"So, it is you, Geronimo," Karna observed, sounding as passive as our last encounter with the Indian Heroic Spirit. Geronimo nodded slowly, and I saw how his fist tightened ever so slightly around the handle of his long knife.
"I didn't want to meet the great hero of the Mahabharata under these circumstances," the Native American Caster admitted grimly. His eyebrows were furrowed, an intense light in his eyes. Karna lazily gestured with his lance.
"I did not wish to encounter the great man who bravely confronted a nation under these circumstances, either. However, I must raise my spear now that we're being attacked. Worry not, I won't allow the Mechanized Infantry units interfere with our imminent fight. This will be a battle between just all of you, and me."
"You're joking," Jeanne Alter said with a sneer.
"No, he is not," Astolfo said softly. "In the Greater Holy Grail War that Atalante, Jack, Fran, Mordred, and I were in, Karna was focused on facing off against Saber of Black. He allowed for the rest of us to continue on with our own goals. He wasn't even worried about the idea that the rest of us would attack him from behind. Don't underestimate him, Jalter."
"Don't use that name that perverted pirate gave me!"
"This will not be a battle to the death," Karna declared, thankfully cutting off the Dragon Witch's angry tirade while slamming the butt of his lance into the ground for extra emphasis. "Be prepared to fight."
"Normally, the odds would be against us, as your Servant mentioned earlier. However, if Karna truly will be holding back, we might still have a chance if we send him flying while buying time for the others to reach us," Geronimo said as he looked over at us, just as the sound of several motor engines reached my ears from behind. I looked over my shoulder to see that several trucks were bearing down on us. Geronimo's comrades were on their way to rescue us.
We didn't have to win, just keep Karna away from us for as long as possible. "Leave it to us. We've faced worse odds before," I said. As Karna was a Lancer, he was theoretically weak to Sabers. Berserkers were also useful, too. I looked at my faithful knight.
"Mordred, you're up."
"Just sit back and watch, Master," Mordred said with her usual display of verbal bravado, Clarent appearing in her right hand. But before she could step away, I reached out and briefly grabbed her right bicep, squeezing gently.
"Don't take any risks. Roman seems more alarmed about Karna than he was when we had to fight Heracles and his little 'Deus ex Machina' bullshit. Thus far he hasn't been deceitful, but there's a first time for everything. Better safe than sorry, so just buy enough time to escape." Mordred tilted her head forward slightly.
"I understand. Don't worry, Jacob. Just as you don't plan on letting me down, I don't plan on doing that either." She looked at Nightingale. "Make sure he's one of the first people on the truck."
"Understood," Nightingale said, and I didn't bother trying to protest as the nurse firmly but gently pulled me backwards.
"Fran, Alter, assist Mordred." The berserker growled, while my Avenger smirked ferally.
"About time I saw some more action!" Nearby, Ritsuka barked out orders of his own.
"Cu, Mash, you're up as well."
"Right!"
"Understood, Senpai!"
"It seems you are ready," Karna said, a slight inflection in his voice. He gripped his golden lance with both hands. "Then here I come!"
Mordred and Karna darted forward, catching the blades of their weapons against one another. They were briefly obscured from view as an impressive cloud of dust was kicked up from the backblast. Mash and the other Servants that were supporting Mordred quickly joined the fray, even though it was still presently obscured from our eyes.
"We will take two trucks. I will accompany Ritsuka and his Servants in one," Geronimo said, as two trucks came closer. "Nightingale, you and Jacob will take the other. I will help defend the trucks from any other attacks."
"Right," Ritsuka said, and I grunted in acknowledgment.
"They're here!" Geronimo called out, as the two retro-looking vehicles came screeching to a halt a few seconds later. With skills that would have had modern-day street racers drooling in excitement, the two drivers managed to pump the breaks to their rides and swung the rear of the trucks towards us. "Everyone, get in," Geronimo instructed as Chulainn cried out in pain and bounced off of the dirt, skidding to a halt near Atalante's feet.
As the Archer helped Ritsuka's Lancer back onto his feet, Nightingale guided me over to the truck we were going in. I half-expected the Berserker to toss me over like a sack of potatoes, but fortunately she didn't, instead lowering the rear pumper and helping me up onto it.
"Good to see you again, sir!" I recognized the tanned and weathered-looking teenager sitting in the driver's seat. The hat that he had worn the last time I saw him was gone, revealing short-cut blonde hair. It took my brain a second to recall the name, but I did so.
"Private Oliver? I exclaimed in shock. The teenager shot me a rueful grin as he nodded sheepishly.
"It seems we get to cross paths again, sir. I guess this is returning the favor from earlier, huh?" I let out a mirthless chuckle.
"So it would seem. We'll call it even, though, only once we are all far away from here, in one piece," I said, turning around to watch the fight between Mordred and the other Servants, and Karna.
Mordred snarled angrily as her descent was halted by Karna's parry. Recognizing the fact that she was overextended as a result, the Knight of Rebellion leapt backwards, and the spiked tip of Karna's lance barely missed scraping her breastplate.
With an angry snarl, Fran leapt at the rear of Karna, her mace sparkling with arcs of pale green electricity as it was raised overhead. Her lips pulled back revealing her teeth, the Berserker slammed her weapon into Karna's back. There was a sharp crack as some waves of electricity jumped off of the gilded head of Fran's mace onto Karna's body, but the Lancer shrugged it off with the same relative ease that Mordred had displayed during her own duel with the former Berserker of Black.
The golden-armored Lancer twirled his lance and swept Jacob's Berserker off of her feet, causing the wedding dress-wearing Servant to both tumble a few feet across the ground and getting some specks of dirt and grass on her once-pristine dress.
Mordred growled while Mash called out the Berserker's name as the Demi-Servant threw herself between the prone girl and Karna. The latter hadn't made a single follow-up attack, living up to his promise of not fighting to the death.
"My turn!" Alter snarled, leaping through the air. Her angry shout was cut off and replaced with a gagging sound as Karna slammed the flat of his blade into her gut, Sending the Dragon Witch sprawling backwards as well.
Mordred saw out of the corner of her eye Fran trying to stand up, but the Berserker was having some difficulty. The Knight of Rebellion cursed the fact that the pink-haired Berserker possessed below-average endurance for her class. "Oi, Shieldy! Get Fran onto one of the trucks, and let Jacob know that I need him to come up with some sort of plan!"
"R-Right!" Mash replied, hesitating momentarily, no doubt at the idea of leaving a friend (for that is what Mash had become) behind. She helped Fran onto her feet and away from the battle, leaving Karna and Mordred eyeing each other with the air typical of veteran warriors.
"You've changed since I last saw you, Saber of Red," Karna said matter-of-factly. Mordred sneered under her helmet.
"Oh, is that right, shiny boy?" She taunted, trying to buy time. She was a fan of a good fight, but Karna was something else entirely, reluctant to admit it though she was. She wondered if even Father would have had a hard time trying to take down the Hero of Charity.
Said Servant nodded. "Indeed. My Discernment of the Poor skill allows me to see through an opponent's character and attributes. When you rescued Ruler and Archer of Black during the Greater Holy Grail War, I saw that you were a selfish, arrogant individual who had great power but little sense of self-responsibility."
"People change," Mordred hissed, unable to deny that Karna's description of her 'younger' self was accurate. Karna nodded calmly, that expressionlessly stern gaze of his seeming to bear into her soul.
"Indeed. You care about a number of other people now. Especially that brave Master of yours."
"Why the chitchat?" Mordred asked, demanded really. While she had started this off with the idea of buying time, she hadn't expected the Hero of Charity to so willingly cooperate. It made her uneasy, to say the least. "I thought that you would have resumed the fight by now."
"Indeed," Karna said simply. It was the only warning she got before the taller Lancer shot forward like a bullet. Holding Clarent in her right hand, Mordred brought the flat of her blade up in front of her, her protected left hand gripping her sword about a quarter of the way down from the tip, thus turning Clarent into an improvised quarterstaff.
Mordred felt her sabatons dig into the earth as she felt the impact of a train against Clarent, even as she leaned into the blow. She idly wondered for a moment what Karna would be like as either a Saber or Berserker, but then decided that might not be a good thing.
Coming to a stop, Mordred tried to break the deadlock by slamming her right knee into Karna's inner right thigh. Aside from a soft grunt and the twitch of his right eyebrow, however, Karna didn't react. Not wishing to have her guard be forced through, Mordred leapt backwards. The Knight of Rebellion then leapt slightly to the right, activated her Mana Burst ability, and came charging in, seeking to pierce Karna's flank with the tip of Clarent.
The Lancer shot up into the air, however, and swung his staff in a manner that almost seemed lazy to Mordred. From the tip of his lance came a series of medium-sized fireballs. Mordred's eyes widened slightly behind Secret of Pedigree, and she began a series of frantic jumps backwards, narrowly missing being scorched by the fires.
For someone who said that this fight wasn't going to be to the death, it certainly was starting to feel like it!
Like a massive bird of prey, Karna dived down from above. Quickly adjusting her lower body's stance, Mordred allowed the top of Karna's weapon to slam into the dirt between her feet. She slammed her left foot onto the weapon just below the socket where the head was attached to the shaft in an attempt to pin it to the ground. At the same time, she swung Clarent down onto his shoulder.
To her disappointment, the massive sword only dug in less than a half-inch before Karna delivered a knee strike to her own torso, sending her skidding backwards and allowing for him to retrieve his weapon.
Mordred risked looking over her shoulder to check on her Master and the others. To her relief, everyone else was on board. "Hey Jacob, if you got some sort of grand tactic to wrap up this fight, I'd like to hear it!" Mordred shouted, once more warily eyeing Karna.
"Mordred! By the power of my Command Seal, unleash your Noble Phantasm and aim it at his feet!"
"Understood!" Mordred shouted back with feral excitement. The familiar, heady rush of raw mana pulsating through her body quickly followed. She dismissed Secret of Pedigree, sweat-soaked hair hanging down lankily around her face.
The sides of Clarent along the base of the blade extended. "This is the evil sword that destroyed my father," Mordred intoned. Once more, she relieved every last moment from that bloody (in every sense of the word) day centuries ago at Camlann. The anger and pure hatred she felt towards the one who had meant so much to her and had so coldly rejected her.
How much she fucking hated that damn sensation more and more with each utilization of it since the death of her first Master.
The normal chaotic mass of pure red energy erupted, covering the blade of her stolen sword and reaching up to the heavens itself. Her pupils narrowed into slits, her chaotically managed ponytail dancing in the wind as she prepared to swing her blade and unleash her Noble Phantasm.
"Clarent Blood Arthur!"
The unleashed energy howled angrily, seeking to devour its target. The former Lancer of Red tensed up. Mordred suspected two things. The first, and most logical, was that Karna was waiting for the last minute before dodging.
The second, and honestly far more important reason, was that he didn't understand why Mordred's Master had ordered her to aim specially at his feet. In fact, she suspected that he had done so with the intent of causing him to dodge and therefore avoid the attack.
Something that would have been a problem if Clarent Blood Arthur had been used to grievously injure the Indian Lancer.
As expected, Karna leapt several yards backwards in a single leap just seconds before impact. The column of energy slammed into the ground where the Lancer had stood upon. A great cloud of dusty soil flew into the air, forming an improvised smokescreen.
Once more Mordred had a moment of déjà vu regarding her present and past Master. Once again, she found herself retreating from a Servant of Red, but unlike last time, there was no momentary hesitation. She spun around on the back of her heels. "Getting going!" The Knight of Rebellion roared at the top of her lungs.
Not quite empty of energy reserves yet, Mordred activated her Mana Burst ability and sprinted towards the now-moving trucks. In particular, the one carrying her precious Master. Quickly closing the gap, Mordred launched herself into the air and landed gracefully right next to Jacob, though taking care to not somehow worsen his fractured hip with her landing.
"How was that?" Mordred said cockily, breathing a bit heavily but rapidly regaining her control over it now that she was no longer exerting herself in the midst of a Servant death duel. Jacob smiled at her, and she felt a bit giddy as her heart fluttered. It wasn't as embarrassing to her as when they had begun dating now that a few months had gone by.
"You did a magnificent job as always."
"It was surprisingly easy, after I used Clarent Blood Arthur," Mordred replied.
"Your Noble Phantasm proved that it can be used for more than striking down hostile Servants or decimating armies," Jacob said, nodding his head in agreement. He paused and frowned, rubbing his chin as he eyed the direction that Geronimo's stolen trucks were heading away from.
Even as the ramparts began fading away from view, Mordred's Servant eyes were able to see the faint outline of a dirt-covered Karna watching them retreat. Barely injured as he was, if Karna could see them, then why wasn't the Lancer making any attempts at chasing after them?
"Thanks," Mordred said slowly, reluctantly allowing a hint of hesitancy to tint her words as some of the smugness began to be tempered by this latest question. "However, I'm starting to wonder if perhaps it was a bit too easy. Astolfo and Doc Roman made it seem like it was going to be extremely difficult. Geronimo too. Even I was having difficulty scratching that armor of his."
"So, why give up the chase?" Jacob added, frowning. Mordred copied his expression, and the two of them watched the faint form of Karna until they were out of sight. Once that was the case, and another few minutes had gone by to ensure that it wasn't a ploy to lower their guard, Mordred finally spoke up.
"I don't know what it is, but I'm starting to wonder if everything isn't as perfectly harmonized between Blavatsky, Karna, and Edison?"
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Jacob was about to say something, but their driver spoke up. "Sir, you might want to lay down and take a nap. It's going to be a few hours before we arrive at the very least."
"You should do that," Mordred said quickly, before Jacob could even finish opening his mouth. "You haven't exactly gotten enough meaningful sleep since we arrived. Not sure if being unconscious counts, either. Don't worry, I'll be right here," she added soothingly, if also brusquely.
Jacob breathed in, held his breath, and exhaled, before reluctantly nodding. "Alright." He then closed his eyes and laid down. Nightingale watched the Knight of Rebellion shrewdly.
"You really do care for him."
"No shit," she growled, refusing to feel embarrassed by the blunt, and extremely obvious, observation. "Doesn't take a doctor to see that." Nightingale merely hummed.
"I will ensure that he makes a full recovery, or as close to one as possible considering his injuries."
"Lord Karna, are you alright?" Inquired the Mechanized Infantry unit. Karna shook his head calmly, idly brushing off the thin layer of dust clinging to his chest.
"I am fine."
"Do we pursue?" Karna shook his head again, firmer this time. He wasn't as confident as Helena had been when she had mentioned to him the whole idea, but he had felt compelled to go along in the matter of it being for Edison's best interests. If in the end Helena's idea gave them a net positive for their lion-headed friend, then the temporary bitterness of deception and half-heartedness would be forgiven.
"No. Return to your posts." The way that the reporting robot reacted almost gave it the appearance of recoiling in shock, and perhaps some anger and/or horror. However, it was a little too abrupt like it would have been in an organic body.
"But, sir, the presi-king—"
"Is not giving orders right now. I am. Return to your posts."
"…Yes, sir." With no further arguments, the company of gaudy-colored robots departed, leaving the Hero of Charity alone. By now, the sun was starting to shine in full, causing its rays to glint off of his golden armor. He turned to look at the Fortress of Denver, as Edison had named it.
"This is as far as I would go, Edison," he said softly, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply. "It seems that the clock has started ticking. You have asked for my help, so I'll stay to the end." He opened his eyes, and stared mournfully at the sky, sighing.
"But what can we do to avoid a catastrophe?"
The final countdown had begun.
Orginal endnotes: And done! So what do you think? Good news is that Chapter 113 will be more of the normal length, and not as short, so you all got that to look forward to! So how was the fight between Mordred and Karna? I know some of you wanted to see him go up against Jeanne Alter, but I hadn't planned on that. Our favorite Dragon Witch will have some big moments coming up, though!
So, for the question(s) of the chapter! How do you guys like the current way I am going with the Fifth Singularity? I know there haven't been too many major changes yet, but I'm still curious.
As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you all for your love and support for this story, and please let me know what you think! Have a great day!
Updated Endnotes 02/14/24: As always, the more up-to-date version of my story can be found on Archive of Our Own, with Chapter 290 having been posted on Monday. Otherwise, hope you enjoy my return to this site once again, as well as the chapter, and Happy V-Day!