Chapter 139: The Stars Which Herald the Future

Romani yawned as he stepped through the doors into the command room, briefly pausing as he took sight of Da Vinci still in the room, looming over one of the terminals with her back facing his direction.

The fact she wasn't sitting down was a little odd, more so with the fact she was still here.

"You're up early." Romani commented as he entered, the woman looked over her shoulder for a split second and then made a small noise as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Or I'm just up really late." She countered with a hint of a teasing smile, although that didn't stop Romani from noticing that she looked rather tired. The doctor frowned ever so slightly as he approached his desk, setting down his mug of coffee and sliding into his seat.

"Have you been here all night?"

"Hmmm." Da Vinci hummed in affirmation, reaching up and rubbing her brows before lowering the hand back onto the table. Her focus remained upon the screen with an unusual zeal. "It does not make sense in the least." She complained without any of her usual mirth, sounding genuinely annoyed at this point. Her right hand reached out and tapped to the surface of the anti-scrambler or whatever she had named it.

"This should have already deduced a method of breaking through that interference but it's just been sitting there doing nothing." She exhaled "It's proving to be a puzzle that is getting exceedingly difficult to solve."

"Even for you?" Romani commented in surprise, which earned him a quick glare from the woman in question before her shoulders slumped.

"For the moment." She corrected "I'll figure it out eventually but I think it's obvious at this point that what we are looking at goes beyond a simple case of interference from someone in the Singularity." stepping away from the desk, she placed her hands on her hips "This is something else entirely, very different from the situation in Rome."

"Is it something we've encountered before though?" Romani couldn't help but ask, that caused Da Vinci to turn towards him and raise an eyebrow at him questioningly "I mean, does any of it look familiar?"

"You mean if we've stumbled upon something like this before and not realised it?" Da Vinci surmised, getting a nod from the doctor before she sighed and shook her head "I very much doubt that. Something like this would definitely have piqued my interest earlier…If I were to hazard a guess it is like we're only being shown what we want to see." she pointed out "But faking the suit readings of everyone who went down there would take something truly masterful."

Romani paused, then brought the coffee towards his lips and took a quick sip "You mean from a really talented Caster…?"

"They would have to be the best."

He shivered at the notion, lowering the mug down and holding it just above his lap with his other hand supporting it. "...Do you think it might be Solomon?"

Da Vinci was silent as she debated it within her mind, "Possibly." she admitted after a few seconds before she shook her head "But it doesn't seem to fit within previous interactions, especially since he said he was going to be taking a hands off approach when we last encountered him." she paused "I suppose he could have lied but then it would have just been easier to kill everyone in the Okeanos Singularity rather than go through this theatre."

Romani closed his eyes, nodding his head up and down "I suppose so. Solomon probably isn't the type to change his mind so quickly." he opened his eyes again and looked at Da Vinci before offering a weak smile "But then that means there might be another Caster down there in London who could do the exact same thing."

"That's what worries me now." Da Vinci rubbed her chin "Faking the readings of Chaldea would take a true genius. I could do it but it wouldn't be an immediate effect like it seems to be here, or perhaps it was a seamless transition. The lack of communication from Fujimaru means that we were led to believe that it was akin to a one way mirror when in actuality it was a brick wall. We cannot communicate in and they can't communicate out so long as that remains."

She turned back to the monitor "But it's way too perfect. We were allowed to Rayshift into London to begin with. With the Roman Singularity there were only select spots we could access because of the interference. This wall blankets the entire Singularity and yet we could still send Fujimaru down without any real concerns."

Romani frowned "So they wanted visitors but didn't want them talking with us." he drummed his fingers on the desk "That…that's way too convenient a trap."

"Exactly." Da Vinci confirmed "It means they knew exactly what to allow and what to prevent. If this is right, it means they want people from Chaldea without allowing them to communicate with Chaldea at all, effectively cutting off any notion of support except for those who arrived." she pointed at the screen "But then why go through all the trouble of giving us fake readings like this? In fact, I can't even tell they're fake at all."

The doctor frowned, turning in his chair to face his own screen while setting his mug down. "They're showing us an image of London that is giving us the impression there is nothing out of the ordinary…but inside it could be the exact opposite?" he tapped away at his keyboard as he looked through the readings "And everything I'm seeing here from the last few hours is consistent with engagements in previous Singularities." He pointed out "Look, there's even details about the loss of magical readings as though they fought a Servant and came out victorious."

Da Vinci moved over to stand behind him, then leaned forwards and looked at the screen. "This is a real mystery, alright. Excited as I might be to solve it, I'm more concerned with Fujimaru. Why go through all this trouble? Surely they'd know that once we realised we couldn't establish communication with them then we'd realise something was wrong."

Romani shrugged "I don't know."

"I was speaking to myself."

The doctor snorted "See, that makes more sense now." he chuckled, then reached for his coffee once again. Only to falter as Da Vinci's hand descended upon the mug like a claw and scooped it up into the air and towards the genius. The man stared at the empty spot for several seconds, then turned in his chair to send the Servant with a betrayed expression "My coffee…"

Da Vinci took a very loud sip as she stared down at the man from over the edge of the mug, slowly lowering it from her lips and giving him an amused look "I've been here for hours, Romani." she declared as she turned away from him, walking off with her prize "I think I've earned some of the Onion Knight coffee."

"...I'm really starting to wonder if that caffeine made by him is genuinely addictive or not." The doctor asked aloud before shaking his head, turning back to the screen "How has the Director been getting along, anyway?"

Da Vinci made a noise as she took another sip, raising a single finger before lowering the mug "She's made some good progress north. Stopping intermittently for 'combat training'." the woman made no attempt to keep the mirth out of her voice as she spoke. "There's been a few complaints about it on her part, though that was just from Cu Chulainn." she snickered, "Then Sigurd got involved and it escalated from that point."

Romani made a pained face "Are we still sending down Leonidas?"

"Oh, yes." The brunette nodded her head up and down, still looking exceedingly amused. "Although the Director has been throwing herself into it despite all the complaints." she complimented, placing a hand on her hip and lowering the mug, a slightly proud look on her face "I'm not sure how well her Berserker is going to fare in combat, but you can't accuse her of not trying her hardest. It seems whatever she and Kalameet talked about has sparked something inside of her." she pouted "I'm just a little sad I didn't get to hear it."

"I was not going to eavesdrop on their conversation." Romani rolled his eyes, leaning back into his chair and crossing his arms. "She asked for privacy and I gave it to her. Still…I'm a little surprised about it, if I'm being honest." he looked towards the screen, his lip twitching upwards ever so slightly "She's definitely come a lot further in the past few months."

"Meh." Da Vinci shrugged "That's what happens when you surround yourself with extraordinary people." she reasoned with a wave of her hand "And the exceedingly ordinary. I think Fujimaru has been good for her."

"Hmmm. I think it's just the lack of pressure around him, pretty much everything amazes him." The doctor reasoned with a wave of his hand "Though that's pretty understandable when you consider what's happened. I'm still fairly amazed myself. Different worlds, Gods and now dragons?" he nodded his head at the screen "It's pretty wild…also whatever that weird incident with those sort of gremlin things were." he added on with a slightly disturbed look "I have no idea what that was about."

"We'll file it under 'weird and unexplainable'." Da Vinci looked similarly befuddled by them "I can explain a lot of things. I can't explain the Noblites."

"...We're really calling them that, aren't we?"

"I think it's a funny name." Da Vinci shrugged, then chuckled lowly "What I would give to be a fly on the wall when someone reads that after action report."

Romani's head fell into his hands "Oh Goodness…I barely even considered that." he realised "Once all this is done, what are we gonna do about all those reports and stuff…" he grimaced "There's already issues with…" he trailed off, then shook his head and turned away "Doesn't matter with that."

Da Vinci stared at him oddly for a few moments, then took a sip of her mug once more. She then noticed him tapping away at the screen and raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"Seeing if we have encountered that sort of interference before." Romani replied, then shrugged "I figured it couldn't hurt to try. If it turns out to be a dead end then it's not like we've lost anything, right?"

"I suppose." Da Vinci agreed "Then again, I doubt that-"

The screen blinked, then text popped up.

"...Huh?" Romani did a double take "We…we have a match!?"

"Out of the way." Da Vinci all but ordered as she moved over to him, hastily putting the coffee cup down and sliding Romani's chair to the side in order to get a good look at the screen. Sure enough, there was a single instance of Chaldea encountering readings such as those around London before.

Towards the end of the Septem Singularity and upon the triggering of a Servants Noble Phantasm.

Both Da Vinci and Romani turned their heads to look at the other, then both looked down at the intercom.

Slowly, Da Vinci reached out and pressed the button "Will Verndari come to the command room immediately. Repeat, will Verndari come to the command room." she released the button and then returned her attention to the screen.

"Alright…" Romani muttered "I wasn't expecting something like that."

"Neither was I." Da Vinci muttered out, then frowned in slight annoyance "After all that and I didn't even solve it?"

"Well, we don't know if it's exactly the same." Romani hastily answered, rushing to try and preserve some of Da Vinci's pride "The computer is just saying that the readings are exceedingly similar. It might be that they operate on the same sort of principle without being exactly the same."

"I suppose." Da Vinci nodded along, stepping back and placing her hands on her hips. So focused on the screen that she didn't notice Romani extend his hand past her and grab ahold of the coffee mug once again. "How far is the Director from the location of Kalameet?"

Romani paused, then looked to the screen once more, briefly minimising the window and flashing up another screen. "At the moment? Around thirty miles from them." he explained "You were right, they have been making some pretty good time."

"Hmmmm." Da Vinci hummed, though didn't say much else.


Olga couldn't help but stare incomprehensibly in the distance, it had been obscured by the storm as they approached, little more than a wall of snow and ice in the distance but as they had drawn closer and closer over the past day and a half, they had gradually seen glimpses of something in the distance.

However, none of it actually described what they were seeing.

"Yggdrasil…" She heard the whispers from the group, all of whom were standing stock still and gaping at the sight in the far distance. She couldn't even say they were incorrect in that statement. Not truly, though they were most likely mistaken in the identity of the tree, the name itself was exceedingly suitable for what she gazed at in the distance.

"Hmmm. That's an Archtree, alright." She didn't register the comment for a moment, then whirled on the person who had said so. She wasn't the only one who had taken notice of the almost bored tone of voice, the heads of all the Servants who were along the front had alo turned in the direction of the knight in question.

Ledo stood with his arms crossed over his chest, nodding his head up and down repeatedly "Still, I'm surprised we didn't actually see it from so far away…" he paused, placing his hands on his hips before he muttered "I suppose there were always a few storms dotted about here and there." leaning forwards, the knight raised his left hand and placed it over the top of where his brow would be as if they were a pair of binoculars "I think I can just about make out something flying about them-"

"Just-!" Olga marched towards him, briefly jolting the knight in surprise as he looked down towards her. "What did you say about that?" She pointed towards the direction of the towering tree in the far distance, something that should have been easily spotted from well over a hundred miles away, save for the fact that the region had been plagued by frequent storms, no doubt brought on by the Holy Grail disrupting the weather.

"Hm?" Ledo made a small noise of confusion as he tilted his head, then clapped his hands together "Oh, right. Yes, that is an Archtree." he explained as if the answer itself had always been obvious. "Fairly standard during the age of Dragons." He added on, placing his hands upon his hips "It doesn't surprise me there would be one here though, they are where the dragons made their homes. Assaulting them was like a siege and would go on for…well…months." he shivered "Especially if it was just us without the aid of a God or one of the Fire Sages."

Olga stared at him dumbly for a few moments "...Is there a reason that-" she cut herself off and slapped a hand over her face. No, of course he wouldn't have explained because she hadn't thought to ask. At the same time, she would have thought someone would have mentioned the huge tree in the far distance. "How tall were they?"

"...We probably have a different unit of measurement to you." Ledo awkwardly replied, his hands going to his hips "I could give you a guess but I don't know if the numbers would mean anything."

"Three and a half kilometres." All eyes now turned to Sigurd, the knight adjusting the glasses on his face as he stared at the distant plant with no small amount of awe. "I had never thought to see something so massive before in my life and yet…" he shook away his shock and quickly schooled his expression, turning towards Olga and giving her a troubled look "But yes, three kilometres tall."

Olga made several noises "Wha-" she sputtered, turning back and staring at the distant shape of the tree. If she squinted hard enough she could just about make out dark clouds circling it. Then realised those were likely to be swarms of wyverns instead of clouds, which just added to her concern.

Still, if the Grail was removed then this era would no longer be able to support something like that. Which meant that it would likely dissipate after they departed.

"How easy were they to destroy?" Torin's calm voice echoed out amongst the silence, eclipsing the wind all too easily. Despite the question being directed at Ledo, the druid had made no effort to even look in the direction of the knight. His focus was instead completely upon the tree.

Ledo teetered his head from side to side "Hmmm…We usually left that to the Fire Sages or - if we were lucky - the Witches of Izalith." he nodded once to himself "They could destroy great swathes of Arcthree's with ease. Though Lord Flann was just as useful with the right type of support…less helpful against the dragons because of their resistance to fire but he was still invaluable when it came to rooting them out from their homes."

"So we would need a great inferno." Torin surmised in the same calm voice.

The comment itself was rather innocuous, it was a simple statement of a fact they were all privy to at this point. Barring any sort of magical defences around the tree itself, destroying it would likely require a large inferno or a Anti-Fortress class Noble Phantasm. Sigurd admitted that he could use Gram in such a way but using it on the tree rather than a Servant was a waste.

That itself wasn't the issue, the issue was the manner in which Torin was all too calm.

His posture had changed on the last day, at least since the strategy meeting. He'd become quiet, secluded and often been caught staring into the distance for hours without saying a single word and wouldn't even speak unless approached first.

Ledo simply continued on "Well, yes. It is a large tree made of wood so it would need a large fire to burn it down." he paused for a moment, then his helmet swivelled around to look at all the Servants "Can anyone make a large fire?"

Cu snorted "I can make a big inferno but nothing that big." he grunted as he shouldered his staff, sniffing once "Besides, it's probably something made by the Holy Grail anyway. It'll go once we grab the damn cup." he then extended his left hand, pointing at the base of the tree "Even if we did set it alight, that thing is big. If the support comes away and it comes falling down then there's not a lot we can do if it falls on our heads."

There was a grunt of acknowledgement from Gordin "Cu is correct." he supported the blue haired Caster "As it stands, destroying that tree would prove perhaps as great a detriment to us as it would to our foes." turning his head, he looked to Ledo "You said that attacking one was akin to a siege? How so?"

Ledo cupped his chin "Most of the dragons would often reside high up and clinging to the trunk." the knight explained, pointing up to the tree in the distance "I mean, I'm sure you've noticed that it's got no branches so any dragons that did that…well, we would have to climb after them and it would involve scaling the bark." a sigh "To say nothing of whether or not any dragons were residing in the roots beneath the tree. They'd be supported by them with enough room for perhaps two or three Dragons to reside at any one time."

He raised his finger "There'd often be only one entrance as well." He explained "We could make another entrance elsewhere but it involved hacking through the roots, all of which were interwoven with one another and even the smallest were as wide as I am tall. We didn't have axes at that point so we had to make do with our swords." he chuckled "Titanite works wonders for keeping the blades sharp but repeatedly hacking at wood for hours upon hours all the while keeping your eye upon the sky in the event that another dragon happened to pass by…"

"I see." Alsanna commented from behind them, the woman sitting atop her mount "Then all who cower deep within their castle of wood and dirt must be expelled into the open." she fell into a silence, then turned her eyes downwards to look at Olga "Unless our foe does not intend such things?"

Olga looked up at her "...He won't." she shook her head in denial "I could infer that much from our conversation. He'll meet us in the open rather than hiding away in the tree. I don't know about the other Servants present…but at the very least, Kalameet will not hide from us." turning back towards the distant tree, she cupped her chin. "The issue lies with the wyverns that swarm above…They likely outnumber us considerably. That excludes the possibility of dragons as well."

"Lud and Zallen can handle the younglings." Alsanna confidently stated, running her pale hand through the black fur of the giant cat. "But as you have already made clear, they are no match for a true dragon alone."

"We need to force the wyverns to ground, or low enough that we can wipe them out in bulk." Olga declared, biting her lip. "Preferably with an Archer…However, we do not have such a luxury at this point and we do not have any Noble Phantasms on hand that can extend that high into the sky, should they attempt to use the advantage of height against us."

"I could pop off a few runes." Cu offhandedly remarked, then looked around "I'm pretty sure that Ms Valkyrie, Glasses and Gordin can do the same thing. Considering they all know the craft as well."

Gordin didn't respond initially, however he eventually nodded his head once "I can likely offer some small manner of aid in regards to the runes themselves. However, the knowledge I acquired from Tyr will only grant me such proficiency. I might be aware of how to cast the runes, but my experience of using them efficiently is rather poor."

"Just point and throw." Cu helpfully suggested with a wry smirk "Then when they get close enough, just hit them. It's a lot faster than Casting, trust me on that." he rolled his shoulders "I much prefer it as well."

Olga herself ignored the banter, still staring at the distant clouds of wyverns.

"...If we can thin their numbers before engaging them, then our difficulties will be minimised." She declared "Invoking confusion within their ranks will also improve our chances considerably." she muttered to herself, there was something burning within her.

She wanted to win.

Maybe it was because of her duty as Director of Chaldea, but that didn't change the fact she wanted to win.

Against someone who actually acknowledged her as their equal, viewing her in the same light as themselves and recognising her talent.

She wanted to win.

"Oh?~" Marie sang, the French Queen looking down the line of Servants towards Olga and sporting a very intrigued smile "That's an interesting face you have there, Olga." she inclined her head "Do you have a plan?"

"...As it happens, yes I do." She nodded once, then looked to Cu "If I invoke a magical spell, can you funnel your own mana into supporting it alongside me."

The Caster looked surprised for a moment, then raised his eyebrow "Well…I could." he admitted, then shifted his expression to become as intrigued as Marie "So, you do have something then?"

Olga merely hummed at him in response, not giving an answer as she placed her hands on her hips. "It would be better if the others stayed behind me during the casting time." she added on "That said, I will require protection until the spell has been completed."

"No pre-fight banter?"

"We've said all that needs to be said." Olga declared with her eyes still fixed upon the tree "There is nothing else we need to discuss with one another."

"Well, alright then." Cu shrugged, then cracked a smile "Let's get going then! He cheered, it's only gonna take us…what, ten or so hours to get there?" he chuckled to himself as he glanced down at the woman "Well, less time for me but you're a touch slower than I am." he pointed out, placing his free hand on his hip, his smile morphing into an amused smirk "Maybe all that last minute training with Lancer will give you the added pep!"

Olga gave him a side-on look of annoyance before shaking her head, moving her hand to the communicator and activating it. "Romani, we're approaching the location where the dragons reside. Is there any sign of approaching hostiles?"

The screen was blank for a few moments, Olga furrowed her brows "Romani? Romani! Where are you?"

"Sorry-ack!" There was a cry from the doctor, then Olga blinked as the man all but stumbled into frame, tripping over his own feet and landing on the chair. His hair was a mess and there was a frantic look on his face "Sorry about that, Director. We've just been working on something and we think we've figured out why we can't speak with Fujimaru-kun."

Olga blinked once, then gave a single nod of the head "Excellent work. Now that you have identified the problem, how long before we can communicate with him?"

At that, Romani's face turned hesitant. Something which settled like a rock in Olga's gut "Romani…" she spoke in a slow and meaningful way, already preparing for what was undoubtedly going to be bad news.

"...The interference around London is something we have encountered before, but only briefly." He explained at first, adjusting himself in the seat and pulling himself closer to the desk. As he spoke, he sent a glance to the right and gazed off at the noises from the corner, then turned his attention back to Olga. "And it was the Noble Phantasm of Verndari."

Olga blinked "The Shielder?"

"Yes. His defensive Noble Phantasm." The man explained further "So we brought him up to explain how it worked…and that's where it got really complicated."

"Oh, oh! I know this!" Marie excitedly called out as she jumped in from the side, a wide smile on her face. "They explained it to me over tea. It's something about opening a door to another world and summoning someone over, right?"

Olga stared at him dumbfoundedly, then looked at Romani. To her dismay, the man was nodding his head at the explanation. "Wait a moment." She raised her hand "You mean to say that the Noble Phantasm of our second Shielder actively touches upon True Magic?"

"In the barest sense…that seems to be the case, yes." Romani confirmed "This…After they explained that, they also said that it was made by someone called Aldia-"

"Yes, yes." Marie's expression turned troubled "Verndari said all sorts of things about them. A sorcerer that liked to experiment on people." she shivered, "Very horrible stuff."

"Right, yes." Romani gestured to Marie again "What she said. Now Verndari didn't know the extent of Aldia's research beyond that it related to other worlds." he looked to the side "Now, Da Vinci has a theory-"

"Which I can explain for myself." As if on cue, the woman appeared, sliding Romani out of the way and occupying the screen. "We looked at the readings more closely, the scale between the Noble Phantasm and what is currently covering London is barely comparable, akin to comparing a bunsen burner with a jet engine." she closed her eyes and sighed "Which means one thing…"

"This Aldia has likely been summoned in London?"

"Well, that is what looks most likely, yes." Da Vinci nodded once, then frowned "It also means something much more. The readings we have been getting for the last few days are…" she made a thoughtful face and teetered her head from side to side "They aren't fake, first and foremost. But they aren't the ones we actually should be seeing."

Olga's face held an aura of confusion before the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place "...We're not seeing the London that Fujimaru and Mash went to."

"No." Da Vinci shook her head "...We're looking through a window into a different world. Tricking Chaldea's readings would be incredibly difficult, especially with fake readings. So they didn't, instead they just put a giant blanket over the top of London."

"So we sent Fujimaru to another world!?"

"Not quite." Da Vinci raised her finger, cutting off what was undoubtedly going to be an enraged tirade. "We think it's literally just surface level. We did send Fujimaru and the others into the London that was a Singularity. However, we looked back on the readings and there is a faint blip for barely a microsecond in the moment after they were Rayshifted. The spike of magical energy was massive but it occurred at the exact moment that Fujimaru and the others would have arrived in the era."

Olga cupped her chin "Then they disguised the activation of a spell underneath the Rayshift so that we would not notice. What we have been seeing is Fujimaru, Mash and Ash but not the same versions we know."

Da Vinci nodded her head "It also explains why we could not communicate with them or why Fujimaru can't speak with us. We'd both be trying to talk at a movie screen for the last few days." she chuckled "That is effectively what has been done, anyone who looked at London at a mere glance would have seen pretty much the same as our readings are showing us." her brows creased "It also means that whatever is happening in London is something no one wanted seen."

"Then what can you do?"

"For now?" Da Vinci looked genuinely troubled "...I can't think of anything. Disrupting a spell like this would take hours of me examining Verndari's Noble Phantasm to even understand the work that goes into it…But as we've already established, it's near enough a True Magic. I'm good but I think that destroying parallel world movie projectors is a little difficult for me." she paused for a moment "And that's with the new summoning system that the others brought with them."

"I assume that you've already started then."

Da Vinci flashed a smile "Since the moment I found out."

"Good. Focus all your attention onto that for the time being. Enlist the aid of Pharros as well." Olga ordered "Find some method of getting a message through to them or circumnavigating it…or something!" she rubbed her free hand over her face "Just…what else is there?"

"The hope that Fujimaru can somehow break the projector before us." Da Vinci explained.


Kalameet had his arms crossed over his chest, staring out over the horizon as the sun started to set. Darkness was already creeping over the sky, the wind had picked up and already was picking up gusts of snow.

"Well?"

He turned to the voice, seeing Artoria standing not far from him atop her horse "You said they would be arriving soon?"

"They are." Kalameet confirmed as he returned his attention to the distance, his eyes fixed upon the far horizon. The snow was already blocking out the far distance under a white haze. The dragon narrowed his eyes slightly as the drumming along his upper arms hastened considerably. "Though the waiting is perhaps some of the worst aspects of it…"

"Keep your patience under control." Artoria warned, turning her attention back to the dragon. "If you are expecting them, then I assume that your defences are already completed in preparation for any form of attack." There was a slight edge in her voice as she spoke "Though considering you made no attempt to inform me of the arrival of the Chaldeans in the coming days, I cannot help but find myself concerned that you are not truly invested in this."

Kalameet's fingers stopped tapping on his arms, turning his head to stare down at the Lancer. "...I am invested in my victory. I will fight for victory with my own methods." He informed the Servant, then turned his head back to the far distance, pointing skywards "Akal has already assured me that she will inform me of any approaching Servants."

He paused as if considering something "However, their approach under the growing darkness concerns me somewhat. Will it not make it difficult to see?"

"Night raids are exceedingly common." Artoria responded casually "If the enemy Master utilised them, I would be unsurprised." she nodded in the direction of the approaching blizzard in the far distance that was obscuring what little light was still left. "As I am concerned with that."

"Hmmm." Kalameet hummed in response, nodding his head up and down "I think that is the them." spoke rather casually "That is similar to the cloud where I first encountered the Dragon-slayer in the first place. Though it could just as easily be a normal storm, they are somewhat common in this area in the first place."

"...You do not truly believe that, do you?"

"No." Kalameet shook his head from side to side. "It has been well a day since I last spoke with Olga, so I believe she will be approaching soon." his eyes remained fixed upon the distant cloud as it drew closer and closer "So, I believe that distant storm of snow and ice is indeed them coming towards me. Though I cannot sense anything, it could just as easily be a regular storm." he offered as a way of a secondary explanation, although his tone of voice made it easy to deduce that he didn't believe that in the least.

"Hmmm." Artoria merely hummed in response "And where is the other Caster?"

"Akal?" Kalameet hummed, then pointed skywards "She's up there in the clouds somewhere. She said she would prefer to be with the children." He lowered the hand back to his side "Once the Chaldeans approach, she will come down from the sky with my larger brothers and sweep over them with flames." he made a waving motion with his hand "Even if it doesn't kill them, it will cause them to scatter, won't it?"

"Hmmm." Artoria nodded her head somewhat approvingly "Yes, it will incite confusion amongst their ranks if it succeeds. However, if your opponents approach you without making preparations against dragon fire, then they will be most foolish." she turned to him "They will be expecting the attack from the air as it is the only method that most dragons have as a form of attack."

"...I suppose that is true." Kalameet remarked, scratching his chin "...What about the Dracons?"

Artoria didn't actually comment on that for a moment, instead she remained silent as she considered the question. "That shall likely catch them by surprise, provided you have not told them about that."

Kalameet shook his head "I did not get into specifics, only that I made my new people." he explained. "Well…I suppose there is little else we can do but wait." He turned his eyes skywards "Wait and see."

The storm parted in a moment, the rudeness of the act caught Kalameet by surprise. The unveiling of nearly two hundred humans standing a little over a kilometre away from the Archtree was something he hadn't been expecting to happen. His eyes instantly fell upon the centre of the humans, even from the considerable distance from them he could still pick out individuals.

His eyes fell upon the slightly smaller figure at the very front, white hair billowed in the wind as the person had their arms extended up above their head. A glistening purple circle formed in between their palms.

"Olga…" Kalameet whispered out, taking a single step forwards and uncrossing his arms.

"Ho?" Artoria sounded similarly surprised "I had not thought they would be so bold as to disperse their cover so swiftly." she stated, then inclined her head slightly "However, such tactics reek of being overconfident or assured of their own success. More so when a Master themselves is performing a spell."

"Hmmm." Kalameet turned his head skywards, staring up at the swarm of his siblings above him before he pointed directly to the Chaldeans. The flock understood, a moment later the swarm broke apart and surged down through the sky towards the group of Servants and humans. Two larger dragons broke off, moving on either side in a move to flank them while Akal led from the front, four stone-like wings jutting from the back of her body.

Kalameet opened up his right palm, flames danced around his fingers before surging inwards and solidifying into the shape of the hooked black sword. "This feeling…I wonder, is this what excitement is?"

"You can get excited after you win." Artoria remarked, still staring at the Master from a distance "For now, I would be concerned with what the Master is attempting to do."

"Been party to more than a few wacky plans." Cu remarked as he channelled magical energy into the circle, amplifying the available mana for the spell. "Never one like this before."

"Shut up and focus." Olga snapped, her eyes closed and her forehead glowing with the magical crest of the Animusphere family. Or at least, what she had been able to retrieve, or what Romani had been able to retrieve. The fact that it had been so heavily damaged in the first place was hardly a surprise given what had occurred to her, however that didn't even come close to the sheer horror that she had felt when she had realised just how much of the crest had been lost.

Well over two-thirds of it.

If Chaldeas hadn't already been completed, she wasn't sure if she could have gone on.

However, that didn't matter as much as this did right now.

"The shape of stars. The shape of space. The shape of God. The shape of self. Celestial bodies are hollow. Hollowness is empty space. God resides within empty space." She intoned, her hands stretching in the sky, a flash of light and the magical circle started to form in between her hands. The circle filled out, violet light rushed up into it as the spell.

"Stars."

The light of the spell intensified with each word.

"Cosmos."

The wyverns drew closer and closer by the second, Olga closed her eyes to drown them out. They didn't matter right now, focus her mind away from them.

"Gods."

The Servants all tensed themselves, their attention fixed upon the approaching enemies.

"Animus."

Akal could feel the build up of magical energy from even this distance, her eyes narrowed slightly and she spread her wings to slow her descent slightly, allowing the others to speed past her.

"Antrum."

"Unverse."

"Anima."

"Animusphere!"

There was a flash of light as the circle dissipated in a moment, the lights rushed upwards into the skies, shooting past the clouds as they did so.

Olga exhaled as she lowered her arms back to her side, Cu similarly looked up to the sky along with a few of the other Servants. "So…Stargazing, right?" The Caster asked after a brief silence.

"Yes."

"Heh." The Caster snorted as he heard the sky rumble, pale lights flickered out behind the clouds as the rumbling got louder and louder. "This should be good."


Kalameet's eyes were fixed upon the sky, following the rumbling at the disappearance of the circle, he was wholly focused on whatever was in the sky and whatever Olga had just done. Then there was a flash of light in the far distance, in the midst of the cloud of wyverns, he saw it.

A streaking light of bright screen flying in amongst them, striking one of the descending wyverns and shredding it's body asunder with the impact. Flames leapt out from the body and splashed out, the wyverns banked to the side in order to avoid it.

The whistling sound was heard again, the screaming of the air and then a second arrow of pure green light descended from the heavens, it didn't appear to have a target as much as it was haphazardly flung into the midst of the oncoming swarm. All the same, with so many wyverns grouped together it was almost impossible to miss.

If it had been one or two, then perhaps the damage would not have been so great in the grand scheme of things. However, it was not one or two falling light spears. Dozens pierced through the layer of clouds mere seconds after the first, and behind those came a dozen more. Soon it was as if the heavens had parted and now arrows of light were raining upon his siblings without signs of stopping.

The swarm broke ranks, flying off in different directions to avoid being injured. Throughout all of it, Kalameet stared at the sky with wide eyes. His body unmoving even as the rain fell towards him and Artoria, neither one of them moved as the ground erupted in green flames, each impact around them splashing out and kicking up debris.

The arrows themselves were tiny, little more than the size of a human fist, yet each one of them was powerful enough to kill a wyvern on the spot if it struck them. Some were more fortunate, avoiding the meteorites entirely, others only had one wing blasted off or instead took glancing blows from the spell and managed to avoid them.

Either way, the charge had been broken for the wyverns.

The two dragons powered through the attack without even registering it in the first place.

All the while, Kalameet still remained standing motionless. Even if the spell was stronger than his magic resistance, his natural durability came into play. The odd meteor that struck his body didn't so much as elicit a flinch from the dragon, still staring dumbly at the heavens as more and more arrows fell upon his siblings.

Dusk turned to eerie morning, the backdrop of the green flames illuminated them amidst the darkness and made it impossible to avoid being seen.

"...I suppose I should respond in kind." Kalameet remarked almost dumbly, shaking himself out of his musings and refocusing his attention upon the Chaldeans. His eyes narrowed as he saw Akal resume the approach and the dragons barely a hundred metres from the Chaldeans.

There was a distant thud, the thunderous cry of a shockwave and then he caught sight of the familiar pale blue sword rocketing into the sky and striking one of the dragons in the shoulder, his sibling lurched in the sky as the dragon slayer hurled himself after his weapon, crossing the incredible distance between the two of them in the blink of an eye before he bodily crashed into the dragon with enough force that it was actually knocked backwards.

The green scaled lizard flapped its wings as they tried to shake the Saber from their body, proving to be of little value as he managed to find purchase upon the beast's hide and started to climb up towards it. Eventually, the lizard flapped their wings and started to carry both of them upwards.

The second dragon, a dark brown colour, found its efforts similarly rebuffed by what looked like an iceberg suddenly being dropped on its head.

Kalameet's jaw split into a wide smile, arcing his body backwards and then spreading his wings wide as he assumed the position of a runner. Focusing his eyes solely upon the shape of Olga in the middle, he released a single grunt before hurling himself forwards, the snow behind him being blasted away by the shockwave of his sudden acceleration.


Complete pandemonium.

That was the only thing that Olga could describe what had occurred after the completion of her spell, even now she was having trouble focusing on everything. As the last of her meteorites descended from the sky, she found her attention divided between everything that was going on all at once.

It was impossible to tell how many wyverns she had killed with that attack, the dragons remained unharmed - no surprise there - but they were already being engaged by Sigurd and Alsanna respectively.

She shook with the rumbling crash of the brown dragon striking the snow, the ice used to hammer in its skull shattered into small shards as the beast let out an ear splitting roar, throwing its head back and calling out at the top of its lungs.

Olga pointed towards it "Gordin, Nero, Ledo. Focus on the downed Dragon!" she exclaimed out as swiftly as she could "Alsanna, the spell is over, avoid the flames and lead the vikings to deal with the wyverns as they approach. Avoid any Servants. Tarkus, keep an eye out for-"

"Incoming!" Cu called out at the top of his lungs, all the while he twirled the staff in his hands and slammed it into the ground. A bright circle erupted from around his feet as lightning danced between his hands before hurling the bolt of electricity into the sky.

Olga's eyes darted upwards as she caught sight of Akal rushing straight towards them, sure enough, the moment the Caster caught sight of the lightning she instantly banked left in order to avoid it while releasing a jet of flames from her hands to act as shield. Her twisting body was covered in fire, soon looking more like a falling star than a person.

The ball of flames changed direction in the air, twisting around as it banked towards the group from the front.

With a click of his tongue, Cu stamped the staff down once again before throwing it forwards. The runes fizzled around him before the snow he stood upon melted into nothing, with a wave of his hands, the Caster yanked the staff upwards and pulled along with it a virtual tsunami, leading it around as it it was a dog on a lead before hurling it in the direction of Akal.

The water smashed into the ball of flames, soaking the Caster and washing the fire from her body. Then Cu smirked, with a twitch of his hand a second rune appeared before him before he thrust it forwards. The rune glowed a brilliant blue, then exploded outwards in a ball of matching coloured lightning. It flowed through the water in an instant, striking Akal and eliciting a muffled cry of pain from her as she burst out the other side of the water snake.

The Caster flew through the air, stone wings vanishing into dust as she twisted around, then struck the snow and rolled for a good few metres.

"So, looks like someone can feel some pain, eh?" Cu smirked to himself as he rested the staff on his shoulders, quickly schooling his expression. "Don't worry about things here, lass. I can take this one easily enough."

"Brynhildr, help him." Olga ordered barely a second later.

"...Seriously?" Cu complained for a moment, then shook his head and charged towards the Caster as the dragon woman picked herself back up, the flash of Brynhildr following in behind him soon followed suit.

Olga turned her attention back ahead, only to widen her eyes and take an involuntary step backwards. The inferno of green parted before her, Kalameet came bounding through the flames, pitch black sword in his hand and leaving little to the imagination as to who exactly he was aiming for.

Stahl readied himself at her side, the Berserker hunching himself forwards and raising his shield in preparation to take the attack.

"Let's see who's will to fight for the future is stronger, Olga!" Kalameet's voice ripped through the air as he charged forwards, his voice a mix of enthusiasm and sharp glee. The sword rippled with yellow flames dancing along the surface, twisting his body side on towards her, he lowered the sword with the tip pointing to the ground in a motion across his body.

With a grunt, the dragon swept the sword upwards and unleashed a flood of fire towards her.

Roots burst from the ground, wrapping around Kalameet's ankles and causing him to widen his eyes in surprise, the sword was swung too high and his grip loosening from it, the weapon was flung skywards and twirled helplessly through the air.

Olga blinked as the flames rushed well above their heads, not even reaching them.

"What the-!?" Kalameet barked out in surprise, staring down at his legs in surprise, then whirling on an oncoming thumping sound. He turned just in time for something to fly into his face, the ragged furred cape blocked out his vision as he was briefly blinded, the dragon clawed at his face for a few moments, finding hold of the material and tearing it away with a ripping sound, reducing the item of clothing to mere scraps.

The moment his vision was cleared, he saw an axe racing towards his face.

His hand lashed out, clasping the axehead and stopping it just shy of hitting him, however the weapon still buried itself nearly an inch into his palm. The weapon trembled, Kalameet felt a trembling surge race through his arms, the shaking increasingly with each passing second, his muscles protesting the violent movements being forced upon him.

Yellow fire exploded from his palm around the axe, engulfing the user and allowing Kalameet to jump backwards to give himself some distance. He was glaring at the spot where the attacker had been standing, he hadn't caught sight of them in the rush of everything but he could feel the radiating hatred being aimed towards him. Kalameet himself was experiencing slight annoyance that he didn't get to fight Olga right away as well.

The yellow flames swirled around, a shadow of a figure seen in the centre of them not looking as though they cared about the fire clinging to their body in the least.

"A fight for the future?" A voice full of fury hotter than the fires spilled forth from the inferno, the voice was filled with such pure rage that Kalameet was momentarily stunned by just how much he could feel from mere words. "Coming from someone like you…"

The figure stomped out of the flames, dragging the double bladed axe behind them before swinging it upwards and into their waiting free hand. Ragged steel armour charred black, the antlered helm and hunched over form.

That shape was eerily familiar to the dragon.

"Coming from something like you!" The man hissed with his gravelled voice, his voice radiating power as the influx of divine energy skyrocketed around the Servant, each step cracking the earth beneath him as he marched upon the dragon. "I have never heard words…So laughable!"

Torin roared, charging forwards and bringing the axe above his head before it was swung down like a hammer. The weapon buried it's up to the pole in the ground, Torin twisted the weapon and ripped it free, splitting the ground in a straight line directly to Kalameet, the small ravine parted at his feet, the right leg of the dragon fell inwards, so caught off guard by the appearance of the man that he still was having trouble believing it.

"You are-!"

Torin charged forwards, a roar billowing from his throat as he bodily crashed into the dragon and sent him rolling backwards. Even as Kalameet stumbled back to his feet, Torin had already crossed the distance between the two of them, swinging his axe upwards without anything resembling skill and struck the chin of the dragon, snapping his head to the side and staggering him backwards.

"Was that why my people burned!?" Torin called out, bringing the axe back around and burying into Kalameet's knee, eliciting a sharp gasp of pain from the dragon as the weapon was then wrenched free, dark blood splattered the snow. Torin pulled his arm from the axe handle and swung it upwards in a backhanded motion, striking Kalameet in the face, he raised his leg up and delivered a powerful kick into the gut of the black dragon, launching him away from the druid and into another roll.

Kalameet forged another sword in his hand, stabbing it into the ground and slowing himself before his head snapped up. Staring at the knight as he lowered his leg and hefted the axe up once more.

"...You're…" Kalameet whispered out in shock, the memory of the forest, those people who lived with the spirit and burned because of it. The fleeting images of those he killed as a result of his jealousy spawned in his mind. "You're…"

Torin glared silently at the dragon, then hurled himself forwards once more, twisting the axe in his hands before he slammed it downwards. Channelling all his available magical energy into the next attack.

"Heed my call, Spirit of the Woodlands and Bind my enemies!" Torin intoned as the ground rumbled, the earth ripped itself apart as titanic roots emerged from the floor and swirled inwards "For I am the Chieftain of Ethereal Oak!"

Compared to the Archtree, the plant that emerged from the ground was a mere sapling. However, that made it no less titanic in size as the trunk rose from the ground, upturning huge waves of dirt and snow as it rocketed forwards at an incline. Kalameet widened his eyes as the branches along the top of the tree surged forwards like tentacles, the wood wrapping around his body and limbs, carrying him higher and higher into the sky.

Torin jumped forwards, grabbing ahold of one of the stray branches as the tree continued to grow taller and taller, carrying himself upwards along with the plant. The pair soon escaped high into the sky, away from the battle that was going on around them.

As had been Torin's intention.

"What the-!?" Olga sputtered as she stared at the near hundred metre tall tree which had spontaneously grown from the floor. The activation of the Torin's Noble Phantasm left her feeling a little drained but that didn't even compare to what she was feeling at the fact he had basically rushed one of the most dangerous Servants on the field all by himself and then isolated the pair of them.

"That idiot!" Olga cursed aloud as she stared up at the tree "What is he expecting us to do if we-"

Crimson light ripped through the space, the shockwave struck her and she found herself nearly falling backwards. Her eyes widened and she found herself focusing directly in front of her, watching as the green fire was swept away by blood red flames. From out of the fires, a figure adorned in black armoured stalked forwards atop a dark steed.

The blackened lance in her hands crackled with lightning, even with the considerable difference of distance between them, that didn't detract from the sheer pressure of the Servant as they stalked forwards.

The figure said nothing as they raised the lance up and pointed it towards them.

Then twisted the weapon, blocking a sudden clump of dirt that had been thrown towards them, the debris washed over their person and caused the helmet to turn towards the direction of the thrower.

"The quality of knights has truly deteriorated if they resort to throwing mud." The Servant's voice came out somewhat scornfully at the individual.

Tarkus stepped forwards, brandishing the greatsword and shield in his hands.

The bigger surprise was that Marie stepped up alongside him, the Rider sporting an unusually serious expression as she did so.

"What the-?" Olga did a double take "What are you doing-?"

"We can keep her away for the time being." Marie spoke in a serious tone of voice, staring at the Lancer with narrowed eyes. "Try and get after Caster to help him."

"Don't worry, Miss Animusphere." Tarkus spoke as he readied his weapons, adjusting his footing ever so slightly while paying close attention to the Lancer in front of him. "We can take care of it. Make sure Mr Torin is alright."

Olga scowled at the backs of the Servants, then directed her attention upwards as a flash of yellow burst through the branches, accompanied by a resounding crash of metal. Her eyes darted back down to the two Servants in front of her, both of whom were inching closer and closer to the Lancer.

The Servant looked as though they were making no attempt to stop them.

"Tch." Clicking her tongue, Olga nodded her head once and leaned back as Stahl reached down and wrapped his arm around her body and pulled the woman close to him. "Don't die." she ordered as the Berserker charged forwards, leaping into the air and towards the trunk of the Spirit Tree. The shield on Stahl's arm vanished and his hand thrust into the wood and held the pair in place, swinging their legs forwards the Berserker buried them into the trunk to hold their body in place. Their hand ripped itself free of the tree and they threw themselves upwards, climbing up the tree and carrying the Director upwards.

Tarkus watched the pair leave, then his eyes fell upon the Lancer Servant.

Even as the Norse let out rallying cries and rushed around, the Servant made no move.

Marie couldn't help but raise an eyebrow "Shouldn't you have gone for our Master?"

"What makes you think I need to waste my time?" The Servant responded bluntly, their lance crackled with crimson bursts of magical energy "Your defeat is all but certain against me and my Master is more than capable of handling your own." they stalked forwards on their mount "It was clear that your plan broke apart after the first move, the outburst of your ally was unexpected and has clearly thrown your details out of play."

A scoff "To say nothing of approaching me with a Servant I have already bested and one whom is clearly unfit for battle."

"I don't know about that last one." Marie muttered as she snapped her fingers, jumping up and swiftly mounting her crystalline horse. "I can manage if I want."

"Hmph." The Servant grunted once, then the lance was enshrouded in dark clouds, red light rippled along the surface of the weapon. "I doubt that."


AN: Yeah, yeah. I know what I said.

Mr 'I'll finish it in the next chapter' my ass.

That plan went out of the window after I past the 30k word mark and still wasn't near the proper climax. So I separated the end chapter down into as many 10k or so pieces as I could.

So…Yeah.

Good news is that they're all basically completed already so all that truly needs to be done is uploading them.

Which I will do daily until this arc is over.