*/*/*


There was a lull. Perhaps not all the matches were done? But this extra day felt unreal somehow. With no new round set up, the Arena was closed, as were the Chapel and Nurse's Office. Yet that sense of something being 'off' wasn't triggering. Nor were there any signs of another zap of error-riddled code. Hakuno wasn't sure what to make of it. She should be enjoying this surprise gift of free time, yet something about it gave her goosebumps.

Hakuno's feet carried her down the hallway in a daze. Only to find bodies on the floor. She froze. Hairs prickled further from the icy claws of terror. There was no time to form any thoughts before she was flung backwards. Instead of crashing into a wall, Hakuno felt herself be tossed through the code of the school, finding herself in a leviathan's sunken boneyard. The Arena? No. There was a sickeningly familiar shape to it, even with the details changed. This was the Coliseum. What had brought her here?! Her and the dead bodies that had decorated the hallway she realized after a moment.

There was an enemy nearby. Lancer would kill her himself if she didn't do something. Hakuno dared to look up to put a face to her adversary. For just a moment, she saw an older man in a suit with a fur lined jacket. Then that image pixelated and reformed in the same instant, causing Hakuno to feel static racing over her limbs. Piercing eyes. Red hair and clothes. And the unmistakable intent to kill her. There was an aura of Death about him, likely due to all the corpses he'd caused. An Assassin then.

"Human life is so fragile. Even a magus is easily disposed of." The Assassin started to move. There was the movement of magic. A Skill!

"Hack!" Hakuno could only paralyze Assassin for an instant. But it would need to be enough! She scrambled for distance.

"You at least put up a fight." Was that approval in the Assassin's voice? "It's almost a shame to end you." Then the Servant moved again. No Skill this time, just an outright attack. This would be the end!

Clang! Fist met metal. "I don't think so, asshole." The red spear swung up and out, the haft intended to catch Assassin in the side and fling the enemy Servant away. Hakuno's use of mana had allowed Lancer to track her.

It was unfortunate that Assassin appeared fast enough to avoid this, jumping back and away. "A spirited one indeed to manage to call your Servant to this place. The system is taking notice of us now. We've run out of time. Do not die. I wish to fight you again".

Between one blink and the next Hakuno found her position shifted. One moment in the Coliseum, the next back in the hallway where she had just been. There were no bodies there anymore, as if everything had been some twisted nightmare. What the actual fuck had that been?!

I wish I knew Master, but it seems you're not done yet. On your guard, lass!

"How did someone like you escape that?" A tall man in a black coat appeared. He had also posed as a teacher in the prelims. Unlike Taiga, he was no NPC but instead an enemy Master. "Perhaps you have a Skill? Or a superior Servant? Whatever the case, it is ideal to dispatch you here."

I dare him to try something, Lancer's familiar presence stiffened Hakuno's spine. The false teacher might be dangerous. But Hakuno doubted he'd be able to match her bristling Servant. The danger was approaching. Eyes on Hakuno's neck. She felt Lancer move between them and could almost swear she caught the ghost of the red spear's movement. The black clad predator took a single step forward.

"So, you're the psychopath killing Masters outside of the War. I thought so" A new voice spoke up. Rin in her usual red outfit, appeared from a side room.

"The Tohsaka girl." The dangerous man's attention shifted to her.

"My reputation precedes me. But then I've made myself quite a pain in the ass for your family, haven't I, Julius Harway?" Rin seemed completely relaxed challenging this man. As if provoking danger was nothing.

"You intend to ally with this girl then?"

"You must be going crazy. She has nothing to do with anything. Go on and kill her if you want." Rin seemed dismissive. As if she did not care for another's life in the slightest. But it was just as likely that she was well aware Hakuno's Servant was there and just waiting for the slightest excuse.

"I'll enjoy watching you get back-stabbed. Hakuno Kishnami. I will remember your name" Julius smiled dangerously then started walking again, this time off to the end of the hallway and disappeared into a wall. Hakuno certainly hadn't introduced herself to this man, but she highly doubted Master names were information difficult to locate.

"How ballsy of him to hack the system's character profiles. Best to be on guard at all times, even within the school." Rin's gaze then focused on Hakuno after confirming the earlier suspicions. "I didn't come to save you or anything. Just be careful not to lose that life of yours." Then she walked off.

I believe there's a modern word for people like that little lady Lancer only relaxed once the hallway was clear again. Tsundere. The shock of hearing that word out of her Servant got Hakuno to cough and get moving back toward their room.

This is payback for the fox girl incident, isn't it?

Why Master, I have no idea what you mean. Butter wouldn't have melted in Lancer's metaphorical mouth. Once safely back in the room, Hakuno caught Lancer up on the little he'd missed. "The enemy Servant looked different and then glitched out?"

"He didn't even seem to notice the change from old man to young," Hakuno nodded.

"Hmm. It was the other Masters acting weird before. But now you say that the Assassin doesn't feel like he was acting weird, just looking different." Lancer groaned, leaning back in his hammock. "I thought there would at least be a pattern to this nonsense!" Then he crossed his arms with a scowl. "It's also likely that the Assassin is that bastard from earlier's Servant, though we can't rule out multiple Masters teaming up to kill each other later."

"We haven't met my third opponent yet. They might be just like the first two." But Hakuno didn't like the outlier in the little evidence they had either. "And if we take the guess there's only the one, how are their stats not abysmal by now?" But then, Hakuno was able to gain stats by training. The Moon Cell might decrease stats as punishment but no one had said anything about not getting them back. There was also the possibility that the beginning stats had just been so absurdly high the decreases were deemed a negligible loss. Hakuno was not comforted by either of these theories.

"I'm not sure which would be worse. Whoever it is following the pattern, or them being exactly who they're supposed to be," Lancer shook his head with a sigh. His eyes met her, conveying that his own theories matched hers on the matter of stats. Seems on this matter, their emotions were the same.

*/*/*

Worse. This opponent was definitely worse.

"I look forward to playing with you, big sister!" The little girl in her frilly blue dress looked up at Hakuno with wide lavender eyes. "Alice thinks we can be friends, and finally will have a friend of my very own." The little girl spun, causing the white-haired braids on her head to trail in the air. "Alice was sad when you left the first school so quickly. But then I came here and now Alice has Alice to play with! It'll be such fun!" The young girl paused, considering. "Though now that Alice has Alice, you aren't really needed anymore. But I guess I'll play with you since you're my next playmate. Try not to die too quickly!" Then Alice skipped away down the hall.

Well Master? Anything?

No. She… she's who she's supposed to be. And Hakuno dreaded facing Alice all the more for it.

She survived to the third round too. Lancer didn't sound like he enjoyed this prospect any more than Hakuno did. But he was the experienced warrior between the two of them. That means she's gone through two other Masters already. Don't take her lightly or you'll be next.

That wasn't the end of Hakuno's concerns either, for as she had to contemplate having to face off against a child, two familiar figures came up to the board. Rin and Rani. The two Masters who had aided Hakuno so far looked at each other then passed by without a word, the air tense and charged. Hakuno had to force herself to look at the board. Sure enough. Those two were facing off against each other. She couldn't bring herself to do anything but pray for both of their safety. Hakuno would likely have little time to think about their fight until she saw the result. And then she would have to mourn the loser of that match as well.