you must face the consequence of your actions." With a gesture of his hand, it begins to fly towards the redhead.

"NOO!" Mason struggles to move his hand from under Skorr's foot and tries to pull the lightsaber from its trajectory with the Force. It proves to be futile as it sails past Mason undisturbed. As he struggles, he feels his father's Thompson Contender on his leg. He reaches for it with his free hand and upholsters it. Mason aims it at the lightsaber and fires it. The origin bullet flies out of the single shot pistol straight towards its target. The metal handle around the lightsaber isn't enough to stop the bullet from penetrating it and impacting the kyber crystal inside. The origin bullet begins its work on the Force sensitive crystal and it quickly causes it to become unstable. The kyber crystal starts cracking and sends a wave of energy in a four city block radius, catching everyone fighting to be knocked away.

Saber's vision takes a moment to return to normal from being blurred. She lifts herself enough to sit upright as she tries to survey the area. Most everyone is still on the ground trying to recover just as she is. Then she notices that her outfit is wet and she looks down to see that she landed in the discolored lake. Terror fills her body as she turns to head to see the Shadow turning as if to face her. Saber does her best to scramble up and run, but a tendril appears from the lake and wraps itself around her arm. She takes notice that Excalibur is located on the shore and is currently of no use to her. She pulls her arm and rips it out of its grasp. Saber notes her arm seemed to be inflicted with something after having it touch her. Saber moves to escape, but another tendril shoots out and grabs her leg. Horrified and not wanting the same fate as the previous Servants, she tries to break free but another grabs her arm again. Saber feels it begin to pull her towards it and struggles to the best of her ability. More tendril appears from the water and wrap themselves around her as she lets out a cry out in fear. Her strength seems to be weakening as she draws closer to the Shadow that is delighted to have a Servant of her caliber. More screams escape her as she desperately prays for a miracle. Though as time goes on, she starts to believe that her prayers will go unheard and she slowly gives up her struggle.

However when she fully lets go, Saber notices that the tendrils that wrap her lose their pull and falls off her. She turns to see why and is shocked at the reason. Arondight, Excalibur's counterpart, sticks from the ground as it severs the tendrils that held her. Behind the sword is her knight in dark armor. Lancelot stands in defense of the King he once proudly served in life. The knight looks at her as the tendrils begin hooking onto him instead. Some sanity appears in his eyes as he speaks. "My King, forgive my actions against you. My current state is not directly from your doing. It's from what you weren't able to do before you fell. I was filled with regret from loving the Queen and stealing her from you. I awaited the punishment I thought you would give me, but none came. Then in your last moments, I wasn't there to fulfill my oath and protect you. What you see before you is a knight filled with regret and anger. But the knock to the head gave me the wake up call I needed. Now I will do what I wasn't able to do in life and sacrifice my life to protect you."

Saber is choked up about having her knight no, her friend come clean about himself only to leave just as quickly. "There is nothing to forgive Sir Lancelot. Guinevere deserved a lover that gave her happiness and you did just that. If anything I was glad it happened."

Lancelot smiles sadly at her response. "All these years of anger only to find out you said nothing because of our happiness. Such a fool I was." More tendrils wrap around him and drags him closer as one also tries to grab Saber before she dodges it. "Go my King! Allow me the honor of being your defense one last time and fulfill my oath!"

Saber nods, "You do me honor by still recognizing me worthy enough to fulfill said oath. I will take your kind offer and honor it." She turns her back and rushes to the shore as she tries to not hear the fruitless struggle behind her. The water under her begins to fade with color as she runs and returns to its crystal clear state when she reaches land. She turns and sees nothing in the lake as if it was always that way. Saber then collapses as the corruption marks on her body lingers and eats her mana. She touches Excalibur to put it away. Her senses don't seem to warn her of any danger nearby so she lays a bit longer to conserve her energy.

Illya is helped up by her maids after being flung off of Berserker's shoulders. Rin helps Shirou over to them as his arm is around her shoulder. She puts him down and looks around to find Saber near the water. She nervously looks at Berserker who is standing guard, mostly just for his Master. "Um, Berserker?" The hulking Servant stares at her making her inwardly shrink. "If it's not too much trouble…" Rin hesitantly points to Saber. The Greek hero stares a little longer before grunting and heading over to grab Saber.

Caster then joins the group and her face falls slightly after failing to find someone. "Has anyone seen my Master?"

Archer walks in answering, "Last I saw him he was near the source of the blast."

Caster facepalms, "Again you prove to be no help. He could be anywhere now. That blast was enough to send everyone flying far where we were previously. Well can we at least know the extent of everyone's state? If no one is currently dying then I'm going to search for Mason."

Sella feels Illya's head, who winces from it. "She has hit her head, but it appears to only be a bump. Though I can't rule out a possible concussion."

"Shirou is in a weird state. His body is covered in swords that just come from his body, not into it and his wounds are healing." Rin says which Caster kneels and takes a look over at her apprentice.

"Hmm," Caster muses, checking the boy. "It seems his origin of being a sword is at a level that I never expected, however it seems to not be immediately life threatening."

Shirou coughs, "It's a little uncomfortable, but I'm alright."

"You are fine from 'alright', but at least you aren't dead. I can treat this when we get home." Caster then looks over as Berserker returns with Saber in his arms. "Her on the other hand actually makes you look 'alright' in comparison. It will take time, but I can treat this as well. A curse removal is one of the first things I've learned after all." She then stands up. "Now I don't mean to sound rude, but I do value my Master's life more than you guys so I'm going to search for him seeing as none of you are dying."

"That won't be necessary." A voice tells her in the distance. The group looks over to see Skorr holding an unconscious Mason over his shoulder. Commander Miller stands with him along with a couple troopers that have survived the battle.

"Let him go!" Caster shouts as her staff appears in her hand. Archer projects his twin blades and the rest, other than Shirou and Saber, take a stance ready to fight.

Skorr waves a finger, "Tsk tsk. You are in no position to make demands as I am the one with a hostage. Besides, half of you are falling over anyways."

"Even if a couple aren't able to fight, the rest still outnumber you." Illya proclaims. "Unhand my brother or I'll make Berserker rip your spinal cord from your ass!" Said Servant roars in agreement.

A distant engine is heard as two shapes move towards them in the sky. Skorr grins hearing it, "Oh I don't think you have any advantage over me." As the shapes draw closer, the group can make out that they are air crafts of some sort. Seeing as their enemies are currently holding all the cards, they don't make a move that would end up getting Mason killed.

Instead Caster does something drastic and a zig-zag dagger appears in her hands, "I know that you are still after me but I will not let you get the satisfaction of obtaining me through Mason!" She holds the dagger in front of her, "Rule Break-" She is cut off as something rips the dagger from her hand and flies into Skorr's.

The Sith examines the dagger in his hand. "A tool that can sever the link between a Servant and their Master? If it can do that, then I wonder what else it can do. It could prove to be useful for me. In your attempt to rid yourself from my grasp, you only give me a valuable gift. I will drill you on what else it can do once we force you to come to us once I remove the command spells from-"

"Rule Breaker!" A voice then cuts off the Sith as everyone sees a replica of the dagger embedded into Caster's chest. However it isn't Caster the one holding it, but in fact the redhead covered in swords. Caster feels her link to Mason breaks from the copy Rule Breaker and the fake then breaks afterwards. Rin catches Caster as she falls from having your mana supply abruptly cut off.

"Clever boy," The Sith compliments. "While you only ruined my current objective, my apprentice is currently securing our back up. You only delayed us, but it is still worth noting." The aircrafts come into view and one lowers behind the cult members and opens the door for them to board. "I may have lost the Servant, but I leave with my new apprentice. I'd call this a very successful trip." He along with the others board their craft and he looks at the group before the door closes. "Kill them." The second aircraft hovers in front of them and aims its blaster cannons at them.

Archer quickly jumps in front of the group and outstretches his hand. "I am the bone of my sword. Rho Aias!" A seven layer pinkish/purple flower flows from his hand and spreads out in front of them. The blaster fire shoots from its cannons and impacts on the flower that tanks the damage. Skorr's aircraft leaves the area quickly as the second aircraft continues its assault. Archer projects Caladbolg in his free hand and tosses it to Shirou along with his bow after. "Take that and blow that thing up!"

Shirou grabs the weapons tossed to him, but struggles to properly hold the bow as one of his arms is broken. Illya comes to his side and helps him straighten his aim allowing him to work on pulling back on the bow string. The sword forms into an arrow as it pulls backward and he zeros in on his target. Using Archer's weapons effortlessly flows the knowledge of how to use it into Shirou as if it was second nature. "Caladbolg!" He lets the shot fly outwards and Archer drops Rho Aias enough to allow the attack to pass through then puts it back up to protect them from the blast. It hits the aircraft and the shield does its job from the explosion. The bow fades from Shirou and Illya hands as Rho Aias does the same. The redhead then falls over in exhaustion.

The next thing Mason finds is himself in an unfamiliar room and shivering. He looks down and notices he doesn't have any sort of clothing on him. Everything is exposed for whoever to see. Not only that, but his hands are held above his head in chains and his legs are chained as well. He is held to remain standing with no hope of sitting. Mason looks around the room and sees his belongings on a cart on the other side of the room. He tries to use the Force to pull them to him, but a collar around his neck sends a shock to him and he groans in pain. To make matters worse, his stuff remains unmoved. He tries to search for the Force, but is unable to feel a connection to it. The collar then shocks him again. It seems as though the collar prevents him from using the Force and shocks him for trying to use it. Mason remembers Force suppressors being banned and most being destroyed in the republic, but this isn't the republic is it? Another look around he sees a fire pit on the other side of the room with hot coals and the room looks to have stains of blood covering it. It's covered in stone and nothing around him gives him any ideas for escape. He sighs in defeat and awaits for something to happen.

Mason isn't waiting long as Skorr comes in the door with an older model bronze droid pushing a cart behind him. "Hey, you're finally awake." The Sith walk over and Mason attempts to attack, but isn't able to go anywhere with the chains. "You still have fight in you. Admirable, but not of any use for you. As I think you have already figured out with the marks around your neck, that collar suppresses the Force. Escape is not a thing you are capable of."

"What do you want with me?!" Mason shouts.

"I believe I made it quite clear what I want from you. I want you to become my new apprentice." Skorr answers matter-of-factly.

"I thought I made it clear I said no!"

"You did," The Sith agrees. He then moves over to the cart and opens one of the drawers. "However I am not one to take no for an answer. Since you won't take the easy way, we'll use the hard way. Or what I like to call, 'The fun way'." He pulls a scalpel from the cart and places the blade on the burning coals. Fear starts to take Mason. Skorr grins in delight, "I can sense your fear. This is good. It is only the first stepping stone to the Dark side." He puts a thick glove on one of his hands and removes the scalpel that has turned red. "You know, most Sith tend to resort to using Force Lightning when it comes to torture. I have nothing against it as I used it on your friend days ago. However I find that it is only useful in that role when I don't have the right equipment. In my years as a Sith, I find that the old fashion ways work the best and this planet is filled with numerous barbaric equipment. If I have one thing I love about this world, it's that." Skorr then comes to Mason with the burning scalpel in hand. "Now where should we start?" He waves it around the boy's body. "Perhaps your cheek?" Mason can feel the heat of it near his skin. "Or perhaps we should start in your most sensitive area?" Mason shifts backwards until he hits the wall as the scalpel is positioned between his legs. Skorr grins in pleasure as he retracts he scalpel. "This is going to be so much fun. Droid, take his stuff and put it away. He has no use for it."

The droid nods as it pushes the cart holding Mason's belongings out of the room. A scream fills the room as it shuts the door behind it. It then pushes the cart and mutters something low enough that no one but it can hear. "Meatbags."

Author's Note: Well this chapter certainly didn't end well for Mason, did it? But at least Artoria and Lancelot was about to finally clear the air during the battle. Though she isn't doing well either, nor is her master. Seemed the only person enjoying the ending is Skorr. But I guess I should go over the battle of Casters. Now I'm pretty sure we call know that Medea is leagues away from Gilles who really isn't a proper mage. His only trump card was that monster he summoned in Zero, but Medea is too powerful and cunning to allow him to use it. She wasn't a villain in Fate for nothing. In fact, I believe that she probably could have won the Grail War if plot didn't stop her. Though that would pose the question of if she could deal with Gilgamesh or not. If she had Saber, Archer, and fake Assassin as she did in UBW, then yes. If not, I'd say it's debatable depending on how much prep time she had. As for Archer vs Iskandar, I believed Archer had the better advantage in a reality marble than Iskandar. If Archer can kill Hercules multiple times within it, then Iskandar wouldn't stand much of a chance. Plus the army had to also deal with the dragontooth, troopers, Berserker, and a few others along with Archer's numerous weapons that he can control. Hope that clears it up for you of how I came to this decision.

keybladelight: Well I finally got to the lightsaber fight. As I said previously, it will draw some inspiration from another lightsaber duel but I went with the ESB Vader vs Luke fight. Even with Mason's training, Skorr has years of experience on him. But at least I didn't give Mason the AOTC Dooku vs Anakin fight. The chosen one got laid out from the get go then he got laid out again even with two lightsabers. Also now Illya is literally having a headache. I left Valia out since she doesn't really fit into this chapter too well. Kind of like the last episode of Kenobi where it shifts from the Obi-Wan vs Vader fight to the Third Sister and the Lars family. Takes away from the moment. I won't really be touching on Artoria's brother too much as he didn't really have much of a role in Fate. As for Mo-san I do prefer her Apocrypha look, but I want to stick with her appearance in the Fate route for this story. It doesn't get too much attention sadly. Also I will just let you know that none of Artoria's family will be making an appearance in this story other than a flash back if I decide on that. For Nihilus, I'm going to continue evading whether or not he get resurrected, but I like your idea about using the Sith language if he does along with the Force Lightning. For Shirou using Unlimited Blade Works, he's currently unable to since he is still in the process of training. The only reason he was able to in UBW is because he fought against Archer and the knowledge passed to him. Plus he hasn't been in any situation where he needed to use it yet anyways. Archer on the other hand, his time to shine is now. For a sequel, I've been playing with the idea for an Apocrypha sequel for a bit but I wanted to wait to see how this story goes before I say anything about it. But that is something for the future and we are not close to that point yet.

Well that's it for me. Thanks for reading and I'll talk at y'all next time!