Fate/Twin Roses Chapter 15: The Ambition of the Artist – Part II

By Bluestar076

Hello everyone! Blue here with a new chapter! Today we continue the great battle we have left last time. And as you could see from the previous episode, this one will be quite big and maybe you could guess what could possibly happen here. Some of you may not be content with what's going to happen, but I still hope that you will enjoy this chapter. After all, important moments such as these need to be put, especially in a story like this. Without further ado, we can dive in!

Note: I do not own Fate. All rights and characters belong to Kinoko Nasu and TYPE-MOON.


Chapter 15: The Ambition of the Artist – Part II

Florence – 1506

The period that served as a bridge between the 15th and the 16th Century and that was known to be the end of the Middle Ages, has a particular title in Italy.

Renaissance.

This is because in that peninsula bathed by the sea, art was reaching its highest peak, with various artists managing to create artworks that were going to stay pure and unattainable in the centuries to come. The movement started by Lorenzo the Magnificent allowed to many emerging artists to give their best and contribute to the beauty that could live on paintings and sculptures. Among those artists, there were four of them that were known more than others for the works they were able to end. We remember, for example, Michelangelo and his masterpiece that is the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, one of the few works of art that can be considered objectively perfect.

But among them…stood one artist in particular. One that knew of his capacities, and was aware of being a genius, and since that, he didn't falter or wonder what the others would have thought of his words. His huge mind and intellect were the ones that made the work and gave him the possibility to create works of art that would have been immortalized throughout the centuries. Many tried to read on this little genius's mind, but with no avail. Only an artist can understand what they themselves are thinking and put their ideas on act.

One day, this man had invited a girl on his laboratory to make a portrait of her. Even to this day, no one ever knew who this girl really was. Some say it was the aristocratic wife of a textile merchant that later would have become a high official, others said it was actually the most famous patron of that time and other theories went on to find out the identity of that woman. But in the end, it didn't really matter. What that artist wanted was to simply paint that portrait for the sole purpose of showing beauty. And its effort was well paid-off.

He could still remember the day when he made that painting. His laboratory was put in order to give a good impression on the lady, the sunlight was passing on the window that stood high, and the woman was standing still on the suggested pose. The artist was swiftly moving the brush to make the oil on canvas in a perfect way while the girl didn't move any muscle. Though, naturally some breaks during the work were allowed.

In one of these, the girl asked if she could see the work they had done at the moment. When she turned on the painting, she was in awe. "Aaah! It's beautiful!"

"Oh, please, this is only the minimum for a natural beauty such as you. It will still take some time to finish it, but at the moment, I am quite satisfied with this." The artist replied.

"Eheh…I didn't expect another answer coming from you. They told me that you were quite the optimistic figure. It's really strange to see one of them. Usually, artists freak out when something in their drawings isn't good or because of the deadline they are given. But you don't show that hesitation. You just…go and paint. How can you do it?" The woman asked.

"The answer is quite simply, dear. I simply don't waste in time on what the church or the nobility has to say or if I see an error in my art. Imperfection is a part of it and it can help to improve. I am well aware of my traits and my skills, and I use them at my advantage. I don't expect much, I just…do what my mind is telling me to do." The artist replied, surprising the lady.

"Wow…you…really are something else." She commented. "Still…are you sure of what you say? What I mean is…you really think that you can do just anything? Isn't there…something that you aspire to reach?" She then asked.

That question puzzled the artist. In fact…he never questioned himself about it. Still…inspiration and ambition are what truly made an artist. But due to his intelligence, he never made that question to himself, even if he wanted to. He felt that he would have felt more complete. And then…in that moment…he heard an animal noise that made him raise his head. And there…he could see it.

Outside of the window, there was an eagle that was circling around, showing its large wings. This sight made the artist slightly wide his eyes, as he pointed the eagle. "There…you see it? That…would be an ambition of mine. To fly…just like when Icarus tried to do it, and the sun ruined his dream and ended his life…that was an occasion that was played in a wrong way. But…the sight of the birds always fascinated me. Being there, spreading my arms and go up in the sky. Can you imagine how wonderful it would be? I know it's an impossible thing to ask…but I want to try…I'll come up with something that will put me there, among those birds, and I'll finally fly." He explained.

The woman was a bit confused, but she could understand more or less what he was trying to say. "You really have a fervid imagination…but I should have expected. After all, only you could have given such a painting of me."

"Yes, indeed. Much like the rest, I want to immortalize such beauty. If I were to reborn or reincarnate…it would be nice to get a face like yours!" The artist commented.

The lady blushed. "Oh now, you're exaggerating…"

And the work continued plainly. What was mostly just a portrait of a fine woman, became with time, the most famous painting in the world. Once completed, the artist decided to donate it to France, and to this day, it's exposed at the Louvre, with over thirty thousand people that look over it every day, becoming a symbol of art and general culture, bringing up even some controversies because of a novel and even a stealth attempt.

If he was still alive, that artist probably wouldn't have been surprised to see such success and legacy from his works, as a genius, he only did what he thought to do. But…probably…he would have thought of one of his most aspiring dreams.

If he had gotten the chance…could he have flown?

Mount Fuji – 21st April 2021 – 20.42 P.M

It was quite bizarre. In such situation, Caster of White thought back of that moment. Maybe it was nostalgia, maybe it was a last moment before making her move…or maybe it was because after all that time, she finally realized her dream. Either way, that situation made her remember that moment…but she surely knew that reminiscing the past wasn't going to help her.

"Caster!" Oeneus called out for her, making her open her eyes. "How much damage have we got?" He then asked.

"Don't worry, Master. Even if we got hit by that arrow, I've made sure that the phoenix would resist. We've only got around 5% of the damage. Though I'm afraid it that attack might have been a Noble Phantasm…" Caster of White answered.

After hearing that, Oeneus turned around and looked at the dreaded enemies that were glaring at the phoenix below. "That's enough. Time to end this."

"Yes…after coming this far, I surely won't make them harm my precious chick!" Caster of White jokingly commented. She started to set the phoenix in battle stance and prepared all types of weapons. Soon, the lock was aimed at the five pairs that were down there. That mountain would have soon been filled with cracks and explosions. It made her sad to harm such an important thing, but this was her chance…and she wasn't going to let it slip under her hands.

"The greatest artist returns! This time to show their second masterpiece!"


[Katekyo Hitman Reborn – Boys and Girls]

*Seven Cards that represent the seven classes of Servants appear one by one before splitting in two different decks, each one having the seven cards*

[Boys and Girls be ambitious, Boys and Girls keep it real, Boys and Girls be ambitious, Boys and Girls keep it real]

*Kazuto and Archer of Red open their eyes, and then Kazuto with flames on his hands and on his head starts to perform various melee attacks while Archer of Red attacks with the katana, the naginata and her bow. After that, the two start to fly in the sky*

[Following the manual, jumping out of everyday, you are a boy…]

*Kazuto wakes up and quickly prepares himself to leave the house with Archer of Red while having a croissant in his mouth. The two of them leave while Hinobu looks at them with a smile from a window.*

[Not able to become an adult, but not able to stay as a child, times like that will come…]

*Kazuto and Archer of Red are reached by the remaining members of the Red Rose Faction. With Gordon give some punch to the air, Saber of Red give his Master a pat on his shoulder with a big smile, Calem walking with a smile and his guitar on his back, Lancer of Red walking with her eyes closed, Alvis looking at the phone while Rider of Red tries to get his attentions by licking her lips, Marcus giving tips to the group, Astrea joining the chat by talking alongside Caster of Red, Cahya who looks at the group with a light smile and Assassin of Red that walks happy with her hands on the back of her head*

[Where everyone is in a hurry, in the world that we live in…]

*Meanwhile from the top of a roof, Seram, Isak, Cynthia, Tygo, Adewale, Oeneus and Maximilian along with their Servant are watching the Red Rose Faction, with Cynthia giving a quite serious stare at Kazuto*

[We stopped upon a shooting star!]

*Suddenly Kazuto and the other members of the Red Rose Faction stop and turn around, noticing the constellation of a rose in the sky. Then, the camera zooms at Kazuto's eyes before the screen becomes white*

[One thing that I cannot give up, with just one, I can become strong!]

*Fergus Mac Ròich and Saber of White clash their swords and make a battle cry, while Medb runs on her carriage to reach Rider of White, who summons her giant to attack her. Meanwhile, Cleopatra and Shuten-Douji both make a fight pose before attacking each other with melee attack. Then Cleopatra releases some golden stardust with a determined face while Shuten-Douji throws plates with a grin on her face.*

[You were scared and I pulled your hand, we keep walking!]

*Lancer of Red gets surrounded in purple flames before creating purple dragons that are cut in half by Vlad III with his lance, who jumps towards her with an excited face.*

[Our breath increasing in the head wind!]

*Caster of White attacks Astrea with magical beams, but the girl is saved by Caster of Red, who cuts the beams with her staff and is ready to fight, while Atalanta dives with anger to attack Berserker of Red, who is furious as well and he's ready to attack her. *

[Boys and Girls be ambitious!]

*Then, Kanashimi holding the Black Keys with a worried face, Hinobu making a smile with a thumb up and Avenger turning around with a diabolical smirk while surrounded in a dark aura are seen*

[ Boys and Girls keep it real! Boys and Girls be ambitious! Boys and Girls keep it real!]

*Archer of Red is preparing a flaming arrow while Archer of White is ready to shoot with his gun. The two Servants throw their blasts which clash against each other and form an explosion. Then the screen turns white and, in the end, all the Masters and their Servants are seen striking a pose while a rose stands on the center. The opening ends*


Even if damaged, the members of the Red Rose could see that the mechanic phoenix was still roaring against them, willing to take them down. This didn't please them at all.

"Ngh…as expected. Even if powerful, that attack wouldn't have been enough to weaken it." Gordon commented.

"So what? Are you suggesting that we won't get back alive because of it?" Saber of Red asked with a smile, trying to encourage him. To that, Gordon smashed his fist on the other hand.

"Fuck no! We couldn't ask for more! If anyone doesn't want to block me, I could even climb on it!" The Master of the Red Rose exclaimed.

"I don't have anything against that. What matters is that we give enough time to Lancer of Red to charge her Noble Phantasm, so that we can get disposed of that bird and possibly Caster. Until then, attack it with everything you've got, even you Berserker!" Marcus answered while his Servant roared out of rage against the machine.

And right in that moment, Cahya could notice something about it which made him wide his eyes. "Guys! It's going to attack!" He warned.

Everyone turned around and could see that the mechanic phoenix was opening her mouth, from which several tongues of fire started to fly towards them.

"WATCH OUT!" Cleopatra promptly made her cobra fly away to save both herself and Cahya. The attack continued to chase her, forcing her to use her explosive dust to get rid of it.

Lancer of Red simply generated a magic cube in order to defend both her and Calem, while both Fergus and Berserker of Red attacked back to move away the tongues.

"Dammit! Apart from weapons that thing is infused with magical energy!" Marcus commented, getting annoyed.

"Does that matter? That doesn't change the subject! We'll still charge against it!" Gordon retorted.

"Don't worry guys! We'll handle it! Focus on that robot!" Calem warned the others, as both him and Lancer of Red remained inside the cube. The serpent Servant started to accumulate energy, as a violet aura was starting to surround her.

"Got it! Ok, everyone, let's not waste this chance that Kazuto, Astrea and Alvis gave us! ATTACK IT!" Marcus then ordered.

"YES!" Everyone else agreed.

"Are you sure that you don't want to use one of the Command Seals?" Lancer of Red asked to his Master, who put a hand on his back in order to help her charge further with his magical energy.

"No, or at least…not yet. We don't know if that thing will get completely destroyed after we use the Noble Phantasm from the start, and as you know, they're precious, we cannot afford to waste them already." Calem replied before getting slightly embarrassed. "I-I hope it doesn't bother you if I touch you this way on the back." He spoke.

The Heroic Spirit looked at him in silence before turning around with a small grin. "This is no time to make such comment. If I'm going to shoot this thing for good, I'll need as much support as possible. Do your best, musician." She spoke of.

That answer made Calem feel more at ease with himself. She was right. It wasn't the time to block himself for such things. So, he fixed his glasses and continued to send energy. "Right!"

"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" In the meantime, the phoenix continued its charge by starting to open several spots in its body and shoot a myriad of missiles from it, all aimed at the Servants that stood at the mountain.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Berserker of Red knew how to answer this, as an aura of darkness started to surround him. Instead of trying to avoid them, he waited for the weapons to come at him, so that he could grab them with tentacles that came out from his back and make them of his own through his ability. "AAAAAAAAARGH!" Then, by using his grand strength, he threw the missiles back, which crashed on the mechanic bird's body, even though it wasn't enough damaged. But the Servant didn't matter. He surely wasn't done there.

After another roar, he started to run in direction of the bird, aiming to directly jump on its body. Something that Oeneus could notice.

"Grrr! That mad knight is a nuisance!" He commented.

"No need ot worry, Master! I have just the right countermeasures!" Caster of White promptly answered before clicking a button that made the phoenix glow its eyes and fire two large oranges lasers from it.

"ARR!?" Berserker of Red didn't expect this, and got fully hit, getting slammed on the ground. The knight was laying down, with his armor that started to show the first cracks. But his madness wasn't done yet, and while breathing heavily, he unleashed a stronger aura, ready to attack again. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!" He immediately dashed again, ready to make a second attempt to get on the body.

This sight made Caster of White grit her teeth for a moment. "Just as expected from the Servant of the opposite faction's Leader…guess I'll have to push up a bit more." She then started to click more buttons on a specific question to modify the structure of the phoenix.

The Servants of the Red Rose could see that the cannons where the missiles were shoot started to change from smaller holes to bigger ones. A bigger horror appeared in their eyes as soon as they could see that the phoenix was now shooting several lasers from many parts of his body, which went everywhere, causing signs at the mountain.

"Dammit! Cahya! Brace yourself!" Assassin of Red exclaimed before she made the golden cobra move in a more intricate way. Even if the situation was critical, she still made herself a road to get closer to the mechanic body. Despite the risk, she continued, and she could see the lasers missing them of just a few inches. "If I'm not careful we'll fall! But I can't afford to die already! Archer's attack wasn't enough to make if falter, we need to give something more before Lancer can deliver her blast! Plus…" She thought before widening her eyes in resolve. "I STILL NEED TO SHOW RIDER THAT I'M BETTER THAN HER!" She shouted.

Hearing that resolve, made the golden cobra shine in a golden light and increased his speed, making them flash like a lightning towards the bird.

"A-Amazing! The cobra has increased its stats!" Cahya commented surprised by such thing.

"As the one who murdered me and my own Noble Phantasm, you could say that we are mentally connected. My mood becomes its! NOW GO!" Cleopatra exclaimed.

In a matter of minutes, the cobra was able to get under the phoenix's body and started to attack it, by crawling directly under it while being covered in flames. Even Cleopatra gave her contribute by starting to deliver several strong kicks at the belly. "LET'S SEE IF YOU LIKE THIS!"

From inside, Oeneus could see the warning screen. "Several small damages at the belly of the machine!" He exclaimed.

Caster of White, in the meantime, could see from her position a real-time footage of Assassin of Red that was attacking. "Is that so? Then don't complain if I do something as well!" She said before pulling a lever.

As she did so, Assassin of Red could hear something metallic closer, and as soon as she turned her head on the right, she could see one of the gigantic tail's feathers approaching her. "W-WHAT!?" She tried to move as fast as she could, but in the end they all got hit and fell to the ground.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Cahya and her Servant ended up crashing on the top of the mountain, and when the homunculus stood up, she could see that his Servant was bleeding from both her head and her chest.

"Assassin!" Once he saw her in such state, he immediately ran towards her and started to use his healing magecraft to help her get better.

As the wounds started to close up, Cleopatra was able to open her eyes and see what her Master was doing. "C-Cahya?"

"Come on, stand up! I'm not letting you die!" The homunculus spurred while continuing. Seeing him in that way made her have a small smile. Another proof of emotion from him. She could see that at this point, it was starting to get more frequent.

Shortly after, even if there was still blood in her face, the Servant slowly stood up and called back the cobra. "Thanks…I'm better. Let's get back on it."

"Are you sure?" Cahya asked.

"Yes, don't worry. We can't let the other two pairs do all the job, they need reinforcements. Besides, I'm the one who supposed to protect you, not vice versa!" The Servant replied with a wink.

The mage could understand and nodded. "Then let's go!" Nothing else needed to be added. Cleopatra summoned back her cobra and started to fly towards the target with the purpose of destroying it.

"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!" The mechanic phoenix answered with another barrage of fire tongues that went straight against them, but the cobra was more careful this time, and managed to make itself a road through them once again.

Oeneus could see from the screens that despite the attacks, both Berserker and Assassin of Red were still trying to make their road against the bird. "They're more stubborn than I thought. Even with a clear disadvantage, they try to attack again."

"It's only natural, Master. Everyone wants to aim at the Grail after all. Plus, I'm sure they're pretty angry after losing one of their pairs. But don't worry! The phoenix has only 10% of damages as of now, we can still-" Caster of White was going to reassure his Master, but she stopped herself as soon as she saw an alarming vision on one of the screen around her. "W-What!?"

Seeing that, Oeneus immediately ran towards her. "What happened!?" And once he gave a look at the screen, he was horrified as well. "No way!"

Gordon and Saber of Red were able to reach the mechanic bird and started to climb over it. In the midst of the battle, they made themselves a road to avoid the lasers, even if they were the ones with most difficulties, as they didn't have the same skills as the other Servants. Once they were close enough, Gordon used his runes to give himself a powerful boost in order to make a larger jump and reach the gigantic mecha, while Fergus simply needed to put more strength in his jump. Due to his nature as an heroic spirit, such thing wasn't hard for him.

The two of them reached the bottom of its back and started to run forward, aiming for the head in the hope of damaging the main part enough to destroy it. Needless to say, the two of them were running like two wild bears, ready to devour a prey.

"With our attacks, we could be enough to destroy this chicken and Lancer won't have to consume energies!" Gordon said to his Servant.

"That was exactly the same thing I was thinking! I didn't know there could be anything better after seeing Saber of White, but THIS IS FREAKING EPIC! LET'S SEE IF IT RESISTS AT MY BLADE!" Saber of Red added.

Their road was suddenly blocked by several green automats, which held their weapons tight and ran towards them.

At such sight, Gordon made a small laugh and prepared his fists, which started to generate small shockwaves. "You still didn't learn anything from before? YOU'RE DEAD DEBRIS!" After shouting this, the mage threw himself and started to use his powered-up fists to both destroy the robots that were standing in his way and start to severely damage the body of the gigantic phoenix, slamming his fists to the back, starting to create small holes in it. Saber of Red, in the meantime, was piercing through the bodies of the automats with his sword. To him, it was simply a fact of moving his weapon while proceeding during the road.

The attack of the automats lasted around a couple of minutes before the rests of the robots fell down from the phoenix, letting the pair of the Red Rose get further through the gigantic body.

The opponent pair wasn't going to let them do so, and they immediately started to use more effective attacks to bring them down.

"Master! Watch out!" Saber of Red warned, as he saw one of the wings bend down and coming closer to them. Gordon widened his eyes and then got apparently hit by it.

"GAAAAAH!"

"MASTER!" Fergus shouted.

"Got him!" Oeneus thought that an enemy was taken out, but both he and Caster of White saw with shock that they were wrong.

The screen showed that Gordon was somehow able to hold on the wing after getting hit. His shirt was teared apart, revealing his muscles, and his body was still releasing several shockwaves. He was bleeding, but he was still more than stable. "Anf…anf…anf…" The Fragarthach mage had to catch his breath, but he smirked. "If you think this is all it takes to kill me…then you're dead wrong." He spoke, as he started to increase the power of the runes in his body. This was shown, as his hands started to wreck the spots where he was attached on the wing. "Now that I've got another interesting deal, LET ME HAVE SOME FUN!" After shouting this, he made a jump to directly land on the wing, and from that, he started to run at high speed, full of excitement.

"Wanna have some fun, you say!?" Oeneus asked, getting annoyed. "FINE! HAVE AT YOU!"

"Got it!" Hearing her Master, Caster of White used another combination of buttons that made the wing throw smaller metallic feathers aimed at Gordon, with the intent to stab him.

Despite this, Gordon didn't hesitate and continued to run nonetheless, ready to face that attack. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" As soon as the feathers were close to him, the mage started to punch them back destroying most of them, while others were able to reach him and stuck in his body. "GHH!" This caused him to get some wounds on his body, but he didn't care at this point. He risked too much in the past because of his weakness, and now that he and his faction could counterattack, there was no way he would have retired, even if Marcus ordered him. The adrenaline made the runes increase their magic and gave him an ulterior boost to proceed.

Saber of Red couldn't smile after seeing this. He surely wasn't going to stay behind him and accelerated as well. While making his road, the Servant used his sword to generate more damages to the back of the robot, even if smaller. He was aiming at the head, but more damages in the meantime wouldn't have been bad.

Oeneus and Caster of White saw the complete situation through the various screen, and the Master of the White Rose started to sweat. Not only the plan didn't work correctly as they thought, but the enemies were trying to find a break through their ultimate invention. If they didn't make something up to counter it, they would have lost, even with such a powerful machine.

"The situation is even too much critical…all three Servants are trying to get through. The most dangerous ones are surely Saber and his Master. Even with everything we are throwing at them, they're running like mad bulls. Berserker and Assassin are dangerous but for now, they're still manageable, and for some reason…Lancer of Red is standing there, wrapped up in her barrier. She's probably playing something…" The Animusphere mage thought.

"Feeling stressed?" Caster of White asked him to make sure he was ok.

"A little. But it's natural after seeing this situation. Listen Caster, while we keep the aim on everybody, focus the best of the artillery to Saber and Lancer of Red, they're the most dangerous ones!" Oeneus replied.

"Gotcha! Doing it right awa-" Caster was going to execute the order, but in the moment when she turned around, she saw an unsettling vision. In the radar…there was another signal. "W-What!?"

Oeneus gave a look at it, too. "Someone else's coming!? Could it be Archer or Caster of Red!?"

"No…even if they survived, they wouldn't be here soon…" The Servant replied, judging by what happened. She didn't take her too long before guessing the answer by herself. The thought of it made her have a shriek on her back for a moment. "It's him…"

Oeneus understood it as well. "That bastard…he followed us this time as well!?"

And just as they thought, while the Servants of the Red Rose were continuing their battle…they got an unexpected attack from a blue lightning.

"GRAAAAAH! AH!?" Berskerer of Red got attacked from behind before the flash passed in front of him.

"GAH!" Asssassin of Red was pushed away, but somehow managed to stay on the cobra.

"What was that!?" Cahya exclaimed.

"It will may take a while, but at this rate, I'll be able to-" Saber of Red was continuing his road while suddenly, he could see the blue lightning appear in front of him. "W-What!?"

The lightning remained stable for a few seconds before fading out, revealing the unexpected fifteenth Servant, who looked at Fergus with a small grin.

"Avenger! You too here!?" Saber of Red exclaimed.

"You even ask? After seeing this marvelous show, I couldn't bare to just watch as you slaughter each other. Am I not allowed to have some fun as well? I'm a participant too after all." Avenger ironically replied.

"Big words for someone that wasn't supposed to be here. Are you saying that you intend to help Caster of White?" Fergus asked before pointing his sword against him. "Because in that case…I wouldn't mind smash this in your head!"

"…I think you have misunderstood…Saber of Red." The other Servant replied before opening a hand behind him and shoot a blue beam that reached the neck of the bird, damaging it.

"AH! The neck was damaged!" Caster of White exclaimed while Oeneus slammed his fist on a wall.

"DAMMIT!"

"I'm just a third party. Humanity has two sides after all, I just wish to see who shall prevail in the end!" Avenger then continued, and just as he finished to say that, Fergus was already in front of him, throwing him far with a hit of his sword.

The irregular Servant crashed down, but in just a matter of seconds, he stood up and dashed against Fergus, surrounded by a shadowy aura. "So, we go straight to the point, eh!? I LIKE IT!" He exclaimed before throwing a powered-up punch against Fergus, who answered with a punch of his own, showing that even with that power, he was able to stand up against him. "Aaaah, interesting…"

"WREAAAAH!" Fergus proceeded immediately to attack him with a sword, but Avenger jumped away in time and started to shoot several beams of blue electricity. Saber of Red ran towards him while deviating the bullets with the sword.

"It seems that you are close to me somehow! Where did you put all this agility in the last encounter?" Avenger asked.

To hear that question, Fergus smirked. "You seem that you underestimate the power of a Knight of the Red Branch then. Back then I was weakened by the match with Saber of White. This is the true me! I hope it's of your liking!" He exclaimed before jumping towards him and slash through with his sword.

Avenger ended up getting a diagonal cut from the left shoulder to the right spleen. But even with this sight, he smiled. "Very good. Even in front of me and all alone, you stand up and get to hit me. I love how humanity gets the courage to do such things…" He commented before starting to charge energy from his hand. "Therefore, I hope you won't complain if I get serious as well!" He then released the energy in front of a beam that sent Fergus a few meters away.

"GAH!" Fergus fell down, and started to have various burns in his body. But despite this, he stood up and smiled after making some heavy breaths. "Complain? Me? Not at all. After all…THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR!" He shouted before shooting a golden swipe made of energy that forced Avenger to recoil.

"THEN DON'T DISAPPOINT ME!" Avenger answered with the same tone.

"Still…this could be a chance. Aim the missiles at both of them!" Oeneus ordered at Caster, back at the main hall.

"Gotcha! After all, I've made sure that our own weapons wouldn't damage the body of the phoenix!" Caster of White replied before pushing a button.

The head of the phoenix turned around and growled at the two Servants. "SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!" As soon as it opened its mouth, several tongues of fire were released.

Saber of Red and Avengers were somehow able to reach each other through the attack, and started their mutual assault.

Fergus's sword clashed several times against Avenger's electrified fists. The irregular Servant started to move around him fast while trying to attack him, but Fergus proved to be able to see through his movements, thanks to his ability Mind's Eye, which granted him the ways to survive in a struggle. He then started to spin with his sword at high speed to push back Avenger, who jumped high and tried to shoot him with a single electrified beam. Saber of Red jumped in time, making the sphere damage the spot of the mecha phoenix.

As the battle continued, Teufel could see the fifteenth Servant from afar, confused by his actions. "What is he doing? Why is he also attacking the phoenix!? He's not supposed to show himself yet!" He wondered.

Saber of Red and Avenger continued, unleashing more energy attacks that clashed and nullified each other, but that didn't matter. They immediately ran and fought even through the smoke, and right in that moment, a tongue of fire was able to reach them and blast them. "AAARGH!" But even through this, they stood up and looked at each other with a smirk. They weren't done yet. They wanted more. They both wanted to enjoy the moment. But someone else had a different idea.

Marcus could see that Avenger had joined the brawl, and his fears started to rise up. "This couldn't get any worse…we already don't have many reinforcements, and if Avengers comes in, the possibilities for us to lose increase." He commented. As he tried to come up with a way to resolve this, he got an idea, though it was risky. "…They would end up facing the phoenix only in two. Lancer is still preparing her Noble Phantasm while Archer and Caster remained behind to help us. Facing that gigantic monster with only two Servants is dangerous..." He said to himself. He tried to come up with something, but there wasn't much time. He held his fist tight and decided. "There's no other choice for now. Avenger is too much of a threat. I won't allow that Master to win and humiliate us further! The pride of the Yggdmillenia must be maintained high at all costs!"

With a new found resolution, he raised his hand and aimed for the move. The Command Seals started to shine. "Berserker! I order you through this Command Spell! Aim at Avenger and bring him away from here! Don't let him get close to our members!" He exclaimed. His hand started to glow further in one of the seals which started to disappear.

Berserker of Red, who was answering to the phoenix's attacks, suddenly felt a burst of energy overflow in his body. "AAARGH! GRRR…" As soon as he raised his eyes, his vision started to alter, showing Avenger as the only red sign. He was the target. He was the threat. Nothing more. Nothing less.

The rage started to get all over his mind…as his helmet started to glow read. A gigantic aura of darkness started to come out from his body as he roared with rage. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" With a gigantic jump powered by the boost of the Command Spell, the knight Servant was able to reach the phoenix and go directly at Avenger, who saw this flame of darkness get in front of him while he was facing Saber of Red.

"W-What the…?"

"Berserker!?" Fergus exclaimed.

"GAH!" In an instant, Avenger got punched in the face to the point of making him bleed, and Berserker of Red dragged him at high speed far away, looking like a black comet.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Ah come on! Just when I was having fun!" Fergus complained.

Even Gordon could see Berserker take Avenger with him. "Was that Berserker? Considering that Lancer is still preparing her attack, that means it's only me and Cahya who can do something. But maybe it's for the best…" He commented before turning on his Servant. "Saber! Leave them be! Let's focus back on this thing!"

"Got it!" Saber of Red replied, hearing his Master. Even from the other side, they were relieved a bit.

"Berserker of Red brought Avenger away with him. We can focus back on the others. In a way, he made things easier for us!" Caster of White commented after seeing the scene from one of the screens.

Oeneus could take a breath of relief for a moment. "This means that there's still a hope. Let's not waste it!" He answered. "We can still get rid of three Servants!" He thought.

"Anf…anf…are you ok, Assassin?" Cahya asked in the meantime. He and his Servant were still on the cobra.

"Yes, somehow…to think that Avenger would have come here…" Cleopatra replied.

"You think you can continue?" The homunculus then asked. By hearing that, the Servant made a grin.

"Hey, don't underestimate the beauty of the desert! I still have a lot of energies to use!" She answered.

By hear her say this, Cahya felt more secure and made a little smile. "Then let's continue!" With that said, they dived against the phoenix, which growled against them. The battle was already devastating, but there was still a lot to do.

Teufel, on the other hand, could see Avenger getting thrown away and looked at his Master a bit annoyed. "Clever from you, leader of the Red Rose. No wonder how you were able to survive against Isak. Let's see how your Servant can handle things then…unfortunately, I have to back him up." He said before starting to run towards the direction where Avenger was thrown away.


In the meantime, Ryujin continued his race and was able to climb through Mount Fuji. There, he could see a black comet go away from the battle and he understood what that meant. "It seems that a surprise attack won't work this time. No problem, Avenger should be able to resist and get back." He commented before looking up. "Now that we got a lot of Servants in one place, there's no way we get to miss this chance." With this goal in mind, the policeman started to jump upwards in order to reach the top of the mountain. Thanks to his speed increased by his magical circuits, he could reach higher heights in a short time. "The first one I should aim is the leader of the Red Rose. Now that he's without his Servant, he should be an easier target, even if he'll probably show some strength. No matter…he'll just be the first corrupted problem to dispose of." But before he could reach Marcus, something that he didn't expect to see happened.

Suddenly, two small blades stabbed him in the shoulders. "What-?" He wondered. The two weapons generated a strange energy that made him slam against the mountain. "Ngah! What the hell is the meaning of this!?" They weren't a problem for him, as he was able to get rid of them with his flesh tentacles, but it was still something that blocked him. And then…he could hear some footsteps coming closer. "Hm?" As he raised his head up, he could see him.

"It seems that I was able to reach you in time…Ryujin Gomon-sha." Kanashimi came closer while taking off his scarf. He had chased his target for quite a while, but now he was ready to deal with him.

Ryujin was confused at first, since he didn't recognize that mage, but as soon as he saw the two blades that blocked him before and the golden cross that boy had around his neck…everything was clearer. "Black Keys…I see. Considering that you're a mage of the church, you must bee the overseer of this Grail War, am I right?" He said with still a neutral tone.

"Correct. My name is Kanashimi Kotomine. And I've heard that you are the one who's disrupting the natural order of this Grail War by summoning Avenger." Kanashimi replied, summoning more Black Keys on his hand.

Ryujin didn't change expression and glared at him straight in the eyes. "That's rich coming from you. Ever since it started back in the 19th century, you of the Kotomine family and the rest of the church had continued to handle this contorted system of the Holy Grail War. But haven't you questioned your own actions for just one time? You, who should be the messengers of God, should know better than anyone that these wars keep on destroying order and take away the souls of countless people. You, above everyone else, should desire order just like me. I don't consider myself as an irregularity, simply the one that should do this. I desire order more than anything else. I cannot stand the arrogance that you and the Mages' Association have showed for over two centuries…" He explained, implying his desire to take him down.

Even Kanashimi's expression didn't change and he simply sighed. "I can understand your point of view, but unfortunately, I find myself of the complete opposite opinion. Ever since it was founded, the Holy Grail War had always been a natural part of this world, even if hidden. I have waited a long time for this even to come and promised my father Risei that I would have done anything to make sure that the war could have worked correctly. You and your Servant mean an error to my actions…which is something I need to correct. I won't let anything ruin this. It seems that in order to make you stop…I'll have to see the sorrow in your eyes." He answered.

Ryujin remained the same, but he was slightly annoyed by that answer, as two tentacles of flesh came out of his back. "You can try." With those simple words, he aimed the tentacles at Kanashimi, who didn't move.

To the mage's surprise, two long white tapes came out from behind Kanashimi and went at high speed and blocked the two flesh tentacles. "What are those?" He wondered, but he couldn't elaborate a possible answer, as he saw Kanashimi already running towards him with a sphere of darkness what was getting charged in his hand.

"Grr!" At the sight of it, Ryujin was forced to withdraw his tentacles that were still blocked to jump away and avoid the attack, which made a part of the mountain explode. Ryujin thought that he could have had a moment to reflect on how to take him down, but to his horror, as soon as Kanashimi saw the attack missed, he prepared the next one. He already had four Black Keys on his hands and threw them right away. Ryujin used the flesh tentacles to push them away, but this time, there was a surprise.

"Set." With one single command, the Black Keys stopped themselves and aimed back at Ryujin straight as arrows.

"What-!? GH!" Not expecting this, Ryujin got stabbed by all the Black Keys, but this didn't stop him by transforming his arm into a giant amount of flesh and try to smash him down, especially considering that he was starting to get even more frustrated. At first, he thought he had crushed him, but he widened his eyes as soon as he saw the priest surrounded by a golden barrier with strange engravings, different from Isak's magecraft.

"What's with this mage!? He seems young but even too much skilled!" Ryujin thought at the sight of the barrier.

"You seem surprised. Stay still, the worst for you has yet to come." Kanashimi warned, as several red thunders came out of the barrier and tried to electrify Ryujin.

The police mage quickly moved forward and dodged the lightnings until he was able to reach Kanashimi and tried to slam the modified arm against him.

The barrier tried to resist for a few moments, but it got inevitable shattered and Kanashimi got hit by the arm, which made him bleed. "GH!" Even if he started to bleed, he was able to not get totally thrown away and his feet were still stuck on the ground. "GRRRRRRRRR!" By putting strength, he was able to lift Ryujin's arm and threw him behind, making a judo move.

"AH!" Ryujin was bewildered to see himself getting thrown away and see that Kanashimi was already preparing the next Black Keys. Even if he was taken by surprise by his opponent's outstanding skills, he didn't want to let go and immediately turned his other arm into a myriad of flesh filaments that overwhelmed the Black Keys and sliced Kanashimi on the spleens and on the ankles. This gave Ryujin the time to regain balance and land on his feet.

Kanashimi could see that the wounds were bleeding, but this wasn't the time to think about that. "I did hear about him, but I didn't imagine he had such skills…" He thought.

"You're hiding something, aren't you? The mages of the church never showed such level of strength and magecraft!" Ryujin asked.

Kanashimi maintained his melancholic expression and got back on a fighting pose. "I think I've made myself clear. To make sure that this war proceeded as plan, I'm ready for everything. Even if it means to become something more than a human." He replied.

"What?" Ryujin asked.

In that moment, Kanashimi's arm got filled with red electric shockwaves and he immediately shoot a large red beam aimed at Ryujin, who widened his eyes and tried to block him with the flesh giant arm.

"GRRRRRRRR!" He was able to put a resistance, but the beam was burning the flesh and soon, it would have reached the true arm. At the last moment, he was able to divert the beam, which ended up to the sky and could be seen from miles away.

Seeing that didn't work, he quickly put his hands on the ground and used his magecraft to make the earth tremble generate a crack that became a small eruption that made Ryujin fly high.

"AGH!" Ryujin could see as more tapes coming from the Kotomine priest running towards him, but Ryujin didn't want to be foiled again, and used his flesh arm to cut through them and then dash towards the enemy.

Kanashimi widened his eyes as the other mage reached him in a matter of seconds and was ready to attack.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Ryujin went directly for the attack, with Kanashimi putting one arm in front of him, and then…

SPLAT!

Kanashimi's arm was cut off and fell to the ground. The priest widened his eyes as he saw the missing art and the blood coming out from the large hole, but he didn't scream.

Ryujin immediately turned around and was ready for another strike. "I did it! He may be strong, but with just one arm, he won't be able to resist that much." He thought. "I'll admit it, you scared me at first, but I don't see you go anywhere in your conditions. My goal will be easier once I got rid of you." He then said.

"…Are you sure?" Kanashimi simply asked without turning around.

"Uh?" Ryujin asked.

In that moment, small shockwaves started to surround Kanashimi's hole…and from them, molecules started to form and slowly rebuild the arm, even recreating the sleeve of the robe. It was only then that he turned around to see his enemy's eyes.

At this sight, Ryujin started to tremble. Even with that effort, that overseer seemed to be fine and ready to answer again. Not only that, he did something that even those who practiced magecraft weren't able to do easily. "You…you regenerated your own arm!? W-What are you!?" He exclaimed.

"What am I? Simple…" Kanashimi simply replied before finding in front of Ryujin ready to attack. "I'm one who embraced sorrow." With those words, he threw a punch that made Ryujin spit blood and get crashed once again against the mountain.

"BLARGH!" He was ready at everything, but Ryujin would have never imagined to see a mage that could do much, to the point that he didn't even look human. Now, he was starting to get afraid, but exactly because of this, he couldn't let himself feel intimidated by that. Now that there were a notable number of participants of the Holy Grail War, he could get closer to his goal…he only needed to get rid of that obstacle. "If he can regenerate himself, I'll simply have to aim either to his head or to his heart. I don't care if he's that strong…I'll kill him! Order must be preserved at all costs!" He thought before getting out of the rocks and dash against him, with both his arms turned into large flesh muscles and deliver a double fist.

Kanashimi was thrown away by this sudden attack, but he regained balance and landed safely instead of falling down from the mountain. "He's still resolved after that. Fine…so be it. I won't make other mistakes." He answered before running as well.

The two started to clash, with Kanashimi doing his best at dodging the two large arms and answer with either the Black Keys or some of his magic attacks. Ryujin, on the other hand, started to get more careful to avoid or counterattack the blasts, but the priest still showed his bizarre strength. "In case I won't be able to resist, I'll need for Avenger to return…he surely won't die tonight. He resisted against that knight before and he can do so again!"

Avenger in the meantime, crashed down a few miles away from the mountain with a violent impact. When he stood up, he had to hold his head and spit a tooth from his mouth. "Eheh…that was pretty hard. I surely didn't expect that." He commented.

In that moment, Berserker of Red landed two meters away from him, with his body still surrounded by a dark and red aura. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…" He was still showing his intent, moved mostly by the Command Seal.

"My, my, that madness of yours is surely at the highest level of now. I admire that. If I could I would ask you where that madness comes from, but it seems that you cannot talk that much." The fifteenth Servant said while starting to come closer.

Berserker on the other hand, didn't care of what he was saying. His only order was to get rid of him and assure the others victory. Therefore, he let the Madness Enhancement take control over him and make him a complete beast. "Grrrr…Grrrrr! WRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He released a powerful shout that made the earth vibrate and then threw himself to the attack.

"EAHAHAHAHAHAH! I LIKE THAT GRIT OF YOURS! LET'S RESUME WHAT WE HAD SUSPENDED LAST TIME!" Avenger charged against him with the same energy.

The two threw a fist that clashed with the other's one, generating a shockwave of dark energy that generated several cracks in the surrounding area. After that, the two of them jumped away and then tried to prevail against the other with a series of physical attacks.

"ARGH!" Berserker of Red's attacks were fast and strong, but Avenger knew that he was mostly counting on his brute force and attempted to tear him apart, so the irregular Servant focused on being careful in avoiding him, despite knowing that even one single attack from him would have been fatal.

In this, Avenger was advantaged by his ability to quickly move around while being surrounded by the darkness, making him faster to both dodge and answer with his own attacks, and as such, he was able to move out in time and answer with several blue beams that pushed the mad knight away. "I know that this is not your true one! Show me that you have more than this!"

Berserker of Red was starting to have some cracks in his armor, but his rage and charge remained unharmed, even after seeing Avenger coming in front of him at high speed, ready to finish him off with another beam of electricity. But this didn't make him change his reaction, and instead, he generated a large metal pipe that he used to hit Avenger and sent him away.

"Wha- GAH!" Not expecting it, Avenger was thrown away again, and Berserker of Red immediately jumped and tried to impale him with his weapon. The other Servant jumped away in time and started to move fast in order to dodge this sudden new attack from the opponent, which brought more dangers than ever due to the length of the pipe.

"I've never seen him use something like that before! As far as I could see in the past, he can turn everything he touches as his own Noble Phantasm, but I didn't know he could generate things of his own! With a weapon on his hands, he's surely more dangerous!" Avenger thought before seeing with wide eyes Berserker of Red coming straight for him.

"WRAAAAH!" The mad knight was able to deliver a horizontal strike that attacked Avenger at the spleen and made him recoil of a few steps.

"GAH!" Avenger felt as his muscles weakened for a moment and then could notice that the other Servant was running against him. This made him grit his teeth and answer with an immediate defense. "HAAAAH!" He quickly generated a small electric explosion that made Berserker of Red recoil and temporarily blind him. Taking advantage by this temporary advantage, Avenger ran towards him and punched him in the belly.

"GAH!"

Immediately after, that he opened his hand and placed it to shoot an electrical beam at a close distance making him fly away and crash on the ground. "Now's the chance!" Aware of the dangers, Avenger jumped and tried to bombard him from above with several beams of electricity, but before he could do that…

"RAA!" Berserker of Red raised his head with his visor glowing red and released a few small tentacles that wrapped up Avenger's body and slammed him several times to the ground, while Marcus's Servant got to stand up. "GRAAAAH!"

"AGH! Don't think it's that easy to block me!" Avenger retorted before managing to open his hand and generate a beam that wiped away the tentacles. Once he landed, he dashed while surrounded by electricity against Berserker and tried to overpower him with a barrage of fists. Berserker of Red accepted the challenge and charged as well while surrounded by his dark and red aura. The clash between the two of them made them look like two large flames that tried to devour the other.

While contrasting each other, the two Servants started to use headbutts in the attempt to make the other falter. Despite Avenger having an impressive physical strength, the iron helmet clearly gave Berserker of Red an advantage and in the end, he was the one to prevailed.

"AGH!" After another headbutt, Avenger bled from the nose and was forced to recoil. Berserker of Red took this advantage just like his opponent did before and gave him a strong punch that threw him several meters away. Avenger crashed several times on the ground but he easily regained balance and landed safety, though he had to fix his nose. "Kh…eheh…I should have expected it from the Servant of the leader of the Red Rose. Just like Saber, he's showing his real power…and I'm sure he's powered up by something if he manages to give me so many attacks…" He commented before noticing something else. "UH!?"

Berserker of Red materialized a weapon once again, but instead of a metal pipe he formed a quite unusual yet effective weapon.

A gigantic machine-gun.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Without thinking twice, Berserker of Red held the weapon tight and started to fire a rain of heavy bullets at Avenger, who moved around fast in order to not get hit, but to his surprise, the mad knight was able to keep up even with the heavy weapon.

"GHHH!" Soon, Avenger found himself filled with bullets that started to destroy his coat and make him lose his hat. He was able to resist, but not for long.

"Such madness incorporated in such weapons that are unusual for someone like you. Guess you brought your grudge after your death and now you're showing it to me, huh? I get that even too much…and that's why it won't take long before I'll surpass you!" He exclaimed, staying overall still excited, while his enemy continued.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"


"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH" Back at the mountain, the mechanic phoenix was commanded to use the best of its artillery to strike down the two Servants that remained to attack it. After seeing Berserker of Red dragging away Avenger, Oeneus and his Servant thought of it as the perfect chance. They needed to start somewhere at this point, and now that there were only two Servants actively fighting, they could get the upper hand.

The mechanic bird surrounded itself with rotating lasers to make sure that no one would get any closer. Both Cleopatra and Fergus could go on even for a lot of hours as long as they had their Masters to back them up, but even them started to show difficulties in going through.

"HAAAAA!" Assassin of Red kept on making herself a road through the attacks. When she was close enough, she released some of her magical dust to generate several explosions to damage the body.

Even Cahya tried to give a hand by using a light beam from his sword, but his damage was smaller, since it still was a machine made by a Servant. "It's getting more intricated! The damages are still not enough and Lancer is still charging her Noble Phantasm!" He said, giving a quick look on the current situation.

"But we can't give up yet now…maybe I should use my Noble Phantasm as well…" Cleopatra said, thinking of something that might help them.

"Are you sure?" Cahya asked, but before the could continue the situation, they saw something that alarmed them. "WATCH OUT!" The homunculus shouted.

"What!? AH!" Assassin of Red could see it as well. One of the left wing's feathers was going down on them. They tried to move away, but the dimensions of such feather made them unable to do so, and they got hit and fell down again. "GAAAAAAH! C-Cobra! Get ahold of yourself!" Cleopatra then ordered to her 'pet', who did their best to stay still and keep on flying.

But the mechanic phoenix wasn't done there. It immediately started to shoot several missiles aimed at them. Cleopatra didn't lose any time and ordered the cobra to fly as soon as possible to make sure that the weapons passed only behind the reptile, so that she could dispatch of them by using her dust.

"Keep it going! We can't lose hope now! We still have a possibility! We just need to hold on!" Cahya tried to encourage his Servant.

"I'm doing my best! Please hurry up, Lancer!" Assassin of Red shouted as she kept on moving.

Lancer of Red, back on the mountain's top, was doing her best to charge her attack, but considering the effectiveness and destructive power of it, it turned out to take longer than expected.

"Hold on…I'm at a good point…" The snake Servant said before noticing something as well. "Uh!?"

"LANCER!" Calem shouted before noticing that a gigantic beam cannon was coming against them and clashed against their barrier.

"NGHHHHHHHHH!" Lancer of Red did her best to make sure that the barrier could keep on defending them, but the cracks started to appear and the impact ended on them safe, but with their cube completely shattered. "Dammit, we're out of defenses!"

"That barrier is off! Lancer of Red is now vulnerable!" Caster of White warned his Master.

"Very well, Calem. I remember that day when you saw me and wanted to give you my best. I hope this satisfies your expectations! Attack them now!" He then ordered.

"Roger that!" Hearing the order, Caster of White pushed the button to make the phoenix shoot another large beam.

"Fuck, There's no other choice!" Seeing the imminent danger, Lancer of Red grabbed Calem and started to fly up in order to avoid the beam. She started to shoot purple swipes from her lance as an answer, which reached the phoenix and slightly damaged it, but not enough.

"Are you sure you're going to get the right energy even in this state?" Calem asked.

"It will be extremely difficult, but there could be the chance. For that, hoping that it's not too much for you, I ask to give all the support that you can." The Servant replied, starting to sweat from her front.

"You said it before, right? No time for me to be ashamed. If there's one thing I want now is to take down that machine!" Calem answered.

"That's more like it!" With that, the Servant continued to receive more energy support from Calem, although there was the risk of making her disappear. Even with that risk, the continued, making the desire of victory clearer.

Marcus looked at the situation while starting to feel anxiety overwhelm his heart. Seeing that Calem and Lancer couldn't count on their defense anymore made the situation critical. Now, not only they had to keep the charge, but they also needed to be careful and not get hit.

"Dammit…Avenger could not appear at a worse time. Please keep up…we can't allow the White Rose to damage us even further!" He said to himself.

"At this point they won't resist. Guess it's time to bring up the best part and finish this! What do you say?" Caster of White asked with a smile.

"How long I have waited for this moment…proceed!" Oeneus replied.

"Right then I'll-" Caster of White was going to make another combination, but right in that moment… "Huh!? Another signal from the radar!"

"What!?" Oeneus could see it as well. "It can't be either Berserker of Red or Avenger! With Servants like them to fight they couldn't have finished that soon!" But the answer came up pretty quickly. It was neither of them. From one of the screens, they could see small red lights becoming bigger and closer. They soon recognized them.

"Are those…arrows?" Marcus asked, as he could see them as well. The confirm didn't take too long. As soon as they got close, a whistle could be heard from them, and the three attacks clashed on the bird's back, damaging it.

"Agh! The arrows damaged the back! It's not bad, but still!" Caster of White advised. Oeneus was just bewildered. Not only another problem came up, but even one that he didn't expect to see. "They…they reached us!"

After a while of walking and despite the wounds from his battle, Kazuto was able to reach the phoenix by flying through the use of his flames while carrying Archer of Red on his back.

"Here! You can do it from this distance!" Archer of Red warned.

"Are you sure about it?" The Tohsaka mage asked.

"Don't worry, I also have my strength I can rely on! I should be able to reach that phoenix, we need to give help as soon as possible!" The Oni Servant replied.

"Got it…then hold on tight!" Kazuto accepted before Archer put her feet on his hand. Once everything was ready and Archer of Red was in position, Kazuto used a burst of flames to give her a boost to help her reach the phoenix. "GO!"

As soon as his Master released the flame, Archer was able to get pushed forward and dashed further to reach the machine, holding both her weapons, which started to get on fire. "WREAAAAAAAAAAAH!" With one last push, she was able to reach the main body of the phoenix while also being able to use the two blades to attack the wings.

Oeneus and Caster of White could hear the main room tremble for a moment, and the agitation in the Animusphere mage started to rise up again. "Dammit! Even after getting behind, they were able to get here!" He exclaimed.

"We can still overwhelm them! Even if they still show some strength, Archer of Red was left behind which means that she probably had to face either Lancer or Berserker! She's weaker than the others at the moment! If we get her, there are high possibilities that we could eliminate her!" Caster of White tried to reassure his Master. Now that they were on a favorable moment, she couldn't let him fall down. She needed to see him calm and determined.

Oeneus looked at her. She was right. But still…now that the problem rose again…he needed to do something more. "You're right…and that's why…I need to do something myself." He spoke before starting to move.

"Uh? Where are you going?" Caster of White asked.

"The armor you've built for me is repaired. I'll do what I must to win." Oeneus simply replied.

"Are you sure?" The Servant asked.

"Yes. I'll be honest…when I first summoned you, I hated you. Maybe it was jealousy, or maybe it was because I was so closed in my wish to do something that I couldn't see you. See all that talent given to someone like me…made me frustrated. But…even that, even if you probably saw that I didn't have a nice opinion on you, you still wanted to help me, and…you were able to give me something I could do to make me feel better. This…is the only way I can repay you for everything I've done. I'll get rid of at least one of them, and then you'll be able to finish them all! And with that, the Grail will be ours in a matter of days!" He explained. In that moment, he was able to do something he couldn't afford to do for a while…being sincere. His determination brought him to finally open himself and finally get into action. And all of this…thanks to a genius. And he wasn't done there.

He raised his hand…and gave an adding help. "I order you by this Command Spell! Give this phoenix the energy to eliminate all our enemies!" He proclaimed.

The hand started to glow, as a newfound energy started to surround Caster of White. "Woaaah…"

"I'll leave it to you!" With those words, Oeneus came out and Caster of White turned back on her commands.

"Master, as a genius…you know well that I'm not one to deny promises. Let's get some fun with it!" She exclaimed before pushing the buttons like she was playing an organ.

"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!" The phoenix could feel the flow of the energy coming on its body and started to shoot more intense tongues of fire aimed at everyone.

"HM!" Lancer of Red could see this and started to fly faster around in order to dodge them. "It became stronger. They had done something!" She commented.

Assassin of Red was the one with most difficulties, as she needed to make sure that the cobra could dodge all those attacks. "They're getting serious, then!"

"Now that Kazuto joined the battle, they want to make sure to end this, I'm certain of it!" Cahya said.

Archer of Red, who was able to get on the body, could see the tongues fly towards her, and her instinct made her activate her Oni-kind Demon ability, in order to increase her physical stats, so that she could dodge them. "HEAAAH!" As she did so, she also used her two weapons to generate various cuts on the robot, in order to damage it. "I need to be careful on how to use the energies. True, I can still fight, but I didn't fully recover from the battle with Atalanta." She said to herself while continuing. In that moment she could see one of the wing feathers come down to her.

"AH!" Promptly, the Oni Servant got her bow and shoot two arrows of fire that could block the feather, The attack worked and the feather was damaged enough to fall down.

"Dammit!" Caster of White could see the damage from her hall and as such, she increased the attacks.

Archer of Red could see several spots in the back open and shoot many missiles that aimed at her. "AGH!" The various explosions made her fall down, but she used her katana to stand up again and resume her run. Much like Gordon and Fergus, she aimed at the head. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Her body started to get covered in flames, as she continued her road while being careful at which missiles to dodge and which ones to cut in half and continue.

Marcus could see the situation from the mountain. He felt more serene but he was still sweating from his head. "They're getting serious now…" He commented.

"Marcus!" In that moment, Kazuto was able to reach him and landed on the mountain as well. "How is it going?" He spoke.

"A bit better, but the situation isn't still one of the best." The leader of the Red Rose answered. "Do you know if Astrea was coming as well?" He then asked.

"I don't know. I didn't see her. We can hope she's alright." The Tohsaka mage replied before seeing the phoenix with his eyes. "To think that this was their weapon…but it seems that it can be harmed!"

"Yes, but Caster of White and her Master are doing their best to resist and attack. They don't want to let us go." Marcus continued. "Unfortunately, Avenger arrived earlier and I had to make Berserker deal with him."

Kazuto was shocked to hear that. "Avenger was here? Tch…at least you were able to do something. Now we need to resist, right?"

"It all depends on our Servants and on the time that Lancer had left to release her Noble Phantasm. If time is on our side, we can win!" Marcus replied.

"We can hope so…" Kazuto said to himself before noticing a larger explosion on the phoenix. "Uh!?"

Even Calem could see it. "That seemed big…" He spoke. "Could it be…Gordon?" He wondered.

And his thought was right. During all of this, Gordon and Fergus continued their run, and they were heading closer. The Fragarthach mage, in particular, didn't care of all the attacks that were coming, and even if the blood was going down in him, he continued. At a certain moment, he could hear something from behind, and could notice one of the tail's feathers going towards him.

"WREAAAAAAAAAH!" As soon as the feather came closer, he clashed against it through the power of the runes in his body and was able to crack it up and push it away. He started to breath heavily while the electric shockwaves were still on his body. Even if he was still able to use a large portion of his rune magic, fatigue was slowly starting to take over him. But he wasn't satisfied, not until he could see who would have won or what point he could have reached. In that moment…he could hear some footsteps coming closer. "Uh?" When he turned around, he could see him.

Oeneus was approaching him while wearing the special armor Caster made for him. His stare was cold and resolute. His only wish now was to get him off the phoenix. "It seems that you were having fun." He started. "To think that there could have been a Master that can harm Servants in our war is simply annoying. And you decided to bring that quirk of yours even against our creation."

At such sight, instead of getting worried, Gordon started to feel new excitement in his mind, which made him smirk. "So, you've decided to come out. That's just fine, I was getting tired of having to attack robots or parts of this bird!" He answered. "Gotta say, you have some courage. You could have stayed inside the phoenix and maybe there was a higher possibility for you to be safe. Yet you came here and face me."

"Isn't it obvious? This machine could be the key of our victory, so it's only natural for me to try and make sure it doesn't get destroyed. Plus, this is one of my Servant's dreams come true, therefore I cannot let you ruin it!" Oeneus said before taking something from his back: an iron blade. "You're the Master of Saber of Red, right? As you could hear, I'm aware of what your magecraft can do…that is why I've come prepared. I've been waiting for a moment like this maybe even before this Grail War started! So don't think you can take this victory so easily!" He warned.

"Heh…I've never thought it that way. But in my opinion, I think you guys of the White Rose had enough fun until now, so it's time to take you off from your pedestal!" Gordon answered while assuming a fighting pose.

"In that case you should have learned your place when you saw your first Servant DIE!" With those words, Oeneus started to run towards him while swinging the blade.

Gordon accepted the challenge and ran as well. The two of them were soon in front of each otherand clashed their attacks. Oeneus quickly slipped backwards in order to give more attacks in a rapid sequence.

The mage of the Red Rose didn't have difficulties in answering to them, but the first cuts started to be seen, and he could notice the speed that his opponent was showing. "He's fast! As far as Calem said, he didn't seem to be strong when he faced him! Does this mean that he improved for moments like this?" He thought. He widened his eyes as soon as he saw Oeneus charge a ball of darkness, forcing him to put his hands in front of himself in a defensive stance. "Nghhh!" The magic attack made him recoil and smoke a bit. "So, this is how you want to play, eh? All right then!" As an answer, Gordon gave a punch to the ground where they were standing, making some mechanic pieces fly up and threw them as explosive debris.

"What!?" Oeneus was forced to move out in order to dodge them. After seeing one of them coming from him, he cut the debris in half, but the explosion was still generated making him fall down. "AAGH!" When he opened his eyes, he could already see Gordon run towards him quite fierce. The Animusphere mage quickly stood up and answered to his attacks with the blade. The two of them ended up in a conflict of blasts, and Oeneus could notice the shockwaves that were coming out from Gordon's body, as they were getting more intense. "He's using more energy from them! Does that mean that he can regulate the level and frequency to use in battle?" He soon understood what was going on.

"HEAAAH!" Suddenly, Gordon released a punch aimed at the chest, which Oeneus felt and made him spit blood from the mouth.

"BLARGH!"

Saber of Red's Master didn't lose any time and threw him away with another punch at his face. Oeneus crashed on the ground several times before stopping, and he could hear his head spinning because of that. "W-What a terrible blow…if it wasn't for the armor maybe he could have killed me…" He commented before noticing that Gordon was throwing more explosive debris. Oenues didn't want to let him win or become a punchbag, and as such, he dashed between the explosions surrounded by a dark aura like the one of his sphere attacks and in a matter of seconds, he was able to reach his opponent.

"So fast!" Gordon thought.

"TSEI!" Oeneus didn't lose time and immediately made a large slash that caused Gordon to bleed.

"GH!"

By taking advantage of the close distance, Oeneus raised the blade and aimed at stab Gordon right in the head, but the bigger mage was able to block the weapon in time, and only a small spot of the front started to bleed. Gordon moved the blade on the right and pushed Oeneus away with a kick.

The younger mage spit up blood, but he gritted his teeth and opened his hand to shoot several spheres of dark energy that pushed back Gordon.

"GHH!" The mage of the Red Rose could see that his opponent wasn't going to stop, aiming to tire him up.

"How do you like this!? I'm not someone to be taken easily!" Oeneus said while keeping on shooting.

Gordon could see how serious he wanted to be, and as such, he started to think of the possibility to get defeated. But that was why he couldn't let it do so. Especially now that he had found yet another interesting challenge for him.

The blasts were still attacking him, but he started to move, helping himself with the boost of the magic runes. Every step seemed heavy, but he continued, shocking his opponent. "He can still move!?"

"Eheheh…surprised? What you said may be true, that you are not an easy opponent. But that's the point, the harder is the battle, the more pumped up I get! After all, it's in my blood as a member of the Fragarthach lineage…TO REACH THE BREAK POINT EVERY TIME!" He shouted once he was finally close. As soon as the distance was shortened, he gave Oeneus an uppercut punch that made him fly high.

"GAAAAAH!" And once he was at his height, Gordon pushed him away with a punch on the spleen. Oeneus was once again at the ground, and more blood was spitted from his mouth. Once he raised his head, he could see that Gordon was coming closer, with more intense electric shockwaves all over his body, a vision that made him flinch for a moment. "He intensified the power of his runes!" The enemy was getting stronger and he started to get anxious, but…he had a reason to be there.

"Then it means that you're not putting enough effort in what you do! You know how the other mages have a high expectation of you! I hope you don't want to disappoint them!"

Remembering his older sister's words made him grit his teeth and pump his blood. "No…I'll be good at something!" He exclaimed before running towards him with the blade, which he tried to charge with magical energy. "YOU WON'T BEA-" He tried to attack, but another punch form Gordon immediately blocked him. "AGH!" But to his horror…he wasn't done there.

"HEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Once he got the chance, Gordon attacked Oeneus with a barrage of powered-up punches. Added to the power runes, that was a monstrous combination, and Oeneus could feel each punch like a boulder that crashed his bones. "TSEI!" After one punch, Gordon threw him away.

"A-AGH…" Oeneus's body was trembling for the physical trauma he got. Even if he still had strength to stand up, his body wouldn't have resisted for too long. He needed to come up with something.

"How do you like it?" Gordon asked while looking at him.

In the meantime, Caster of White remained in the main hall at the head of the phoenix while giving commands to it. Thanks to the boost given by the Command Seals, the attacks of the machine were more efficient, but even the Servants of the Red Rose that were fighting the robot pushed harder. "They're doing her best even after seeing the increase of power? Well, it's only a matter of time. Even if they push through even Heroic Spirits have their limits. But in case I get to defeat them before that, that would be a favorable situation! I just hope that Oeneus will end up ok…" She said while continuing, but her thoughts were interrupted as soon as she heard a noise from above her. This naturally made her worry. "W-What!?"

As she looked up, she could hear something getting hit…and then a hole in the ceiling was opened. And from there, Saber of Red landed, a one meter away from her, looking at her with a smirk. "S-Saber of Red!?"

"Just as I thought! You were hiding in there. I'll admit it. It wasn't easy at all to get here with all those weapons aiming at me. You did quite the good job!" The other Servant said.

Caster of White started to get worried. Seeing a Servant right in that moment was the worst thing that could have happened. But she still had some tricks in her sleeves, so she tried to act it cool. "Well, it's only natural for a natural genius like me! The dream of a past life had finally come true, so treating you in this way it's only the minimum!" She spoke while getting up from her workstation.

"Indeed. A gigantic phoenix? That was the least I expected from someone like you! But unfortunately, it will soon fall down, once I got rid of you." Saber of Red replied, holding his sword tight.

Caster of White smirked. "Are you sure about that?" After saying that, she clicked a specific button.

Autopilot

As soon as she clicked it, the mechanic phoenix's eyes glowed and it released a less metallic growl, and its head started to move in a more natural way.

"What's happening!?" Cleopatra exclaimed.

"Just how many things does that Servant has yet in store!?" Marcus exclaimed.

"Now we can fight without problems! True, you maybe stronger, but don't think I can't fight at all…" Caster of White warned.

Saber of Red was caught by surprise at such moment, but his confidence didn't leave him. "I don't know if I can trust those words. You didn't give a nice impression against our Lancer and Caster from what I remember!"

"Wanna see?" The other Servant replied before instantly throwing her pile bunker at Saber of Red.

"Uh!?" The other Servant didn't expect this, but he was able to defend himself with the sword, even if he got pushed against a wall of the hall.

Caster of White didn't stop and started to shoot several beams of energy from her scepter. Fergus stood up and started to run towards her while trying to avoid the blasts. Thanks to his natural skills, this wasn't a hard task, although one beam skimmed his shoulder making it bleed. But he didn't care and used his sword to attack Caster of White at the chest, making a cut in her.

"GH!" Caster of White could see her chest bleed out, but she needed to hold it tight and as such, she pushed Saber of Red away with her pile bunker (which came back to her earlier). The enemy Servant was pushed away again, and Caster of White tried to overwhelm him for a second time with several beams from her scepter. "I know that I'm not strong, but I need to do my best to resist…and win!" She thought while continuing.

"NGH!" Saber of Red was getting hit several times at this moment, but he knew how to answer. "Heh…just as expected…don't think I get down because of a strategy used twice!" He exclaimed before releasing a golden swipe that destroyed the beams and reached Caster of White.

"GAH!" Before she could fall, the Servant could see Saber of Red running towards her at high speed.

"HAAAAAH!" In a matter of seconds, she pushed Caster of White upwards, making another hole in the main hall. The male Servant quickly reached her out.

Her being elsewhere from the main control wasn't a problem anymore, since she activated the autopilot, but the worries were still there, considering the clear disadvantage. While cleaning her mouth from the wound, she could see the sight from the top of her creation. "It's beautiful…it's a shame that I can't enjoy it…" She could then see Saber of Red land a few meters away from her.

"Much better! Now I can be myself without walls to block me!" The knight Servant exclaimed before starting to run towards the enemy.

Caster of White promptly answered by using his scepter and the two Servants clashed their weapons and started to battle with them. Although from Caster of White's perspective, it was more like she was trying to push the opponent away with the scepter. A hard thing to do, due to the difference between those two, and in fact, Saber of Red was able to throw a direct lunge that stabbed Caster of White right in the shoulder. "Gh!" Before the enemy could do anything else, she used a beam from the scepter to push him away.

"Kh…uh!?" Once he was far from her, Fergus could notice that Caster of White was doing something she never did before. She opened his gauntlet and generated a cold blizzard that started to freeze Saber. "Uh!? What is this!?" He exclaimed before getting completely frozen.

"Yes! Now's my chance!" Seeing his enemy completely incapacitated, Caster of White provided to shoot at him several times with his beams with the intent to finish him.

Several small explosions were formed around the Servant that formed a large pile of smoke. Due to his conditions, Caster of White expected to see particles of magic coming out from it, as she thought that at this point, Saber of Red was death, but to her horror, the result was something else. "Uh!?"

From the smoke, she could see something coming out and as soon as it disappeared, Saber of Red was jumping towards her. He was indeed wounded, but still able to fight and still alive. "HAAAAAAAAAAH!" He made a dive attack to form yet another cut in Caster of White's body. As soon as he got it, He continued to attack more four times and then pushed her away.

"GAAAAH!" Caster of White was starting to have her body full of wounds, something she wasn't used to before the war. She ended up in various troublesome situations in her past life, but nothing on his level. "Anf…anf…anf…"

Saber of Red, on the other hand, was still swinging his sword with a smirk.

"H-How were you able to get out from that ice? It was specially modified…" Caster of White asked, while holding her wounds.

"It wasn't that problematic. All I needed was to make some force with my magical energy and I was able to be free. The major problem was to get out of your beams. And in the end…everything is now clearer." Saber of Red said.

"Uh?" The other Servant asked.

"This bird, your devices and your ways of thinking…no one else could have done such thing better than you…am I right, Leonardo Da Vinci?" Fergus asked.

Caster of White flinched for a moment, but hearing this made her smile. Even if it was dangerous, it was something that pleased her. "Well…glad that my talent is recognized even between Heroic Spirits. Considering that you could grasp my identity, then you know how important is this machine for me. It represents the dreams I could not achieve back in my times and I couldn't feel more grateful to use them to fight against you. To be honest, I don't have any particular desire in the Holy Grail, but my Master needs it to get out of his situation. Therefore, I cannot afford to die yet." She explained with a new smirk.

"Interesting. Kinda funny considering that me and my Master are the opposite. There are some things I've wanted to settle before I died, and being summoned in this Holy Grail War is the perfect chance! I had two women that I loved and I want to make piece with both of them!" Saber of Red proclaimed.

In the meantime, Archer of Red was getting thrown away by one of the tongues of fire released by the mechanic phoenix, which was now moving on its own. Her breathing was heavy now, but she could see that her efforts were being compensated. "Anf…anf…anf…anf…I'm...half-through the back. I'm almost there." She spoke of.

Kazuto looked at the machine a bit worried and he clenched his fist. "Hold on Archer…just a bit more…" He quietly spoke.

Almost as if he could hear him, the Oni Servant used her naginata to help herself stand up. Her limbs were weakened, but she could still have some energy to spare. And it was in that moment that she could see someone familiar.

While keeping on attacking the robot with the magic dust and the cobra, Assassin of Red and Cahya could spot her. "Archer!" The other female Servant exclaimed.

"Assassin!" Archer of Red called back.

"You arrived? That could help us a lot! But…you seem messed up…" Cahya noticed.

"Don't worry…I can still make something. I'm trying to aim at the head. If the main core gets damaged, it will be easier for Lancer to unleash her Noble Phantasm." The other Servant explained.

It was in that moment that…something that could have worked buzzled on Assassin of Red's mind. "…Say…do you handle flies well?" She asked.

Archer of Red didn't take too long to figure out what she was saying and she quickly jumped above the cobra.

"Quick answer, eh?" Assassin of Red commented.

"Whenever I see a good move, I take it! Let's go!" The other female Servant replied with a smile.

Cleopatra liked that answer. "Very well! Don't' blame me if you fall!" With that settled, she made the cobra sprint towards the head, making the job easier from one side and harder on the other one. Easier because they could have reached the head in a shorter time but harder because they had to escape from the attacks of the phoenix, which now had complete autonomy and was more ferocious than ever.

In the meantime, Oeneus was struggling to stay still and continue to attack Gordon with various attacks, but the ever since he powered himself up with the runes, Gordon proved to be too much of a threat, and Oeneus's armor started to have large cracks.

The Animusphere mage charged a sphere made of darkness, maybe the biggest one he had ever used and threw it directly at Gordon, who didn't expect such thing and got fully hit.

"GAH!" He was forced to recoil and had some burns in his bodies, but he was still standing. Oeneus knew this even too well and immediately dashed, aiming to cut his throat with the metal blade. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

But even with that sudden attack, Gordon could see the second one in time and blocked the sword. "Nice try, BUT NOT ENOUGH!" He exclaimed before delivering another powered-up punch that sent the Animusphere mage away.

"GAH!" Oeneus was once again on the ground, and the breath was getting heavier. "Kh…you…bastard…anf…anf…"

"I admire your stubbornness but it's clear that you have reached your limit." He said before charging another punch. "THIS IS THE END!" But then…as soon as he tried to attack him…Oeneus used enough strength to block him. "Uh!?"

The other mage started to slowly get up and stay on his knees. "Anf…anf…no…this…this is not the end. I don't intend to fall here, not now that I was finally able to do something. Do you have any idea how long I've waited for a moment like this!? For a moment of glory that could be ONLY mine!?" He exclaimed, as he started to think back at his life. "Do you have any idea for how many times I was left behind? Of all those times that I couldn't be enough for the expectations!? Of all those times that I wanted to be just like the other mages but I couldn't BECAUSE I WASN'T ENOUGH!? I don't even know how I got in this war…somehow…the Grail thought that I could have been worthy of its attention, but since I'm here I want to fight as well! You may be powerful with that magecraft of yours, but I have something as well that can take you down…even if it means to cost my life!"

"What are you talking about!?" Gordon asked.

In that moment, a white light started to surround Oeneus's body and his Command Spells started to shine again. "Kh…I order you…by this Command Spell…Win…Take all these Servants' lives…MAKE YOUR INVENTION FLY AS YOU NEVER DID!"

Caster of White, a few meters away, could feel an overflow of energy get in her body, which made Saber of Red confused. "This energy…Oeneus?" She wondered before turning around on her enemy.

"It seems that you've got some backup, eh?" Fergus asked.

"Indeed…I really must thank that boy for everything, but now…how about I show you why they call me the greatest artist of all times?" Da Vinci asked with a convinced grin.

Oeneus, in the meantime, started to shine stronger. "I never thought I would have ended up using it…but against someone like you, this is my only chance, my only hope!" He spoke.

"I feel a strange burst of energy…is this a new spell?" Gordon asked.

"Something…even better…my secret art. GET READY!" Oeneus answered. In that moment, the energy he accumulated was released in a large flash of light that could be seen from everyone.

"What is that?" Marcus asked.

"It doesn't seem to damage the phoenix…it must come from them!" Kazuto added.

"Anf…anf…what do you think, Lancer?" Calem, who was starting to get tired, asked to his Servant.

"I don't know…but don't worry…I've almost got it! Just a bit more!" Lancer of Red asked.

"GHHH!" Gordon had to cover his eyes due to the light…which swallowed both mages.


"Kh…" Once the Fragarthach mage could open his eyes, he could see that he was in a completely different location. A more…oneiric one. "What?"

All around him…there was an endless blue sky with various white clouds, and it seemed that he was walking on what seemed to be a vast source of water. And in front of him, stood Oeneus…who seemed to feel better and ready to finish the battle.

Suddenly, Gordon could understand what that place was. Due to its nature. There could have been only one answer.

"Absurd…is this a Reality Marble?" He asked before making a more serious expression. He was going to unleash his magecraft, but in that moment, he could notice something wrong. "Wait…what the-? The runes make me reach only a certain limit…" He discovered.

"Even Fields." Oeneus simply said, gathering the other mage's attention.

"Uh?"

"My secret art, and my most powerful spell. It's something I've trained hard to unleash and something I've kept hidden from anyone. Not even my own family knows that I can do this. It's a Reality Marble that puts everyone's stats…at the same level." The Animusphere mage explained.

"The same level? I see…so my magic runes…" Gordon understood.

"That's right. You won't be able to reach the same amount of power you had before." Oeneus answered before assuming a battle pose. "Now we're finally even. If you want to win, you'll have to survive at my attacks fairly!" He exclaimed. He expected Gordon to feel scared or at least worried after hearing this, but instead…he got a completely different reaction.

The mage of the Red Rose stood in silence for a few seconds…and then…

"…Eheheheheheh…ahahahahahahahah! AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He exploded in a loud laugh that even left an echo.

Oeneus was confused. "W-What? What's so funny!?" He asked.

"Aaaaah…and I was starting to think that my magecraft was a bit exaggerated…" the other mage commented before looking at Oeneus straight in the eyes with an excited expression. "This is just PERFECT!"

"What do you mean?" The mage of the White Rose commented.

"This was exactly the type of challenge I've been waiting to get for a very long time! All my life I've trained myself to put my strength into a continuous test, to see which limits I could have reached, and now I'm facing a situation where the only thing that matters is my resistance and my sheer strength! I couldn't ask for more! I must really thank you for that…this is what my warrior spirit had been longing for!" Gordon explained.

Oeneus was still confused by such reaction and didn't know what to say.

Gordon smirked. "Therefore…since we're here, it may be strange for you to hear, but I'd like to ask you a request." He asked before assuming a fight pose as well. "Since this is simply the best…don't hold anything back. You want to defeat me, right? Then show me, Gordon Fragarthach, WHAT YOU CAN REALLY DO!"

Somehow, even if it was from an enemy, this gave Oeneus an adding charge and he gritted his teeth. "Gladly! YOU'RE GOING TO FALL!"

Nothing else needed to be added. The two simply ran.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

As soon as they were close to each other, a barrage of magical punches started to be generated between them, and this time they were both at the same level. Both Oeneus and Gordon were getting the bruises all over their bodies. Nothing else was needed between the two of them, they only thought to prevail over this battle.

"AAAAAAAAH!" Oeneus was then able to find a break through the hits and punched Gordon at the belly, making him recoil. The mage of the White Rose then started to run while holding the metal blade tightly, and started to slash the other mage's body.

"GH!" Gordon's body got more cuts, after some attacks, he was able to grab the sword and lift the other mage to throw him away.

Oeneus crashed on the ground, but he quickly stood up and took aim at the mage that was running in his direction. "EAT THIS!" He immediately charged a large ball of darkness that englobed Gordon and caused a small explosion. But Oeneus knew that wasn't enough and in fact, Gordon came out of the smoke a few seconds later. Injured, but still able to move and he kept on running at high speed.

As soon as he was close to him, Gordon gave the mage a strong headbutt on the nose, making it bleed. "COME ON! GIVE ME MORE! DON'T DIE ON ME NOW THAT I'M HAVING THE BEST OF FUN!" He shouted.

"YOU'VE ASKED FOR IT!" Oeneus quickly regained balance and started to use his metal blade to attack Gordon, who was forced to defend himself. Thanks to the effects of the Reality Marble, Oeneus was stronger and faster and his attacks were more effective. Gordon started to feel the energies lacking, but he still had something: the charge of his warrior spirit.

This made him kick Oeneus's legs, making him slip and give Gordon the chance to throw him away with a punch on the belly.

"NOT YET!" Even if wiped away, Oeneus landed on his feet and dashed at high speed while holding the metal blade. "WRAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Gordon on the other hand, tried to block him up with his whole body, but to his surprise, Oeneus was able to get through it and…

SWISH!

"GAH!" The Fragarthach mage found himself with a larger cut on his body, with Oeneus standing behind him. "Well done…you're enjoying the moment, but it's clear that you want to end the battle as quickly as possible. Therefore! Make me enjoy these last moments!" He said before dashing as well, helped by the magic runes and generating another barrage of punches.

Oeneus promptly answered and started to slash his body with the metal blade at the same speed. "I won't be the same Oeneus as before…I won't stay one step behind, I won't disappoint the other mages any further! I'll finally have a role!" He exclaimed while keeping on attacking.

"I see…so your wish is to be good at something, then? Well, you're making it right now! I want to feel more of that charge on my skin! TELL ME, ANIMUSPHERE! WHY DO YOU FIGHT!?" Gordon shouted while punching with a smile.

"I fight…TO BE A BETTER PERSON!" Oeneus answered. He got able to find a break on Gordon's attacks and made another large cut on the giant mage's body. He then put his palm on his chest and generated a dark sphere to push him away.

"GH!" Gordon fell down a few meters away…he was messed up, but still with a smile. More than the times he had to face Saber of White…he was happy.

Because right now…he could be himself. And as he raised his hand with a smile, he could see Oeneus run towards him before jumping and try to make a dive attack, attempting to stab his throat with the metal blade. "THIS IS YOUR END!"

"I DON'T THINK SO!" Gordon replied before blocking the blade with his hands, helped by the magic runes, before it could reach his throat. Sparkles came out from the blade, as the two tried to prevail

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

In the end…Oeneus's blade broke in two, shocking the mage. No. Not yet. He couldn't be shocked yet before he could win, and as such, he kicked Gordon in the neck, surprising him.

"Gh!"

"NOW!" Seeing an opening, Oeneus started to give his own barrage of punches powered up by his own magic circuits, and Gordon's body started to falter.

Despite getting all these attacks and despite having the mouth full of blood, Gordon was still smiling.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Oeneus continued. Now that he was starting to see signs of collapse, he was sure of his victory…or so he thought. Even with those blasts, he could see that Gordon wasn't falling down.

"NGHH! WHY WON'T YOU DIE!?" He shouted. And it was in that moment that he could see them clear.

The runes of Gordon, which gave him power, were now being used also as an armor to resist. This made Oeneus flinch for a moment…and the mage of the Red Rose could take advantage of this.

"MAGIC RUNES, SON!" After that quote, Gordon charged a punch with the magic and delivered his own barrage of punches at Oeneus, sending him away.

"GAH!" Oeneus was bewildered. Even with all that energy, it was still not enough. And just as he thought that, he could see with horrified eyes Gordon approaching him with one last punch.

Back in the real world, Berserker of Red was continuing his struggle with avenger, furious than ever, until he noticed something that caught his attention. "ARGH!?"

Back at Mount Fuji, he could see bigger explosions. Which meant…a sudden turn of events. And as such…somehow, he felt like he needed to do his part…before Avenger suddenly appeared in front of him.

"What's the matter? Do you perhaps want to offer yourself to me!?" Avenger asked with a diabolical grin, but before he could get him, Berserker of Red made a giant jump and disappeared in the sky. "Uh!? Where did he go?" He wondered. But he was shocked to see what he did.

Suddenly, Berserker of Red turned back while standing on a jet plane made of shadow energy. His tentacles were placed carefully on the jet, and he soon take aim of his enemy.

"GRRRRRRRRR…KNIGHT OF OWNER!" Without thinking twice, Berserker started to fire a deadly burst of fire weapons that made the surrounding area explode and involved Avenger, who did his best to defend himself.

"A-AGH!" The fifteenth Servant disappeared in the midst of explosions while Berserker of Red could get back on the mechanic phoenix.

Teufel, who was able to reach the spot where the two ended up, looked at the Servant fly away at high speed and was bewildered at such sight. "W-What the hell is that Servant?!"

And back at the gigantic machine, Da Vinci was able to stand up a bit against Fergus by contrasting the sword with his scepter. The best she could do to push him away and then contrast his power with his beams.

Saber of Red started to have more difficulties in dodging his attacks, but he was happy, because he got another challenge to prevail over. Either way, he was still able to be on pace with her, managing to dodge some of the beams and reach her again with his sword.

Still, he was surprised to see that Caster of White was able to block his weapon with her Pile Bunker, and he was forced to put more strength. "Gh! Impressive indeed!" He commented.

"I'm sure you didn't expect to see this coming up from an artist!" Da Vinci commented.

"Gotta be honest, probably not!" Fergus replied.

"Then wait to see more!" The other Servant replied before pushing Saber of Red away with the pile bunker. She then opened it to shoot two explosive missiles that attacked Gordon and pushed him away, adding to more beams.

But the other Servant wasn't done yet, and after he got hit by the missiles, he shot three golden swipes that attacked Caster of White.

"AGH!" Da Vinci got hit, but she was still confident…until she heard the ground tremble. "WOAH! What the-!?" As soon as she turned around, she could see Berserker of Red flying on his jet, attacking the phoenix with all the weapon he could shoot and causing large explosions. "GRAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Berserker! He came back!" Kazuto exclaimed while Marcus could finally make a smirk.

"And it seems that he brought the best!"

"He…He came back…" Calem commented before fainting for all the energy he had to send. Lancer of Red could see him.

"Master!"

"SKREEEEEEEEEECH!" The phoenix tried to wipe them away with one last beam, but Lancer of Red promptly answered with a spear made of energy that destroyed the beam.

She then landed and put Calem in a secure spot in the mountain. "Thanks…you really outdid yourself there." She spoke before revealing a purple aura. "Thanks to you…it's now ready."

Seeing the situation, Caster of White realized it. It got too much critical, she needed to get rid of Saber of Red and do something with the other Servants before it was too late.

"Sigh…I've had fun…but I think it's time for both me and this phoenix to show you the grand finale. So, get ready to be amazed! It's time to show you…where my wisdom can go!" She proclaimed before jumping back.

"Hm!" Saber of Red prepared himself, not liking it.

It was in that moment that Da Vinci started to charge something from the gauntlet. It started as a small blue ball of energy…but it slowly became bigger and bigger.

"The wise men from the east, the great god of Northern Europe, the fruit of knowledge…MY WISDOM SURPASSES THEM ALL!" As she proclaimed these words, the sphere was ready…to get launched.

"UOMO UNIVERSALE!"

The sphere went at high speed against Fergus, who tried to stood still and counter it. "If that's what you want, THIS IS WHAT YOU'LL GET!" He started to charge energy from the sword, which rotated like a drill. "Get ready, spiral! Let me show you…the true rainbow! This is my…CALADBOLG!" As soon as the power was ready, Fergus released a large golden spiral beam that started to clash with the sphere of energy. The two attacks made everything vibrate, as a large amount of power was getting used by both of them.

"NGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Da Vinci was doing her best to prevail, as this was her last desperate move to get at least a victory, and at first, she seemed to have the upper hand. But Fergus didn't want to give up as well, and he stood still while shooting the beam. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

"Don't worry, Oeneus…We'll get through this! This is why you trusted me with the Command Spells, because you have faith in my marvelous intellect!" Da Vinci thought.

In that moment, Archer and Assassin of Red were running at high speed towards the head with the cobra, while dodging the myriad of attacks aimed at them at best as they could.

"HANG ON! JUST A BIT MORE!" Assassin of Red said to her 'pet'. In that moment, the other Servant could see it. "Ah! There! I see it!"

"Is that so? Then…Archer! Jump directly through it! I'll make sure that it will get vulnerable!" Cleopatra spoke up.

"Are you sure?" Archer of Red asked to be sure.

"This may be our chance! Don't hesitate! We won't let them get away with what they've done until now!" Assassin of Red insisted. "We'll make it through, don't worry!" She said with a smile.

"Assassin…" Archer of Red was impressed by this behavior of hers, but she nodded. "Got it…Then I'M COUNTING ON YOU!" She shouted before making the jump, aiming at the head with her two blades.

"Are you with me in this madness, Master!?" Assassin of Red asked.

"At this point I can't do anything more!" Cahya answered.

"Good answer! THEN FOLLOW ME! Cobra…I command you as the final pharaoh…URAEUS ASTRAPE!"

"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" As soon as they heard the command, the cobra started to shine and dashed at high speed against the mechanic phoenix's body, piercing through it and end up on the other side, leaving a large explosion on the main body. But they weren't done there. "NOW, ARCHER!"

Archer of Red jumped forward and, in the end, she could finally see it. "That's it! The head! There's just one thing to do…" She spoke before grabbing her bow and charge one big arrow of fire. And finally, she did it.

"THE ARROW OF MY OVERFLOWING FEELINGS!" The arrow reached the phoenix's neck, causing a large explosion to damage it heavily. After that, Archer of Red could see both Saber of Red and Caster of White clash their Noble Phantasm, but the latter's one seemed bigger. Now that they were close to victory, she couldn't afford to lose another partner. Her strength was temporarily abandoning her…but before she could faint…she had one last thing to do.

She landed on the phoenix and ran towards Caster of White. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" By using her two weapons she slashed her back.

"GAAAH! W-WHAT!?" Da Vinci could see the Oni Servant behind her with horror.

"NOW SABER!" Archer of Red shouted from behind.

"THANK YOU! THIS IS IT! CALADBOLG!" Seeing the opportunity, Saber of Red put more strength in his attack, which was able to surpass Caster of White's one and destroy it.

Archer of Red jumped away, while Da Vinci was left there to witness the gigantic attack that would have wiped her away. "Ah…"

In the meantime, Lancer of Red flew at the height of the phoenix, full of energies. "You all had to make an incredible effort to let me get enough strength…let me repay you the favor…with this!" She proclaimed, as her body started to get surrounded by black and blue flames.

"Hear me out. I'm Vritra, the one who covers this world's heaven and earth. Gather, O' Asuras, demonic troops who are my flesh! Separated by that logic, DEVOUR THIS ARTIFICIAL BEAST! ASURASHRESHTA!" She transformed into a gigantic black snake that led a whole army of similar ones. All of them charged at the phoenix, and as the imposing power they were, they soon devoured the mechanical phoenix.

"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!" As it released its last cry, the phoenix got shred to pieces by the snakes and ended up in a large explosion.

And that…was how that battle came to an end.

"TAKE THIIIIIIIIIIS!" Gordon unleashed one last punch in Oeneus's face, knocking him out completely. The Animusphere mage was wiped away as his armor got destroyed, he spit blood from his mouth…and the Reality Marble, his last move started to crack up and get shattered, bringing the two of them back to the real world. Devoid of any senses…Oeneus could only fall…and accept his defeat.

And Caster of White…could only see as Caladbolg started to swallow her completely. That was her last moment…but somehow…she wasn't sad…rather…relaxed…and satisfied.

"Heh…I can feel this body getting pulverized…and this second life leaving me. I'll soon be back in the throne of heroes…or maybe back in my time, who knows. But either way…even if I lost…I don't feel bad. I could see interesting people and finally fly. But…"

In that moment…she thought of Oeneus…and this made her remind of the words she used as the girl who served as a model for the Mona Lisa.

"Isn't there…something that you aspire to reach?"

That day, she answered by saying that she wanted to get in the sky like a bird. Apart from that, as a genius, she didn't have many aspirations, since she could do mostly anything. But…after her experience with a Master…only in that moment…she had realized that maybe she wanted something else.

"Maybe…a wish I could have asked for the Grail…was to someone to pass my knowledge. In the end I've got it even without using the chalice. Forgive me, Oeneus…I'm glad for all the time we've spent…but I wish I could have guided you a bit more…it had been…a fun ride."

As she thought of this, she closed her eyes…and let herself…fade away in the light of the other Noble Phantasm.

The explosion of the mechanic phoenix spread above the big mountain before it slowly disappeared and various pieces of the machine started to fall down.

After making the last jump, Archer of Red could finally let herself go and she fainted for all the energies she used before she got grabbed by Cleopatra's cobra.

And once he got the confirm that his enemy was defeated, Fergus jumped as well and landed on Berserker of Red's jet. Lancer of Red, on the other hand, headed back to grab Calem.

"We did it! We destroyed the phoenix!" Kazuto said, starting to feel relieved while Marcus took a deep breath.

"Yeah…even though…that was close." The leader of the Red Rose commented.

Teufel and Avenger could see the explosion that ended the battle from afar. The Servant remained without his coat and took back his hat, cleaning it from the dust, even if it was full of holes, but he still had a pleased grin. "Another one had fallen." He spoke.

"Indeed. Still…" Teufel replied before turning around with a not so-satisfied face. "Why did you attack the machine!? You weren't supposed to do that!" He asked.

"Oh, come now. I gave a hand to get rid of another Servant. Plus, after seeing all that mess, I couldn't afford to just stay and watch! I've wanted to have my own fun! I could see once again the beauty in mankind and their endless struggle…" The Servant replied.

Teufel glared at him with a cold expression on his face, but he could see his point, even if he didn't like it at all. "You're fortunate that they don't suspect of us yet. Next time…you won't be so fortunate. Just so you know." He told him before starting to walk towards the mountains.

"Hm? Where are you going?" Avenger asked.

"Just making sure of a thing. Stay here." The Qlippah mage said before walking out. Avenger couldn't hide the fact that he was curious.

Even Kanashimi and Ryujin could see the explosion from above them. Both of them had serious injuries on their bodies, even if Kanashimi was advantaged by his regeneration issue. "I see…Caster of White had died…" The priest commented.

For Ryujin, this would have been a perfect situation. Not only one of the Servants was gone, but the others, and their Masters were extremely weakened by the battle. If he could, he would have jumped in and killed the mages and by consequence, even their Servants. But…Kanashimi managed to reduce him to a terrible state, and he couldn't know what would have happened if he stayed a little longer.

"How repulsive…with a golden occasion such as this…I have no choice…" He thought. Then, by taking advantage of Kanashimi's temporary distraction he made a large jump and started to run as far as possible from the mountain.

"What!? Get back here!" The priest didn't expect this, but he was already far, and couldn't be chased anymore. The only thing he could do…was to sigh and look up. At least he was able to block him from doing something. "…I've been waiting this event for years…I won't let anyone ruin it…not now that it's taking its natural course." He spoke. Once he knew that there was nothing else to do, he started to descend from the mountain and started to walk away.

Ryujin on the other hand was running as fast as possible, helped by the magic circuits in his body. "Next time I won't fail…another Servant had died, I'm closer to the Grail. And I won't let anyone get in the way!" He thought while running. He was clearly agitated after the battle.


Mount Fuji – 22nd April 2021 – 0.00 P.M

The battle was over, but the moon was still high in the sky. Mount Fuji, a symbol of Japan was left scarred by the struggle, with several holes in it and the carbonized pieces of the mechanical phoenix left there. Some of the members may have felt sad, but they couldn't worry about its state.

What mattered now, was that they were able to get out of it.

"Uh…" A few minutes after everything was over, Archer of Red opened her eyes and could see Kazuto above her, waiting for her to wake up.

"Are you alright, Archer?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah…somehow…" The Oni Servant replied before slowly standing up. Her Master helped her to do so since she was extremely tired.

"Don't push yourself too much." He told her.

Archer of Red could see that in a way or another…everyone else was there. Most of them were sitting down, badly injured.

"Phew…my cobra will hate me after this day. But somehow, we made it…" Cleopatra commented.

"Still…we need to have confirm of that." Cahya said before turning on Fergus. "Is Caster of White…really dead?" He asked.

The others turned on the Servant, who simply nodded. "Thanks to Archer, I could see her disappear in my Noble Phantasm. Now…the White Rose as well has a Servant in less." He spoke.

"No need to thank me…I…I just did what I was supposed to do. You did most of the job." Archer of Red told him.

Kazuto was surprised to hear this. Both factions were now standing at six Servants and they were able to recover the defeat they had received and they were able to counter a strategy from the enemy. Maybe…there was still a possibility after all.

"And what about his Master?" Marcus asked to Gordon, who was sitting down.

"After I've defeated him, I saw him fall down alongside the debris of the machine. If he's still alive…he won't be a problem anymore in his conditions. The battle is over." The Fragarthach mage replied.

"I see. To think that he could use a Reality Marble…Isak really brought up some terrible mages on his side. Although it's more the Grail who chose him, but anyways…for now we can rest…and be satisfied with the job. This is our first victory, which means that we also made a step closer to the Holy Grail!" The leader of the Red Rose then continued. Berserker of Red, in the meantime, turned back into his spiritual form.

"That's good to know. But I have to say it…that mage was really impressive. Even knowing his limits, he didn't stop to fight. He wanted to prove himself to the other mages…and in my opinion…he did so." Gordon commented with a smirk. "I've had one hell of a time with him!"

"Can't believe I missed that!" Fergus commented.

"Yes…I did hear something from Calem. I apologize once again if I took that long." Lancer of Red commented.

Assassin of Red, in fact, looked at her with a sceptic face. "You did take your time indeed! But…at least you were able to do what you promised, so I can't be really mad at you." She commented.

"Heh…everything ended well…for the moment…there's still a lot to do." Kazuto commented while looking up at the stars. Indeed, that was their first step. A bit of optimism came back and made him think that maybe…he could have done something…for the girl he had in the picture of the locket.

"What shall we do now?" Cahya asked.

"Nothing much. We simply head back. From there, you can all go home. You need a totally well-deserved rest. We also need to know if Astrea was able to made it back, considering that we didn't see her." Marcus simply replied.

Everyone nodded and started to head back and leave the mountain behind. Still…all the stuff that happened…and that brief moment of excitement…made Gordon turn around and look at the scenario for one last time and think about his opponent.

Whether he was alive or not, it didn't matter. But still…for showing that determination and that strength against him…he needed to do something.

Show respect.

And as such, he smiled as he beat his chest twice. After that…he simply left.

Alvis, from the hospital, could see the scene from a hidden water wolf, and took a breath of relief at the sight of his friends winning. "Phew…they got it through. For a moment I was worried…" He then looked up with a smile. "In the end…I was still able to do something. I wonder if you saw it, Noah…"

Tokyo – White Rose Headquarter – 22nd April 2021 – 0.10 A.M

Cynthia and Tygo looked at the battle through the former's magecraft…and were shocked to see the result.

"They…They lost…" Cynthia spoke with wide eyes.

"I can't believe it! Such machine of pure chaos…lost like that!" Archer of White exclaimed before composing himself. "Still…to think that they were able to beat Caster's huge wisdom…a step forward indeed." He then commented with a grin.

"And that means…that we're also at six Servants left…" Tygo spoke with a sad tone. Among the members of the White Rose, he was the one that felt the defeat more, especially for Oeneus. In the last days, he was somehow able to develop some sort of bond with the fellow Master and even helped him in the making of their secret weapon. It was something he wasn't able to do ever since he was a kid, and now…seeing his defeat…demoralized him. He could only hope for one thing.

"I…I hope he's ok."

Rider of White held his arm as a sign of comfort. She could feel that he was sorry for it. Cynthia, on the other hand, looked at the scene with a more serious stare. She could see how the ones she fought in the past did their best to prevail, even after they were put in an unfavorable situation. This thought made her clench her fist.

And in the meantime, in one of the towers of the castle…

Isak threw a punch in a wall of the room he was standing at the moment, making it crack. His breath was heavy, his eyes glowing red and the veins of his head could be seen for his anger. Once he knew about the news and after what he had experienced, his patience was starting to fade away.

"They…They lost…" He simply spoke with a suffocated tone for the rage. This was the first time in many years that he had ever felt so much bothered, even worse than when he found out about Avenger.

His pride was shattered at this point. Not only he got an infamous defeat against a novice mage and was forced to retire, but a powerful weapon that could have made him closer to the Holy Grail was destroyed and on top of it, one of the Servants of the White Rose was defeated.

Isak wanted to kill someone in that moment. He wanted to shred Oeneus to pieces. He wanted to decapitate Astrea. He wanted to brutally murder Adewale for not being able to do his job and so forth.

"Master, I know how you feel…but please have a hold of yourself. You cannot let your mind falter now that we lost one of our Servants." Lancer of White told him from behind.

Isak carved his fingernail on his thumb, making it bleed. He was about to explode with vitriol. He just couldn't handle everything that happened that night. But…he took a deep breath…and decided.

"I've tried…to make things easier for them. I've tried to make it fast for them. But…they kept on persisting, and now they've made an unforgivable damage. They want this war to continue so deeply? So be it. We shall answer in the same way." He spoke before turning around with an expression that showed desire of murder. "I won't stop until I'll see all the mages of the Red Rose dead…and magecraft will finally be erased once and for all."


Mount Fuji – 22nd April 2021 – 0.12 A.M

Just a few minutes earlier, there was complete chaos, but now, silence returned supreme in the mountain, as it always was. Even the smoke faded at this point. Everyone left the place and were far. All except one. The only one that couldn't leave, due to his condition.

Oeneus was laying down on the ground, among the debris of the same machine he built up with his Servant.

"U-Uh…" He was breathing at the minimum. Gordon's attacks were too much deeper for him to resist and stand up at that point. He wouldn't have been amazed if he found out that one or maybe more of his bones were broken. He could feel it…he was going to die soon or later.

He could only move his eyes…and could see that the one Command Seal left was disappeared on his hand. He understood what that meant, and it made him tear up.

"She's dead…dammit…She…she trusted me. Even with all that…we couldn't win…but how? Everything was…perfect…how could they know?" He wondered. He wanted to curse everyone and everything. Even at his best, he couldn't afford to win.

But in the end, it didn't matter to him anymore. Nothing could matter at him at this point. Either way…he would have closed his eyes for one last time.

Still…one thing buzzled his mind. Back in the fight, when he was giving his all, he thought about Gordon's words.

"TELL ME, ANIMUSPHERE! WHY DO YOU FIGHT!?"

For some reason, that question made him think a lot during those last moments. He wanted to be good at something and aim to be a better person. That was what he would have asked to the Grail. But…when did all of that started?

He did have an answer for that. After all, it was something that tormented him, ever since he was a kid, and could see his sister make better statues with magecraft than him, and his father was there to observe both of them.

"What's the matter, Oeneus?"

"I don't get it! I've repeated the formula a thousand times and I can't make a proper sculpture with magecraft! This is just unfair! Why can Olga do it, and I don't!?"

"Now, now, Oeneus…this isn't something to be upset for! The formula is right, you just don't put enough power into it. Let me show you."

"Ah! It worked!"

"See? Sometimes, all that we need is just a bit more of effort."

"Hmmm…I'm not so sure. I'm not good at many things. I…I just want to be like you and Olga."

"Why so? It wouldn't be that funny to have another me or another Olga. True, you were born under a famous mage family. But…it's important for you to find your own identity. Everyone needs their time to do so. If you want to continue the family line, then you're free to do so! But you don't have to be exactly like me or your sister. I wasn't someone to be renowned for at first. I just kept on being myself. You…should do the same. Don't torment yourself because you're not able to do something! Just find another one that you're good at! That's where your talent will come up. I surely won't miss it!"

"…Thanks dad…"

Finding something he was good at…a talent all of his own. Thanks to Caster of White, he was able to find something…but he lost it almost immediately. Remembering this thing calmed him down, but he was still sad.

Sad that he couldn't continue for that way.

"You…aren't here, dad. But…I guess I have only myself to blame. The Grail chose me, but maybe…I should have found another road." He spoke with his last energies.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the end. But then…

He could feel a strange energy in his body, and some of his wounds close up. Somehow, he felt slightly better. "U-Uh? What is…going on?" He wondered. As he looked up, he saw something he didn't expect.

Teufel was close to him, healing his wounds with his magecraft…while having a strange smile.

"Seram's…father?" Oeneus asked.

"I can understand you, young mage. All that effort you put to take them down…was all for nothing. But don't worry…" The other mage spoke up.

Oeneus…felt something wrong in his voice.

"I'll give you a second chance to redeem yourself…and be able to get that Grail. Your Servant may have gone, but her lab is still probably back at the castle. And judging by the bird you built up with her, you have some of that knowledge she passed to you." Teufel explained with a grin.

"You may be useful to me…"


And with that, we're finally done! To think that I was able to handle this big of a scene and made it somehow shorter than most of the previous chapters it's still incredible! While I had the concept on how the scene would have evolved, it was hard to make sure that every piece of the battle could get a proper space. Most of my concerns were mostly on Avenger's role and the main battle between Gordon & Fergus and Oeneus & Da Vinci. Yet here we are, with a ton of action and even a lot of Noble Phantasms showed! Yeah, considering the presence of a giant bird, the use of more NPs was mostly inevitable, but it was cool! And in my opinion, this may be the best battle of the story up until now, as it built up the tension, the hype and the fluidity. To think that just a few months ago, I didn't have the idea of the mecha phoenix! I hope it didn't remind too much of Gilles De Rais's Old One in Fate/Zero!

And yes, we've got to the second Servant defeat. Never thought I would have reached this point. This time, it was up to a Servant of the White Rose, a choice mostly natural. After all, the Red Rose would have answered to their strategies one way or another, and the White one would have gotten a loss sooner or later, although this death was scripted for quite a while. Much like Medb, the choice for the first Servant of the White Rose to depart fell on Da Vinci because it was the most plausible one, but I still wanted to give her a nice send-off. And it was a hard thing to do, since Da Vinci wasn't a strong Servant! Still, she had all those cool gadgets in FGO and after reminding of that flying thing she made, I've dug deeper and discovered that one of the artist's greatest dreams was to fly, so I thought "Hey, why don't put it in here?" I hope that in a way or another, I could make a tribute to one of the greatest artists of my country! I also remembered that Thicc Boah, the one who submitted Oeneus, asked me if I could treat him well, since he cared about the character. So, even if he would have been the first one of the White Rose to get defeated, I've did my best to give him an honorable last battle as a participant of the Holy Grail War, giving him a Metal Gear Rising moment! So, I hope that the submitter is satisfied ^_^

And speaking of FGO, before someone asks, the answer is no. There won't be any Da Vinci Rider. Because first – This is not Fate/Grand Order and having two Riders for the White Rose would be weird. And second – it would be unfair for Medb who died first and the other Servants that will fall one way or another. She gets another chance and the others don't? I don't like it, and I didn't like it as well in FGO. Maybe some fans will get upset by this, but try to understand.

And with this we've said pretty much everything! To be honest, up until a few days ago, I didn't know how to carry the next part of the story after this chapter, but just recently, I found a way that could work, so I can continue writing on it up! I think I have all of the story in broad terms! So stay tuned to see how things will evolve! But as always, I leave the last opinion on you. Did you like the chapter? What do you think of the overall battle? Which part you think was the most epic? As always, let me know in the reviews, your opinion is important!

I'll see you in the next chapter or in the next one of another story! From Bluestar here, Arrivederci!