AN: Hey guys! I'm back again with more of my shit writing.

Thanks for the support and kind words, you guys. I really appreciate it.

Just addressing the most common argument folks use to disagree with Sasuke not using his arm. Let me remind you that this is the same guy who denied Hashi arm, despite knowing full well there are beings stronger than Kaguya he'll have to fight sooner or later. It's entirely in character for him to do this in my opinion. Although there's definitely going to be a time that he'll have to use his arm later down the line.

ALSO, do me a favor and please IGNORE the troll. Don't engage with him in the reviews. Let me assure you that he doesn't affect me at all.

Quite a long chapter this one, enjoy!

Chapter 4 - Grand Order

The cave had been weird to Sasuke. It looked like a natural cave, but yet man-made. Like it had been modified somehow. There were clear pathways that looked completely natural, and yet seemed to be deliberately made to be actual pathways for someone to navigate the complex cavern systems. He could also faintly sense some energy around them. Magical energy, he surmised.

They walked at a steady pace inside the dimly lit cave, in one of the numerous pathways there. It was dark, stones and minerals had acted like natural light sources, illuminating their surroundings to some degree. Still, Sasuke had asked for Artoria to make her Holy Lance glow to serve as a glorified torch. The Servant was understandably a bit hesitant about reducing her lance to such an insipid and mundane task, but she acquiesced not long after. She rode her mount slightly ahead of them to illuminate their path.

Now with a fairly reliable light source in the form of a deadly, sacred lance, the group of Servants plus Master trudged forward, until they arrived at a section of the cave that's wide and spacious enough to be a park. Why was there a space like this inside a cave? It looked like it had been meticulously made that way for a specific purpose.

They continued walking, trudging through wet mud and uneven, stony surfaces. All Servants were on high alert, aware of the dangers their position posed. They were in the heart of the enemy's territory, surrounded by near-complete darkness from all sides and subject to all manner of ambushes. The fact that their adversary was an Archer made things that much more dangerous.

The Caster peeked forward, "The Greater Grail should be back here. It's further back, so don't get lost." He told the party, as they continued on their path.

Mash gingerly turned her head left and right, observing her surroundings whilst stretching her awareness towards the darkness for any sudden attacks. "This looks like a natural cave. Did this always exist in Fuyuki?" She asked as her eyes landed on some stalactites overhead, dripping cold water down to the cave floor.

Sasuke's watch pinged, Chaldea's screen materializing, "Hm. As I see it, it's probably half natural, half man-made." The Director said as her amber-colored eyes scanned the area. Olga Marie's expression displayed her familiarity with this type of caves, likely due to past experiences. "It's an underground workshop expanded by mages over a number of years." She explained in a matter-of-factly tone. She'd know this because she was a magus, who'd had to modify a number of caves as her temporary workshops as well. Caves were usually the number one go-to workshop for magi, as they were almost always safe, solitary and unlikely to be discovered.

CLANG!

"!"

The Master widened his eyes beneath his glasses as Artoria's glowing lance swiped sideways, deflecting a sword that was meant for his head. It would have succeeded too, had Artoria not been there, as his perception speed evidently couldn't keep up with Servants at his current state. The party was immediately in a combat stance, sensing imminent battle.

A man appeared in front of them. He was covered in cursed miasma, like an aura of sorts. Similar to the previous Servants they fought. But his was especially thick and unnerving. The man sported white hair, tanned skin, and held a dark bow almost as tall as he was. He wore reddish pants, and a form-fitting black-colored armor over his upper body. The man frowned at the sight of them, as he magically conjured another sword. A faux Noble Phantasm, a shadow of the true weapon.

"A-Archer!" Olga Marie shouted fearfully, "Alright, I'll leave this to you. You better be safe and sound when I contact you later, you hear me!?" Without even waiting for a response, she cut off the connection.

The Child of Light conjured a number of fire runes and sent them overhead, to function as torches. Fighting an Archer, and especially this Archer, in dim places would be the end of them. And their own King of Knights was to fight her own battle, leaving them without her glowy stick. A few fire runes wouldn't be as bright as the Lancer's weapon, but they should do. And he couldn't afford to make more and maintain them so they stayed materialized. Those things were pretty mana heavy, and him running out of magical energy in the middle of battle would be disastrous.

Cú Chulainn kept a level stare at the enemy Servant, as he brandished his newly traced sword in the air in a not-so-subtle threatening manner. "So you've finally decided to show yourself, huh." He said confidently, "I was worried we'd end up scouring this whole cave just to look for you, mister Faithful Follower." The Caster provoked, silently chanting a number of offensive Celtic runes under his breath.

The Archer Servant seemed to take offense to that, face contorting in displeasure, "Hmph, I don't remember being anyone's follower. I'm just here to chase any unwanted visitor." He stated, notching the sword into his bow. Sasuke had mentally noted how absurd it was to use swords as arrows. But if he could make it work, it's likely going to be way more powerful than regular arrows.

"In other words, you're a gatekeeper…" The Caster retorted, "I don't know why you're protecting Saber, but this ends here." Cú Chulainn turned his head to look at the Master at his side, "Go on with your Lancer, kid. Saber should be up ahead. We'll take it from here."

Sasuke nodded, "Then I'll leave him to you." He looked at his Shielder, "Take care of yourself, Mash." He told her, eliciting a small, but hopeful smile from the girl.

"I… yes, Master!" She responded with energy, "Take care as well, Master."

The former ninja nodded, before jumping to mount Dun Stallion at the small space behind Artoria.

"Hyah!" The King exclaimed, a wordless command to her trusty mount. With a mighty neigh, the proud and regal stallion moved, immediately traversing past the Archer's position and into the deeper sections of the cavern ahead, where the corrupted King of Knights stood tall, and awaiting their arrival.

Caster eyed him suspiciously, seeing him unusually behaved even as the Lancer iteration of the King of Knights moved towards where the corrupted King was stationed. Merely training his gaze towards the Caster and the Shielder, his eyes like that of a raptor to a cornered prey. "What, you're not even going to stop them? I thought you're King Arthur's protector or something…"

An annoyed grunt escaped the red Archer, "I thought I told you, I'm not anyone's follower. And besides, King Arthur can handle herself." His eyes narrowed at them, "Enough chatter, defend yourselves!"

With a billow of destructive winds, the Archer fired, a streak of light that promised death. It's chosen the Caster as its first victim, speeding towards his head with fatal intentions.

CLANG!

True to her loyalty to her Master, the Shielder had prevented the projectile from reaching its target. The girl grunted, feeling the sword's impact vibrate through her limb like electricity.

"Heh, thanks for that, girlie. Now just keep doing that until I bring him down." Smirking, he told her.

"Y-yes!" She responded, hoisting her shield up.

Unbeknownst to the Archer, the Caster had been conjuring a number of runic spells throughout the battlefield. A few of such spells were directly underneath the ground. A rune spell activated beneath the Archer's feet, as magical roots emerged from it and latched itself onto his shins and thighs, preventing him from moving.

"!"

The red-clad warrior looked down to find himself binded with earthen magecraft, undoubtedly conjured by the Celt. He pushed his feet against the ground in an effort to free himself, but it didn't even budge, not even with magical enhancement. No, it's draining his energy…

Archer traced three varying swords. Faux Noble Phantasms that were mere reflections of the originals in power and legend, yet just as formidable in battle. He fired them towards the Caster, not to dispatch him, but as a distraction. As soon as the arrow-fied projectiles left his bow, his dark bow disappeared from his grasp, replaced by a white blade, his other hand conjured a black blade as well. They were identical in appearance, differing only in color. Blades that were meant to be swung together. The Black and White "married" blades, Kanshou and Bakuya.

Archer twirled them for a bit before swinging them several times towards his lower body, immediately slicing the roots that were binding him.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The three swords bounced off the girl's shield harmlessly, shattering upon impact.

The Caster fired roughly a dozen fireballs at the red Archer, which were easily avoided and dodged. Cú Chulainn cursed internally. He'd forgotten this Archer was a speed demon. The rune circles he'd masterfully placed all around the battlefield activated, emerging from them some wooden magecraft that sped towards the Archer from all angles. The Archer jumped in the air, expertly weaving through the Celt's magics.

The Shielder tracked him as best she could as he moved and glided through Caster's spells. Only to blink in confusion, as the Archer disappeared in plain sight. The Shield Maiden only had the time to widen her eyes and turn her head to the side as the Archer reappeared beside her. Caught off guard, she never had the chance to move her shield to block the proceeding attack on her blindspot. A quick roundhouse kick to the ribs stunned the girl, buckling under the sheer physical power the blow had contained within.

"Agh!" The Shielder cried out in pain, as the kick sent her towards the far side of the cave, away from the Caster. Meeting a particular sturdy cavern wall brimming stalagmites that promptly violently shattered upon her body impacting it.

Caster frowned, seeing his protector being sent to the wayside, and likely not getting up anytime soon from that nasty blow. He'll have to rely on himself for protection until the girl gets up. Although he'd reckoned he won't long against this Archer as a Caster. This match-up was just totally unfortunate. Stalling it is, then.

"You know she was just a kid, right?" Caster voiced out playfully, the smile on his face was strained. "Did you have to be that hard on her?"

In response, the Archer streaked towards him. His twin swords at his sides, ready to rip the accursed Caster asunder. The black blade traveled to sever Caster's neck from his body in an arching swing. Fortunately, he wasn't totally bereft of his physical gifts. And whatever he had left of them as a Caster was enough for him to not die instantaneously against Archer's melee ranged combat.

Caster raised his staff, which did admirably in preventing the black blade from separating his head from his torso. He jumped when, expectedly enough, the white blade went in for the kill. It aimed to slice through his ribcage. Had it succeeded, it would have utterly collapsed his internal workings. While in the air, Caster remotely activated a rune directly below the Archer, which he had set up earlier, predicting the Archer's actions. The rune glowed orange for a second, before it exploded into a fiery inferno. The flames ate up Archer's form as it blazed like a furnace.

"Tch!" Archer grunted as heat wafted through his senses, overloading his Graph. He jumped away from the fountain of fire with some burn damage, but otherwise nothing that would remotely put him out of commission. Smoke covered his body and he was smelling his own burnt flesh as he landed a distance away from the rune. He scowled at the opposing Servant, a baleful glare filled to the brim with vitriol and the promise of retribution.

Caster's danger bells rang when the Archer raised his slightly singed arm in the air.

"Sword Barrel: Full Projection, Continuous Layer Shooting."

Immediately after uttering those words, the whole cavern section was filled with oppressive magical energy, barreling towards the Caster like a tsunami. Cú Chulainn looked up to see dozens upon dozens of weapons floating in the air. Swords, axes, glaives, spears, all manner of weaponry from across all of time. Encircling the Caster overhead, their edge pointed at him. Of course, they weren't merely regular weapons. They were copies of legendary weaponry from all sorts of legends and myths across history. Mere imitations, holding an infinitesimal fraction of the original's power, but yet still enough power to render him to shreds.

This was bad…

He'd encountered this particular move during the Holy Grail War proper, but was lucky enough to escape with the use of some bait. That bait being another enemy Servant. He didn't have the same luck right now, however.

When Caster touched the ground, he instantly prepped a defensive spell. Slamming his staff to the cave floor, and conjuring an intricate rune spell. It's not likely going to hold for longer than several seconds at most. But anything's better than nothing.

A moment had passed without any incident, until the inevitable happened. Archer willed his mastery of the weapons, pouring them down towards the Caster.

He only wished the little miss was awake right about now.

Dun Stallion jumped up several large mounds of rocky terrain, and navigated the interior of the cave as they sped towards Saber's keep. It wasn't long until they, with Dun Stallion's innate speed, arrived at a particularly spacious section of the cave. There was a hill ahead of them, and a peculiar pillar of magical light directly behind it. The place had been extremely unnatural to the former ninja. It even had some sort of purplish 'sky' in the background, like they'd unwittingly walked into another world. He'd found it hard to believe that such a place was inside a cave, that's beneath an unsuspecting hill.

"The Greater Grail… It's an ultra-superior Magical Reactor… What's it doing on this island nation in the Far East?" Olga Marie questioned, her eyes scanning the area. Chaldea's machines were picking up an enormous amount of magical energy all around.

"Hm… According to our data, it was built by an eminent family of alchemists called the Einzberns. Though apparently, they didn't belong to the Mage's Association, and were solely made up of homunculi." Romani explained. Before the Doctor could continue talking, there was a brief wave of magical energy that cut their connection to Chaldea. A warning to those that dare intrude in her keep.

Sasuke focused ahead, atop the hill. There, he saw a figure. A blackened figure of an armored person, standing in the middle most part of the hill. The figure, platinum blonde was the most palpable detail he took notice after the black armor, was holding a blackened sword, oozing with malevolence. Her gauntleted hands settled on the sword's hilt, as the sword was placed in front of her, its tip lodged on the ground. The figure was majestic and imposing. But in a drastically different sense than his own Lancer. They both exude quite a daunting aura, their sheer presence alone announced their strength and power. But in contrast to Lancer, Saber exuded a chilling presence, declaring her unmerciful conduct towards those that dare to cross her. Appearance-wise, she was noticeably smaller and perhaps less mature, or less developed than his Lancer. She looked like she was in her early or mid teens. Though that in itself was mostly irrelevant, when strength and skill came to mind. By simply looking at both incarnations of Artoria, one can immediately identify them as superpowered beings beyond the realm of humanity. Although the figure ahead, Saber, was giving out a smog of unrelenting evil. Her royal visage corrupted and twisted into a form of malice and enmity.

"Be at ease, Master. Nothing untoward shall befall upon you. I am here." Lancer reassured her Master. And as much as he hated to admit it, her voice actually made him relax, like a comforting melody. He hadn't even been aware that he was nervous, or anxious perhaps? He couldn't quite tell. It had been an extremely long time since he'd faced similarly powerful beings, after all.

Saber turned to look at them, regarding them with apparent hostility. Holding her corrupted Excalibur with one hand.

Dun Stallion stopped some distance away from the hill, as Sasuke dismounted. Unexpectedly, Artoria jumped down from her mount as well. She whispered some words to her mount, caressing his mane, before turning to look at her Master.

"Stay there with Dun Stallion, my Master." She told him, as she waved her Sacred Lance, seemingly to loosen her joints. She then focused her sights on the Saber iteration of her. A corrupted King of Knights. Unworthy of the majesty and prestige of said title. "I shall emerge victorious."

With Sasuke's wordless approval, she walked forward, her hand gripped at her lance tightly. Her eyes were glued to the figure ahead of her, even as she brandished her Sacred Lance in a threatening manner. She was a better fighter while mounted, but just to prove of her overwhelming superiority towards her Saber counterpart, she'll be fighting on foot to make things fair for her adversary. She was an unparalleled warrior with the lance, with or without Dun Stallion. Possessing the power and skills to crush entire armies and fortresses single-handedly, just as easily as one would crush a tomato with their hand. And what better way to prove her strength than a bout to the death against her Saber incarnation?

The corrupted Saber glared at the Lancer, her eyes tracking her every move like that of a hawk, assessing every minute detail on her form, "...You. I see…" She nodded in understanding, seeing her enemy. A familiar Sacred Lance in hand, that power, that posture, that armor… It was her, a version of her, summoned as a Lancer, wielding the Spear that Holds the World Together, Rhongomyniad. Interesting. This one's presence was most unwelcome. This will be a hard fought battle, but she shall prevail.

"Your presence is… unexpected." Saber started, her unemotional, but yet cruel, pale-yellow eyes stared intently at the Lancer below. The King of Knights of the Lance stopped walking, her helmeted head turned towards the Saber. She'd remained silent as the Saber spoke to her, as if not acknowledging her words. "An iteration of me or not, you shall be destroyed. Stand down, or die." Saber told her, emphasizing on that last part. She'd meant what she said. Death shall come to those who oppose her, it matters not who they were. There shall be no other path but oblivion delivered through her blackened Sword of Victory.

The Lancer Artoria seemed to scoff at her Saber incarnation, swinging her lance as a form of provocation, "I've no time for your pathetic, arrogant mewling. Enough prattle, have at you!" The challenge was issued, which earned a small, indignant smirk from the Saber as a response.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

The Saber with the blackened armor quite literally disappeared from her spot, leaving behind an explosion of rubble and stone, as her legs propelled her towards her challenger at superhuman speeds, leaving behind a crater in the process. She reappeared right in front of the Lancer, preferring to fight toe-to toe. No trickery, no underhanded tactics, just pure skill and might. Sword against Lance. Divine versus Divine.

CLANG!

The first blow was from the Saber. She swung her sword with such strength that it colliding with the lance kicked up a powerful wave of destructive winds in all directions. Creating a massive crater beneath the Lancer's feet. Deep fissures spread throughout the ground, as she stood there casually, lance locked against the sword.

His Artoria retracted her lance, just as the other Artoria did the same for her sword. This time, the Lancer was faster. With the strength that could topple entire castles in one blow, she shoved her lance towards the Saber, particularly aiming for her head. The speed from which the attack was delivered created swirling winds all around the lance, as it danced along the surface of the divine weapon.

CLANG!

Artoria wasn't expecting for the fight to end so soon, of course. She was mightier, but that didn't mean this Saber incarnation of her would go down so easily. The lance was blocked, the blackened Sword of Victory stopping the blow dead in its tracks, just a small distance away from the Saber's still stoic face.

And again, Lancer Artoria retracted her lance, only to aim it towards the unhelmeted head of the Saber. Same strength, same intensity, same speed. Which were all casual feats, mind you.

CLANG!

And again, the corrupted sword interrupted its course. The lance didn't relent.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

The sound of two divine iron meeting in a fierce duel reverberated in the area, like explosions of meteors and stars from the heavens as it crashed into the earth. Each and every meeting of steel created extremely powerful vacuums of oppressive winds and energy that Sasuke actually had to back away to keep himself out of potential harm's way. A single wave of wind generated from just one clash of their weapons decimated large boulders from tens of meters away, and the cavern floor was getting progressively demolished and broken with every blow. Each individual clash of their weapons caused intense tremors that spread all around the vast cavern floors. The battle was so overwhelming that he was afraid the cave system might collapse on them sooner or later.

This was truly a clash of two revered, legendary warrior kings of old.

After her sword had taken dozens of blows meant for her flesh, the Saber had finally decided to reverse the status quo. As another strike of the lance had landed, Saber parried it to the side. The lance went sideways, leaving the Lancer's armored body unprotected. Her sword would cleave right through her paltry armor with ease. Flesh, armor, it didn't make any difference before her mighty blade. It shall be rent apart.

This time, the Saber was the one on the offensive. She moved forward, inside the lance's swinging distance, as she raised her blackened blade in the air. Getting ready to tear this pretender asunder. What she didn't expect, however, was her opponent's speed. The Lancer, recognizing the fact that her defense was compromised, casually jumped away after anticipating the attack. The Saber quickly chased after her, not wanting for her opponent to have any breathing room. The Lancer defended herself from a mighty jumping downwards slash, raising her lance to meet the attack.

The Saber backpedaled, assumed a combat stance, and then charged, in what seemed to be less than a second. At least, in the time it took for Sasuke to blink. This time, the corrupted King deemed it fit to use her Sword's power, coating the sword with dark magical energies. Soaking the divine weapon with corrupted power, effectively amplifying the sword's effectiveness tenfold.

Lancer acknowledged the potential dangers in clashing against such power, so she lifted two seals from her lance, allowing a small portion of the Lance's sacred power to surface. The power seeped out of the pattern, green turning golden, as motes of magical light started to cover the weapon from tip to handle.

CLANG!

The energies resulting from both powers meeting shook the entire cavern section, generating massive earthquakes and threatening the cavern ceiling to collapse on them. It's not going to be long now until they'd be forced to leave or be buried alive. The collision of their respective powers had produced waves upon waves of dark and light energies, intermingling and fighting for supremacy. They were evenly matched at first. The Lancer would briefly come out on top, her sacred energies overwhelming the darker flames produced by the blackened blade. But then the Saber would push through, the obsidian energies of her sword consuming the golden light emitted from the lance, burning and eating it. It almost seemed like a war of attrition.

Sasuke assessed the fighters, seeing that the Lancer was, while exerting some effort into the fight, was far from using her full might. The same may be said about the Saber. Although it's clear she was significantly pouring in more aggression and intent, and every swing of her sword looked like they were meant to kill, not merely to test her enemy.

The Saber swiped her sword towards the Lancer in a barrage of sword swings imbued with unholy energies. Each one meeting the golden-tipped lance, neutralizing every attempt at ending the duel. After a few exchanges, the Saber decided to kick the battle up a notch. A particularly powerful beam burst out from the blackened sword, extending the sword's reach and multiplying its potency. Acting on pure instinct, the Lancer jumped backwards, out of the swing's way as it soared sideways to bisect her in two. The sword's path was semi-horizontal, and the dark beam's length reached the Master's position. Sasuke had thought of jumping to avoid the attack, but Dun Stallion simply raised a magical shield, deflecting the beam completely.

To follow up her powerful attack, that fortunately missed its mark, the corrupted Saber swung her sword downwards, firing off a beam of unholy energy that threatened to reduce the Lancer's entire being, Graph and all, to nothing. Promising oblivion to those unfortunate enough to be caught in its reach.

Landing solidly on the cavern floors, the Lancer aimed her golden-glowing lance towards the Saber, or more accurately, towards the speeding beam of impending doom. The Sacred Lance shot out a thin streaking beam of holy energy to counteract the darker and much larger beam. The golden light streak could almost be mistaken for a laser as it met the beam of corruption, and promptly overpowered it. Sending blackened tendrils of corrupted magical energy out of its path, deflected out of its course, as the golden beam sped, almost unimpeded, towards the Saber.

The corrupted Saber widened her eyes, as the streaking holy light emerged out of the blackened beam of energy. And by the time she thought of dodging the attack, it had already traveled too close. She had only the time to raise her blackened Excalibur over her head in an attempt to defend herself.

BOOM!

A large spherical explosion of golden light rocked the entire cavern section, as stalactites fell from the ceiling, and cavern walls collapsed one after another.

The Lancer looked on with narrowed eyes, her lance laid low at her side. She waited, as calmly as she had started the battle. Waiting until the explosion of light had dissipated, eager to see to what extent her attack had affected the False King. Artoria wasn't expecting for the battle to end there. However, the beam had not been weak. She had a much larger energy pool to fetch on, courtesy of her Master. And that meant she had the luxury of applying more magical energy into her attacks without worrying about getting deprived of it sooner than later.

Artoria of the Lance quickly assumed a combat stance when the Saber emerged from the resulting smoke, already on the offense. The Saber had emerged with significant damage to her person. Her armor had taken a major blow. Her breastplate had been deprived of almost all parts towards the upper left of the armor. The left pauldron was nowhere to be seen. Exposing her pale shoulders and the damaged dark-colored dress she wore underneath the blackened plates as a result. Her skirt had been reduced in some parts, partly exposing some of her legs and thighs. Red liquid poured down from her nostril, and parts of her right cheek, forehead, and lips had taken noticeable burn damage.

The damage she had physically sustained hadn't done much to weaken the corrupted Saber's fervor for battle, the Master observed.

"Yaaah!" The Saber roared, arriving at the Lancer's position in what seemed to be an instant, her sword in a two-handed grip and raised in the air in preparation for an attack.

The Lancer took a few steps back as she gathered momentum for a mighty thrust of her lance. When the blackened King was almost at her space, the uncorrupted King of Knights unleashed a devastating forward attack that could reduce entire fortresses to rubble and pierce even the most durable of divine or demonic armors.

To her surprise, the Saber merely ducked under the path of Artoria's lance, piercing through her offense, and effectively her defense, with movement alone. Following up her audacious move, the sword-wielding knight plunged the flat pommel of her weapon into Lancer's side, before proceeding to utterly demolish the woman with a crushing strike of her plated knee, sending the Knight of the Lance staggering back. Now unimpeded, the Saber raised her sword over her adversary's disoriented form.

She scowled in disappointment as her corrupted sword carved a swath through the air, sailing downwards to her foe's head. Her Lancer counterpart had been undoubtedly powerful, but she had expected more from an incarnation of her, branched from another possibility of her origins and legends. She had resolved to end the duel right then and there, aiming to drive her sword from the foe's head, through her body, and down to her crotch area. So self-assured, so confident of her victory.

Unfortunately for the corrupted Saber, the King of the Lance was much, much harder to put down compared to most foes. She'd propped herself up with the lance to stabilize herself before instinctively bringing up her gauntleted arm to intercept the sword strike, letting the sword's edge imbed itself onto her protected arm. The blackened King was at a loss for words when she saw the Lancer's arm endure a blow that could bisect Servant flesh and armor alike without any visible reaction.

Right then, despite her shock, she was able to instantly assess that the Lancer's armor was stronger than she'd initially judged. Similarly, her Lancer counterpart was also blessed with an inexplicably durable physique, more than a regular Servant should have. Then she'd sensed it. An energy unknown, coursing through her opponent's body. Strengthening her Graph, and thereby amplifying her endurance and durability. How peculiar.

'Could it be…?' The Saber thought, her curious eyes landing towards the Master.

With some effort, the Saber dislodged her sword from her foe's gauntlet and quickly tried to attack a second time, but the corrupted King was interrupted when Artoria backhanded her with such force, that the strike drew blood and knocked her off her feet, with her face to the dank, muddy ground. The blackened knight flipped herself over and roughly wiped the blood trailing from her mouth. She leered at the Lancer, scowling venomously at her adversary as she collected herself. She took notice of the small stream of blood that dripped down from the Lancer's gauntlet, but other than that, she seemed almost undamaged, unharmed… unscathed, even. This fact served to anger her. She could bear the fact that another warrior may defeat her. But somehow, for some reason, being defeated by another version of her offended her to her core. It was as if she couldn't stand such an idea. The idea that the Sword, however corrupted it was, could not triumph over the Lance made her blood rise to the boiling point.

"I tire of this…" The Saber spoke. Her voice was calm and stoic, but the underlying tone was undeniably furious. "Time to end you."

She raised the corrupted Sword of Promised Victory over head, gripping the weapon in a two-handed style.

Immediately, the Lancer had felt an overwhelming amount of magical energy gather and coalesce into the blackened sword. Artoria recognized the action. She was to unleash the strongest attack in her arsenal — her Noble Phantasm. The blade started emitting intense corrupted energy, taking up the form of unrepentant, vengeful flames. Until the dark energy that coated her blade exploded, like a fountain of pitch-black energy.

In response, the Lancer held her lance in front of her, releasing an additional three more seals. With her consent and acknowledgement, Rhogomyniad transformed. The almost tapestry-like green pattern on the surface of the lance melted from reality, replaced by an intensely burning, otherworldly energy. A golden torrent of light, that shone brighter than even the brightest star in the night sky. The bright energies twirled and circled around the Lance, like a parade of fireflies. Her Lance, which was previously akin to a jousting lance in appearance, had now taken up the form of a tornado of golden light. A light so pure, so holy, that all evil was compelled to bow and tremble before it, before the power inevitably consumed them.

For this one final clash, where only one of them shall leave the battlefield, she'd deemed it a respectful gesture towards her mighty adversary to show her face. With a single hand, she easily pried her helmet off her head, as it disappeared into motes of golden light. Her blonde hair swayed and danced against the intense winds generated by the power of the Lance. Her emerald gaze stayed impassive, even as the Saber had finished charging her final attack.

Saber took one step forward, as she prepared to fire off her Noble Phantasm. There was an extremely palpable feeling of massive amounts of magical energy being gathered into a single point. Evil energies consolidating into a dense, potent magical mass. The ground beneath the Saber's feet had begun breaking apart as the sheer weight and density of the power gathered into the sword had reached completion, and exceeded that level of power.

"Excalibur…"

The space around the corrupted King of Knights warped and twisted, adhering to the might of the Sword.

"MORGAN!"

With a mighty yell, the darkened sword was swung down with all of the wielder's remaining strength. Out of the sword's tip came a massive destructive beam of corrupted power. An impure, unholy energy that consumes all things. A power so dark, so desolate, so hungry, so empty, yet so powerful.

The righteous King of the Lance eyed the massive destruction brought upon by the Saber, and without a single word, without hesitation, propelled herself into the beam. The Lancer jumped forward to meet the attack, and with full intention to tackle it head on. It would have looked foolish and suicidal to anyone else, especially to the one who unleashed it. But one thing's for certain, was that a fighter of her caliber and prestige was not so foolish as to dive headfirst into the abyss without a plan.

When she approached the beam, Lancer Artoria rammed her Sacred Lance forward. The tip of the golden lance meeting with the malevolent force. A grunt of effort escaped her lips as she pushed herself through the abyssal darkness, her form meeting with significant protest. The light of the Lance pierced through the stream of corruption, a lone light in a stretch of corruption, in an expanse of darkness. Despite the beam utterly swallowing the entirety of Lancer's body, not a single speck of the corrupted Excalibur's power so much as touched, or even reached her skin and armor. The Lance's light repudiating darkness and evil.

The battlefield had taken a worrying amount of damage before, but now it was ready to go down on them. The energies that were being deflected by the Sacred Lance didn't just vanished, it was swept to the side. Dozens of dark magical energy escaped from the clash and found new targets in their surroundings, effectively demolishing everything inside the cave it touched. In response to this, Dun Stallion had once again emitted a holy aura, acting as a shield which had been successful in deflecting some wayward corrupted power that would have reached their position.

A few moments past, and the Lancer had successfully conquered the corrupted Excalibur's beam, completely untouched. She swiped her lance in a diagonal slash, completely diverting the very last remnants of the beam and effectively nullifying it. By the end of it, the light in her lance was just as pure, just as holy, just as powerful as when it had first materialized. The intensity of the Lance's light gave no indication that the clash had negatively affected its power in any capacity. It was all that she needed for confirmation, that the Lance was indeed superior to the corrupted Sword.

"Wha…?" Saber confusedly muttered under her breath.

Artoria locked on towards her target, who wore a gobsmacked expression, befuddled by what she'd just witnessed. Shocked and caught off guard, the Saber had no time to process what just happened as the Sacred Lance homed in on her.

"Rhongo…"

The Lancer started, her body like a speeding bullet, her lance like a meteorite from the skies.

"...MYNIAD!"

Desperation filled her mind as the Saber brought up her sword in a defensive stance, deprived of any sort of plan or defensive contingency against such an attack.

BOOM!

The Lance crashed into the Saber, the collision of which created a gigantic, golden explosion of light that shook the entire cave system. The deafening sound of thunder exploded in his ears,

Sasuke winced as he covered his eyes with his forearm as the light that resulted from Lancer's Noble Phantasm threatened his sense of sight. Dun Stallion's magical aura shielded them from the excess magical energy that flooded that section of the cavern, as well as from the massive chunks of boulders and rocks that were thrown away at fatal speeds in all directions. The ground shook violently beneath their feet, to the point he had to apply some chakra to the soles of his feet to stabilize himself.

The destruction brought upon by the offensive Noble Phantasm had pushed the cavern's foundations to its limits, and was actively on the verge of crumbling down with them still inside.

The massive dome of light had died down relatively quickly, revealing one figure still standing. The other was an injured heap on the ground, but impressively still alive. Her armor reduced to scraps, her dress singed in many parts, burn marks and wounds littered her petite body. Her sword was no longer in her grasp, as it lay flat on the singed ground next to her. She clung to life, her insane willpower preventing herself from going back to the Throne even as her Graph had been broken beyond repair. She laid on the ground, useless, helpless, and unfit to fight.

The war has been won.

"Yaaahh!"

Mash roared, the barrage of magical steel rained down on them. The weapons were fired at speeds beyond bullet-speed, but bounced off harmlessly as the shield's magic activated.

The Shielder had arrived just in time to protect the Caster from the rain of steel. Her holy relic conjuring protective magical light over their heads, a lesser application of her Noble Phantasm.

Caster sighed in relief, before sending the girl a grateful smirk, "Great timing, girlie!" He told her, as he quickly activated several runes. "Just keep it up!"

A rune towards the right side above the archer materialized, firing off extremely potent projectiles of fire. The Archer had been unaware enough that one of the fireballs had hit him directly. The red-clad warrior gnashed his teeth, as celtic flames consumed his flesh. In the midst of being burnt alive in torturous flames, the Archer had willed himself to jump away to dodge the subsequent flaming projectile attacks. Two, three, six projectiles he'd dodged, until a rune to his side materialized and blindsided him. The rune fired off a fireball that successfully made its mark on the Archer's body.

"Argh!" The bowman screamed in pain as he endured flames that contained enough intensity and power to burn regular Servants to ash. Pain clouded the corrupted Archer's mind, as he tried his best to shake the fires off of him. Despite the immense pain that covered his body, despite the horrid smell of his own flesh melting and being cooked, he was still lucid enough to assess the situation. With the way things were going, death was an inevitability. His conclusion was to get up close and personal. Still, that girl with the shield was a prominent problem. If she was present, no harm would befall on the Caster, no matter how much he tried. He needed to get rid of her, and fast.

Kanshou and Bakuya in hand, Archer rushed in to bisect his enemy in four different sections. With a harsh, pained grunt, the Archer swung his weapon. The Shielder widened her eyes, but was fast enough to prop her shield up in front of her as he went in.

CLANG!

Kanshou met the shield first, ineffectively bouncing off of the shield's surface. Then came Bakuya, which did a bit more than Kanshou, as it caused the Shielder to stagger backwards. But she held strong, her will unbroken. After several moments of the twin blades wailing harmlessly at the shield, the Archer decided it was time to change tactics. Overcoming the shield's durability was a lost cause. Its endurance was stellar, and no weapon in his internal forge may peirce such a steel. With blinding speed, the Archer fluidly navigated towards the girl's right side, taking advantage of her blindspot. The corrupted Servant smirked triumphantly when the girl hadn't so much as noticed him disappearing in front of her. Kanshou sped towards the girl's side, intent on driving itself deep within her internals and causing a swift, but painful death.

Unfortunately for the Archer, several runes strategically placed around their position had activated. A rune beneath their feet summoned roots that bound the Archer's arm that held Kanshou, stopping it dead. A rune behind him had latched on to his torso. And a rune to his left side had bound his other arm, holding Bakuya.

"What!?" The confused sound came from Archer's lips, as he inspected the roots that stretched across the length of his arm.

"Wha-!?" Mash whipped her head to the side to see the Archer being bound, one of his blades in a position that looked about a second away from killing her. Without Caster's runes, she would have been dead, even before she could protect her Master in full. Knowing she was this close to dying was a disturbing thought, one she made an effort to suppress. Her shock had been promptly forced down, as she quickly hoisted her shield to face the enemy.

"Missy, get away from there!" The Caster announced to her, finishing his rune chant.

Wordlessly, she complied. Mash stepped away from Archer's position, stopping when she was beside the Caster. As soon as she was out of range, the Caster willed his runes to transfer themselves into the Archer's body.

The corrupted Servant watched in panic as the runes inscribed themselves onto him. Mentally, he'd already reinforced his body's durability, expecting intense flames to consume him yet again. But fortune had been on his side just then…

A massive, powerful earthquake rocked the cave, wobbling the two Servants ahead. The Caster's concentration had been broken for the briefest of moments, his attention lapsed for an instance, as his mind regarded the tremors. It was all the Archer needed.

He traced a particularly powerful copy of a legendary sword, and quickly fired it. The sword was of special variety, in that it adjusts its trajectory upon firing, capable of curving around objects, such as the girl's shield, to pierce the target behind them. The Caster only had time to widen his eyes in alarm and push the girl away, before the sword came and lopped his arm off. A better outcome than the little missy's head popping up like a watermelon, but it still hurt like hell.

Mash recollected herself, just in time to see a sword cleanly slice through Caster's arm, "Wha-! Caster!?"

"Eyes ahead, little miss. Fight's not done yet." He warned, as he casually wrapped his bleeding stump with a white cloth he had on his person, as though merely patching up a trivial scratch wound.

That had not been what the Archer had in mind, but that'll do. 'Least his free, and the Caster was without an arm. The roots around his arms and body had vanished and Archer was allowed some time to recover. He didn't know if it was caused by the injury the Caster had sustained or when his concentration was interrupted, but the runes on his clothes were gone as well.

The moment of calm was promptly broken when the Caster manually conjured a wooden hand behind the Archer, which he hoped would go unnoticed. The Archer was blessed with keen sensing, however, and jumped away as the hand grabbed nothing but air.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Three weapons meant to bifurcate the Caster bounced off the shield, shattering upon contact. They were nothing but merely distractions, as the Archer was at their throat in the next moment. The Shielder tried her best to keep up with the Archer's physical speed, but found herself too slow at every turn. She could do nothing but raise her shield up in defense. Even then, she was full of blindspots and weaknesses that the Archer could exploit, as he'd demonstrated earlier. All the more dangerous when coupled with his speed. She'd had a much easier time defending against his projectiles than defending against his physical onslaught.

A sideways slash meant to send her shield off kilter opened her right side up for an attack. Another slash meant to gut her open was intercepted by the Caster's staff, and he took over the exchange for her.

Despite being a Caster, he was highly skilled in close quarters combat, deftly avoiding the attacks from the Archer's twin swords. Weaving and maneuvering at every step as death sailed repeatedly towards him. Sometimes, the Caster would employ the use of his absurdly durable staff to block some strikes that would otherwise be impossible to dodge. When the opportunity presents itself, the Caster would surge. Striking the Archer with his staff, utilizing his expertise with the spear. Ultimately, the staff made for a poor makeshift spear, and he would return to being the one who's had to defend.

Every now and again, a rune would materialize to shoot fireballs at the Archer at odd angles. Although the Archer was much more aware of them, allowing him to consistently avoid them. Likewise, the Archer would conjure multiple swords to shoot down at the Caster, although the Shielder would be there to meet them before they arrived at their target.

After an entire minute of exchange, the Archer had grown tired of the battle, and simply wanted for it to end. The blades locked against the staff, both Servants glared fiercely at each other. The Caster sported a more cocky, confident attitude, in contrast to the Archer, who scowled in annoyance.

"It's about time to end this…" Archer told the Caster, his voice rough and tired, but determined to end the battle.

Caster smirked in response, "Heh, could've said it better myself!" He agreed, mirroring the Archer's willingness to end the fight in kind. His haughty smirk quickly vanished into a confused grimace when the Archer responded with his own smirk. His alarm bells rang when the Archer pointed his twin blades at him. Before he could follow his instincts and get away, it had been too late. Kanshou and Bakuya suddenly grew in length. Transforming from relatively short and simple-looking blades to long and brutal blades of murder.

With the use of reinforcements being applied on the blades, Kanshou and Bakuya evolved. Overedge, as he called it.

"Argh!" Caster cried out, as the twin longswords pierced his body. Cú Chulainn coughed up blood as the black sword pierced a lung and destroyed a few ribs as it went through. The white one destroyed a kidney and made a blade-shaped hole through his liver. It was a tremendously painful experience, and one he didn't wish to experience again in future summons. Had he been a lesser man, he would have collapsed dead instantly. But he was Ireland's Child of Light. He had more fight in him than most men or Servants alike.

"This is the end for you, Caster." Archer told him, his face contorting in mockery. And while he couldn't particularly disagree with the Archer's boastful assessment of the matter, he wasn't gonna go down that easy. If he did, he'd have died the moment he fought Scáthach. Even as blood continued to drench his druidic robes, escaping from the lesions caused by the blades, he remained true and firm to his legends by remaining on his feet, whilst experiencing agony that would be considered unbearable by most men.

Instead of succumbing to the pain, he summoned his energy for his remaining hand to grip at Archer's forearm with surprising strength, preventing the corrupted warrior from escaping the hold.

Caster forced himself to smile triumphantly, even as rivers of lifeblood flowed freely from the corners of his mouth, even as he tasted iron from his own ichor, "It may be the end for me… but you go first." He said, prompting the Archer to look at him quizzically.

"HAAA!"

A female voice roared behind him. Before he could turn his head back to investigate, iron had emerged out of his chest.

"What…?" Archer managed to utter through the pain, his eyes lingered down towards the dark-colored steel that pierced him, recognizing it as the bottom most part of the Shielder girl's shield. It had been so thoroughly plunged into his back, that it pierced through his body and went out of his chest. Based on the pain he was feeling, he'd concluded that the wide shape of the steel had completely severed his spine, splintered most of his ribs, and crushed some of his organs essential for sustaining life. Blood poured out from the massive wound like a waterfall, pooling on the ground beneath his feet.

He'd lost.

"Heh, not bad." He complimented, as particles of golden light started to cover his being. As he disappeared, the Caster was fairly sure he'd seen the Archer sporting a rather satisfied smile. What a puzzling guy, he was. The Caster had to lean on his staff, not wanting to lay down just yet.

The Shielder retracted her shield, as she watched the congregation of spiritual light disperse in the air.

"Good job, little miss." Though bloodied and in intense pain, he told her. She was truly worthy of his praise. And there've been very few people he'd deemed worthy of praise in life. "I'm proud of you. I mean that. Now go, and make sure to protect Sasuke."

Mash looked at him with a sorrowful expression, "I… Yes, I will!" She responded, seeing spiritual particles gather around him. The Shielder tried her best to suppress her tears, "...Thank you, so much, Caster. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have unleashed my Noble Phantasm."

The Caster weakly waved her off, a smile remaining on his features even as he started disappearing from the world, "Nonsense… Believe me when I tell you that it was all you. And I'm proud of you for that." Caster's smile strained when he saw his newest student almost shed tears for him. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head with his remaining hand, "Oh, and don't grieve for me, will you. I'm a Servant, remember? We'll see each other sooner or later, perhaps in Chaldea. That I can tell you with certainty." As the last of his being disappeared, he gave her a half-hearted wave. "See ya, little miss. Say goodbye to your Master for me." And with that he disappeared completely, returning to the place beyond time and space, beyond creation itself.

Sasuke's watch pinged, Chaldea's screen materializing in front, "Report, Sasuke. What has happened?" The white-haired Director commanded, as she sat on her seat anxiously. She's started to get noticeable bags under her eyes, Sasuke observed. The girl needs some rest.

Sasuke regarded the girl, turning to look at the projected screen, "Saber has been neutralized. Archer's status is unknown. Caster and Mash is currently engaging him."

"I see…" She muttered, accompanied by a relieved sigh, like a boulder had just been lifted from her shoulder, "Well, it was to be expected." She did a quick once-over on him, "And what about you. Are you fine? Any injuries? Mana deprivations? Exhaustion, perhaps?"

"I'm fine."

"Hm… Romani, a quick physical scan on Sasuke, would you?" Olga Marie ordered.

"Copy that!" The Doctor's voice sounded at the corner, although he was just out of view. "He's fine. He's not quite in perfect shape, but nothing a good rest will fix."

"I see… that's good." She looked at the Master, "That said, I'm impressed you had the judgment not to interfere with their battle."

The Master raised an eyebrow at her, "What gave you that impression?" He asked, slightly curious.

The Director smiled at him, a bit haughtily, "Because you're still intact and alive."

Sasuke smirked at that, amused, "Hn, true enough."

As he was at this moment, he deemed fighting against a Servant as extremely dangerous and risky. And fighting against the likes of King Arthur would be tantamount to suicide. He needed to grow stronger, awaken his old powers… if that were possible. He hoped it was possible. Initially, he'd wanted to be a normal human, not wanting to have anything to do with fighting. But things had drastically changed.

His first priority now was to grow stronger, if he wanted to survive.

Just then, Mash arrived, her shield in tow. She came at running speed, emerging from the shadows from the path they took earlier to get to Saber's keep. She stopped to face her Master. If she was here, that bodes well for their battle. Although Caster's absence was a telling evidence that their battle had been hard fought.

"Master, Director!" She greeted, seeing her Master conversing with the grumpy Chaldean Director.

"Good to see you're safe, Mash." Sasuke greeted back with a nod. The girl briefly smiled, but it quickly fell into a saddened expression, "Yes, you too, Master… But Caster is…"

Sasuke didn't need more information to assume what had happened. His absence and Mash's disposition spoke clearly, "I see… So Caster's dead."

The Uchiha maintained a neutral expression as Mash confirmed, "Yes… He told me to say goodbye to you for him."

"Heh." Sasuke cracked a small smile at that. He rested a hand on her bare shoulder, a comforting gesture, "Good job, Mash." He told her, which prompted the girl to smile dazzlingly.

"Yes! Thank you, Master!"

"Hm, I see… So, Archer has been defeated at the cost of Caster's life, huh." The Chaldean Director spoke, looking over towards the Shielder, "Well, don't think about that too much. It happens during Servant battles often, as grim as that sounds… We'll be able to summon him at some point."

Mash nodded, "Yes."

The Servant and Master duo, alongside Chaldea's screen projection regrouped with the Lancer, as she loomed over the Saber's defeated form. Her Sacred Lance had returned back to its regular, tapestry-like appearance.

She turned to look at her Master, as she heard their footsteps.

"The battle is finished, Master." She reported.

Without her helmet, he could see her features in detail. Artoria very much looked like the Saber, although more mature and less paler. Green eyes stared at him, almost glowing, brimming with power. Sporting long, blonde lashes. Blonde hair swayed at her every movement, braided at the back, and decorated by an immaculate golden crown.

Sasuke nodded to her. In the end, she never actually needed his assistance at any point of that battle. Part of him wished he'd have remained with the fight against Archer. He would have been far more useful there. Then again, he wouldn't have been able to witness a battle between two supposedly high-ranking Servants. It had been highly valuable information on his part, after all.

"Well fought, Artoria." He complimented. Sasuke looked down towards her gauntlet, stained by her blood, "Raise your arm, Artoria."

She did as ordered.

"Can you take off your gauntlet?" Sasuke requested, as he inspected the damage on the piece of armor. The Lancer nodded, the damaged gauntlet disappearing in motes of golden light at her will. As expected, her wound had been deep. A few inches more, and the sword would cleaved right through the limb. The sword had reached halfway through her bone. Sasuke hovered a hand on the wound, employing high-level medical ninjutsu. He wasn't sure how shinobi healing techniques would interact with spiritual beings like Servants though. Thankfully, the green glow of his chakra being converted into healing energies did wonders for the Lancer. Sasuke observed as flesh reattached and skin reknitted, until there was no sign of the injury at all, not even a scar.

Satisfied, Sasuke deactivated the technique. His finger traced along the skin where the wound had been, as the Lancer twitched lightly at his touch.

"...My thanks, Master." Lancer told him, re-materializing the blood-stained gauntlet after the process.

Sasuke nodded to her, as his attention hovered over towards the Saber. The defeated Servant had climbed up to a kneeling position, weakly propping herself up with a hand.

"To think I'd be defeated… by the Lancer incarnation of myself. How troubling…" Saber said with loathing and regret, to no one in particular. Although everyone present heard her. "It was not as though I had stayed my hand, or that my tenacity had wavered… I suppose I might have gotten weaker." She weakly looked up, towards the Master. Although sufficiently defeated, her face remained a stoic mask, "Your tribulations start here, Master of Chaldea. Grand Order– the battle to collect the Holy Grails has only just begun." Having said that, she disappeared in a dispersion of spiritual particles, thereby concluding Singularity F's Holy Grail War.

In the end, no one really won the War. Though he guessed Saber technically won it, considering she was the one to go last.

"Confirming Saber's Servant reading has vanished. Great job, everyone." Romani said through the coms, "This concludes the Holy Grail War. All we need to do is collect the Greater Grail, and everything should go back to normal."

"Grand Order… How did that Servant know that name…"

"Hm? Is something the matter, Director?"

"Huh? No, nothing… Several points are still unclear, but let's call this mission a success. Good job, Sasuke, Mash, King Arthur." Olga Marie said, though it was clear there was a lot in her mind. Mysteries unsolved, questions unanswered. "First, I want you to retrieve the crystal. It's the reason Saber became abnormal. It's clearly the reason why Fuyuki became a singularity." The Director ordered.

Mash nodded in compliance, "Yes, an immediate retrieval— what?

Sasuke felt a chilling presence, like a wave of pure evil. He looked up to see a familiar face atop the hill, looking down on them. The green clothing, paired with the green top hat, and that long mane. It was Lev, Lev Lainur, Chaldea's top engineer and technician. So, what he sensed in him back in Chaldea wasn't a farce after all.

"Well now… I certainly didn't expect you'd get this far." His voice came, cold and mocking. "Beyond my plan's expectations and tolerances." The man seemed to regard the Master, though it's difficult to know for sure, considering the man's eyes remained shut. "Master Candidate #48, it was my mistake to naively overlook you as an improbable child. I should have recognized your potential and got rid of you back in Chaldea. Oh, how foolish of me." Lev Lainur took one look at the Royal Lancer Servant, "You even summoned your own King Arthur there… How absurdly fortunate of you."

"You…" Sasuke said.

"Professor Lev!?" Wide-eyed and shocked, Mash exclaimed

Mash's expression was understandably confused as he beheld the man in front of them. His aura had now drastically changed, it was cold, like a chilling storm.. This wasn't the Lev they knew back in Chaldea anymore…

Lancer Artoria walked in front of him protectively, recognizing the sheer evil and malice the "man" in front was exuding. The Shielder did the same, following the King's actions.

"Lev? Professor Lev, you say? You mean he's there right now?" Romani inquired, puzzled.

The man's ear twitched, "Is that Romani I hear? So, you survived the explosion as well." He said. His voice was remarkably disappointed. "I told you to come to the Command Room immediately, but it seems you weren't listening… Honestly— Trash who can't follow orders. Just the mere sight of it makes me want to throw up!" The man's voice had quickly devolved from being disappointed to unadulterated hate in mere moments. "Why is it that humans always try to avoid their preordained destinies?" The green-clad man grinned hauntingly, displaying sharpened teeth ill-suited for humans.

Mash stared at the Chaldean technician, or the man that used to be the technician. Her face was conflicted, appalled, confused and disturbed all rolled into one. "That person… That person is not the Lev we know… He's dangerous, I can feel it…"

"Lev? Oh, Lev, you're alive!" The Chaldean director exclaimed, her eyes firmly locked on to the man atop the hill, leering at them with utter distaste. "Thank goodness! Without you, I don't know if I'm even able to protect Chaldea!" The poor girl was rife with ignorance, sporting an immensely relieved expression at the sight of her respected subordinate.

Mash looked at the Director incredulously, "D-director, that person isn't—"

"Oh, Lev… What a relief to see you! You should return with them as soon as the Singularity is fixed!" Olga Marie said, interrupting the Shielder. Unbeknownst to the truth at hand.

The man that used to be Lev Lainur assumed his regular Chaldean expression, that of a mild-mannered smiling man with perpetually closed eyes. "Oh, is that Olga Marie? Hi there, Director… You seem well enough. Though it looks like you had a rough time too, huh?"

"Yes, yes… That's right, Lev. The command room blew up, Chaldea's manpower has been reduced to merely twenty percent, and all of Team A are currently in cryostasis due to their injuries! What's worse, most potential Master Candidates have died, and almost all of our tools are compromised! We have barely enough sustenance and medical supplies as of this moment! Chaldea needs you, Lev!" Olga Marie explained pleadingly, feelings of desperation at the situation at hand surfacing.

"Lev" adopted a bored, almost annoyed expression, "...That sounds rough, indeed."

"Right!? I'm going crazy from all these unforeseen complications. But with you here, everything should be fine, right? That's always how it's been, right? You'll help me this time too, won't you?"

The man's face took up a cruel, sadistic expression. A facade of loathing and contempt, "Heh… Of course, I will."

Olga Marie's face bubbled up with hope.

"I mean, honestly… All these complications have irritated me to no end, too. But the biggest complication here is you, Olga Marie." He told her, his face akin to a person looking down on a cockroach. Pure disgust.

The Chaldean Director's face fell.

"Wh-what are you saying, Lev?"

The man's face contorted in rage, marring the face of the man once called Lev. "I set the bomb directly underneath your feet, yet you still live!"

Olga Marie's face became unnaturally pale, her eyes widening in disbelief. "—What? Lev, um, wha-what's that supposed to mean?"

Lev Lainur collected himself, preferring to present himself in a calm persona. His signature faux good-natured smile plastered haphazardly on his face, "I mean what I said, Olga. I set the bombs under you. By all means, you should be dead! Vaporized, in pieces, reduced to tiny chunks of wretched human meat! And yet you are there in Chaldea, alive and well. Explain to me how that's even possible, would you, dear Director?"

Just then, Olga Marie must've understood what had happened then. Remembering the events during the command room incident. Her eyes lighting up in realization, she almost robotically turned to look at Sasuke. It had been an extremely tiring and hectic situation. And she'd wanted nothing more than to forget that event and move on. But one thing that just wouldn't leave her mind was Sasuke carrying her in his arms when the explosion had occurred.

A tired, exasperated sigh escaped the green-clad man's lips, "Well, no matter. You don't have to explain. I can always come around to finish you off at a later date. No, I'll finish you off along with Chaldea!" With a wide, toothy grin, he declared to the increasingly crestfallen Director.

"Now that that's out of the way, let me show you something, oh Chaldeans. The future of Chaldea that you've devoted your life to." Lev said, as he willed a golden grail into existence. It glowed, and the next thing they knew, they were at a familiar place. Inside Chaldea's command room, where the fatal blast had taken place.

Sasuke observed his surroundings and spread his chakra throughout. Concluding that the scene before them wasn't just an illusion. What they're seeing was most definitely real. Like he'd just just opened a gateway to Chaldea from this Singularity.

"What? We're in Chaldea?" He heard Mash say beside him, as she took in the room.

Lancer had stayed silent, keeping her eyes at the adversary.

Located in the middle of the room, was a reddened globe. The CHALDEAS was completely red, like it had been burned completely.

"What is that? CHALDEAS is bright red?" The Director said, auburn eyes reflecting the orange from the globe, "I-it's a lie, right? It's just an illusion, right, Lev?"

The smile on Lev's face was positively venomous, "Oh, it's real… I've connected the dimensions for you. With the Grail, I can do such things. In fact, you can confirm it for yourselves! Since you're in Chaldea, operating from a spare computer room. You may go to the destroyed command room and see it for yourselves."

Olga Marie quickly barked orders for someone to check CHALDEAS in the command room.

"Now behold, descendant of the Animusphere, behold Chaldea, behold your folly! Not a sliver of blue representing human survival! Nothing but burning, bright, red flames… That is the outcome of this mission. But that's not all…"

The Grail in his hand glowed once again, projecting in scenes from various parts of the world in front of them. New York, Tokyo, Shanghai, Berlin, Paris, Sydney… all burned to the ground, with not a single sign of life in sight. Buildings, houses, markets, parks, all brought to ruin by an ever-present flame.

'So, this was the destruction the machine predicted?' Sasuke thought to himself, realizing the implication of such an event. All of Earth's population was wiped out. His new friends at school, his new family that gave him a second chance in this world. Gone. That is a grim prospect.

Sasuke tasted bile in his mouth.

"All of humanity has fallen. Well, all but you Chaldeans, of course. Isn't it wonderful, Olga Marie? Once again, your incompetence has brought forth tragedy!" Lev Lainur mocked.

Utterly distraught, the Chaldean Director refused to accept such an outcome. Wishing for it to be a nightmare that would go away in the morning, "Don't— don't be so absurd! I'm not responsible, I haven't failed yet!" The girl's expression did a one-eighty, going from utterly crushed to furious, fixing an accusatory glare at the man known as "Lev". "You… You're not Lev. Who are you? What have you done to my CHALDEAS!?"

The man adopted an incredulous expression, "It's not your Chaldeas. Honestly, what an annoying girl you are," He shook his head in a disappointed manner, "It's unfortunate that I couldn't kill you for some inane reasons that escapes me. But just you wait, I'll deliver you to the land of the dead soon enough, along with your precious Chaldea!"

The dimensional connection had closed, as the Grail in his hand vanished.

The man regarded them, "Before I go, let me reintroduce myself. My True Name is Lev Lainur Flauros. In charge of the year 2017, sent to dispose of you humans. Are you listening, Dr. Romani? As a friend who studied Magecraft with you, let me give you some final advice… Chaldea is finished! You humans have reached the moment of your destruction!"

Chaldea's screen displayed the Doctor, instead of the Director, "Professor Lev… No, Lev Lainur. What do you mean? Is it related to us not being able to see 2019?"

The man smiled, amused, "It's not "related". It's the reality that this is the end. Unable to see the future… You babbled that it had "disappeared". That was truly wishful thinking. The future didn't merely disappear, it was incinerated. The moment CHALDEAS was dyed crimson." He explained, the sharp, toothy grin never leaving his face. "Your end is certain. Your era no longer exists."

Sasuke took in the information with a frown. Assuming all he said was true, what's happened here was basically the equivalent of the ninja world being caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Though at least with that, life may yet still flourish and evolve. And Infinite Tsukuyomi at least gave its victims an illusory lifetime of blissful dreams. The incineration of humanity had taken everything. Every possibility for life to exist. Every individual and holistic futures, and the future of humanity itself, were stolen from under their noses. It was a conceptual destruction, incinerating the concept of human survival and humanity's future itself. And they were helpless, utterly powerless to stop it.

Reveling in his audience's expressions of hopelessness and defeat, the green-clad man continued, "Chaldeas' magnetic field may protect Chaldea, but any outside of it will face the same end as Fuyuki City."

Roman frowned in contemplation, "So that was it… We didn't lose contact with the outside world due to interference, we simply lost the outside world itself…"

"Hmph, you really are perceptive… A shame I couldn't kill you immediately." He sneered at the screen, before recollecting himself. "But that too is futile resistance. If the time within Chaldea passes 2018, it will be wiped from this universe."

Sasuke's frown went deeper. That meant their time in Chaldea was temporary, and unless they fix the incineration of humanity within the given time, that is before 2018 goes away, they'd cease to exist. It follows that they need to fix everything in a year or so. That seemed quite a tall order. Almost impossible, when he thought about it deeply.

But there was no way he was gonna lose this life. That much was certain.

"No one can change this outcome now. This is a rejection of humanity by human history. Humanity didn't perish because of your inability to evolve, nor did you perish due to a war with a foreign species… Rather, it was your own foolishness, your own incompetence! Because you lost the Grace of our King!"

'King?' Sasuke repeated in his mind.

"Like a bunch of worthless scraps of papers, you'll be burned without a trace!"

They felt a soft tremor, which immediately turned into a powerful earthquake. The cave was crumbling on them.

The man looked around, as their surroundings fell and shattered. The earth quaked without any sign of stopping. "Ah, is this Singularity at its limit? Cursed Saber, if you'd just been stronger, you'd have been allowed to live. Even when given the Holy Grail, she caused trouble by wanting to sustain this era. In the end, she was vanquished by a different iteration of herself. How's that for an insult!"

The man gave them one final look, the usual fake smile returning, "Farewell to you, Romani, Mash, the King of the Lance. And to you, Candidate #48. Believe it or not, I have other businesses to attend to. My enjoyment of your destruction regrettably ends here. Now be swallowed by the dimensional warp!" The green-clad man casually walked into a dimensional gateway, disappearing from sight. His overwhelmingly evil presence disappearing along with him.

"The underground cavern's collapsing… No, it was never stable in the first place!" Mash said, her tone sufficiently panicked. "Doctor, we need to save Senpai!"

"This is bad! Romani, perform a forced Rayshift on them immediately!" The Director commanded.

Romani quickly tinkered on some gadgetry he was ill-familiar with, "Already doing it now, but the Singularity may collapse faster than I can transfer them!" He faced towards Mash and the Master, "If it does, then do what you can on your side! I'm pretty sure we can survive in space for a few dozen seconds, right?"

The Shielder's eye twitched, "Sorry, Doctor, but please shut up. I'm so angry I'm about to lose my cool!"

"Eeehh, just hold on to your consciousness! If we don't lose that, I might be able to salvage—"

The connection to Chaldea was cut off.

"We won't make it!" The Shielder said defeatedly, as the cavern ceiling started collapsing, and the ground had fissured into large cracks, promising deep abyss below.

Fortunately for them, the King had gotten a hold of the Master, as she mounted Dun Stallion.

"Mash!" Sasuke extended his hand towards the girl, and the Shielder grabbed it, just in time for the ground beneath them to collapse completely, and Dun Stallion to perform a mighty leap upwards…

Then Sasuke felt it. A warm, but overwhelming light washing over them, and then the feeling of being sucked into a blackhole as his mind went blank.

Chaldea's Rayshift had been successful.

Chaldea, 2017

A blonde woman gracefully walked down the halls of Chaldea. She stalked the pathways, carefully navigating the hallways to reach her destination, not wanting anyone to see her.

The woman seemed to be in her late twenties to early thirties. A woman of caucasian descent, hailing from a certain American city. A highly sophisticated person, possessing intelligence and ingenuity that very few people could boast of having. Some say she was just shy of being a full-fledged genius. She was considered a stunning beauty in her circles and in her workplace. Attracting the admirations of men and women alike.

She was one of Chaldea's more prominent technicians, and one of the more fortunate ones who happened to be absent from the command room when the incident occurred a day prior. Upon discovering that her respected mentor in the field of engineering was a villain who strived to end humanity, she had been appalled at his deception, and angry that much of her knowledge and expertise came from the man. And upon knowing of the truth of the outside world, she had been inconsolable for much of yesterday, thinking about her daughters, her family. She forced her emotions down and continued her work to get her mind off of much darker thoughts.

When Mash Kyrielight and the Master had arrived back from Singularity F, she'd since wanted to visit the young man, Chaldea's final Master. It was currently her break time when she walked down the Chaldean halls, towards the Master's room. Apparently, the Master was unconscious when he returned, and has been receiving treatment inside the safety of his own room, and supervised by Dr. Romani Archaman himself.

The woman pushed her glasses up when she arrived at his door. Hesitantly, she reached her hand towards the handle slowly. She racked her mind up on what to say to him if he was awake, and what sort of topics she'd wanted to talk about with him. Personal topics, such as his life growing up, his hobbies, his pastimes… his father. She shook her head and tried to grip at the handle. Part of her hoped he was still asleep.

"Kyaa!"

She squealed in surprise when the Doctor suddenly opened the door for her as he was getting out of the room, and immediately covered her mouth out of embarrassment.

The man jumped from the shrill sound she let out, before facing towards her with mild confusion.

"Oh, um… Olivia-san, was it?" The Doctor recognized her. One of Lev's previous students, a staff of Chaldea. Though he never really interacted with her. "What brings you here?" He asked, taking note of the unrelaxed state the woman was in. She seemed somewhat anxious about something. "Did you want to visit the Master?"

The woman hesitated, "I— Well… N-no, it's fine." She cleared her throat, "U-um… How is he?"

The Doctor blinked confusedly, "Well, he's fine. Just a little magical energy deprivation, coupled with Rayshift sickness. He should be up and about when he wakes up."

The woman nodded, "I see… That's good to hear. I'll go back to work." She said, before turning back in a hurry.

He looked at her in curiosity. What does this woman have to do with Sasuke-kun? What's her relationship with him? Before she could go, the Doctor asked, "Why do you ask? Surely it's not because he's simply Chaldea's only Master, right?"

She stopped, reluctantly turning towards the Doctor, "I… Yes, it's… much deeper than that."

"Do you… want to talk about it? I'd be willing to lend an ear you know. It's part of being Chaldea's medical head." Romani offered.

The woman contemplated for a short while, before facing him with a determined expression, "Ok, Doctor. If possible, I would like to seek your counsel. I'd also prefer that this remain private."

Romani nodded.

The woman proceeded to tell him a rather personal story. She talked about her relationships and her meetings. About her falling in love with a man. And then leaving that man for someone more powerful, in order to climb the corporate ladder. She told him about her family, and about how she had come to work in Chaldea. He listened on, and waited for the moment she'll reconcile her story with Sasuke-kun. How did her story relate or connect to the Master? Eventually, the story did reach that point, and he was given an answer.

Romani kept calm as the woman finished talking. Her expression had been downcast and ashamed the whole time she recounted her memories.

"So you're his…?"

"Yes." The woman answered simply.

"I see…"

The woman peeked at her wrist watch, "I'll ask for your opinions at a later date, Doctor. For now, it's time I went back to work." She bowed respectfully, before turning to leave.

Leaving Romani with a new pile of information to think about. Things he had no business nor part in. Romani stood there in deliberation, before finally sighing deeply and returning to his room.

He needed a drink.

Sasuke awoke with a tired groan. Immediately feeling the soft, comfortable mattress beneath his body, and the cotton blanket. He sat up and opened his eyes, and quickly shut it close as light flooded his eyes. He sat up on his bed, flooding his chakra across his body as a means to detect any abnormalities in his system. He found none, thankfully.

"There, there… what an adorable little cutie you are!" The Master heard a female voice, and was immediately aware that he wasn't alone in the room. He rubbed his eyes lightly, to shake off the blurriness as he tried focusing his sights on the person. "I'm not entirely sure if you're a cat or a squirrel, but that's okay. You're still pretty cute."

"Fou…" The small animal chirped.

The unknown woman turned to look at him, as the white animal jumped down from her arms, "Ah, looks like the Hero is finally waking up." She said, "Good Morning, Sasuke-kun. Are you fully conscious now?"

"I am. Who are you?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Ah, that hurt, you know. To think that you would be suspicious of such an impossibly beautiful person as I." The woman joked, although he'd determined it wasn't as much of a joke as she made it sound.

Sasuke only gave her a flat look as a response.

The Uchiha had never been a liar, he was a terrible liar at worst. He could admit to truths when they lay bare in front of him. That's why he could fully admit the woman in front of him was quite beautiful. Soft, long brown hair that seemed to sparkle under light. Perfectly statuesque body with curves on the right places, underneath a regally-designed dress that seemed wholly outdated in this day and age. The woman also sported some mechanized arm of some sort, which held her intricately-designed staff. He'd assumed she was a Caster.

The woman sent him a beatific smile, "He he, leaving that aside for now, I'm Da Vinci. The unparalleled genius from the Renaissance. I'm currently acting as Chaldea's collaborator… or perhaps Chaldea's third summoned Heroic Spirit."

His eye twitched at her introduction, "Da Vinci?" Shouldn't Da Vinci be an old man, with quite a large beard, no less? Then he remembered Mash's explanation about Servants and genders, and wisely left the topic unanswered. His thoughts never leaving his mouth.

"Hmhm… I see. So you've finally realized that you're in the presence of an amazingly great and beautiful person? I understand, I'm quite used to it. Thank you!"

"..."

This woman was a headache.

"Anyway, let's talk later. Go to the command room, someone's waiting for you." She told him, scooping Fou back in her arms.

Sasuke looked confused, "Isn't the command room in ruins right now."

"Oh, that. The command room's been rebuilt and refurbished by yours truly. Now go. Your heroines are waiting for you."

'Heroines?'

She smiled warmly at him, "Time to go, Sasuke-kun. From here on, you'll be the center of this story. The choices you make will probably save us all. Just like the multitudes of brave souls who weren't remembered by history as they saved humanity. You've been given a role to fight. Not as a hero, but as a human who walks in a path preordained by the stars."

Sasuke nodded. Walking in a preordained path was probably what he does best, anyhow. And he didn't want glory, nor fame. Anonymity was a good thing to him.

"I see." Without another word, he got up and put on his Chaldean uniform, forgoing to zip the clothing down the middle.

…

As he walked inside the room, it was hard to miss the bright orange glow of the CHALDEAS way beyond their position.

"Good Morning, Senpai. I'm glad to see that you're okay." Mash smiled sweetly at him, as he walked towards the middle of the command room. The girl was back to her Chaldean uniform outfit, the armor and the shield nowhere to be seen.

"Hm." He acknowledged, nodding towards the girl.

"I wanted to thank you, Senpai. Because of you, I was able to cling to my consciousness."

Sasuke wasn't quite sure what she meant so he settled on nodding curtly at her.

His eyes settled towards the King of the Lance, currently dismounted from her mount. She locked eyes with him from beneath her immaculate helmet. They settled for a quick nod as a mutual greeting.

"Good, you're here. We can start the meeting." The Director offhandedly commented as she briefly glanced at him, then turning her attention to her tablet and tapping on it. Upon closer look, it was plainly clear that the girl had been crying. If the bags under her eyes weren't an indicator, then the redness of her eyes were. He could understand. It's quite difficult to accept the person you most respect and look up to to come up and reveal themselves to be evil. He'd experienced the same thing, after all. Though his experience differed vastly in the context, being done out of love, not out of spiteful hate.

Romani clapped his hands once, "Ahem, your attention here please. First of all, congratulations on solving the mission and surviving Singularity F, Sasuke-kun. Well done, truly. While the situation was forced on you, you faced the challenges and overcame them. That earned mine and the Director's respect and appreciation. Isn't that right, Director?"

Olga Marie huffed, her arms crossed as she examined him with that, "Hmph, yes sure. It's thanks to your efforts that Chaldea and Mash were saved."

Sasuke shook his head lightly, "I didn't do anything. If you wanted to thank someone, that'd be Mash and Artoria." He refuted. At least, that was what he thought anyway. He didn't do anything but watch during the events of the final battle. And they were unjustly giving him the credit, which he couldn't accept.

The Director's gaze softened, almost amused to a point. And the Doctor merely smiled, "Wow, didn't peg you to be such a humble man, mister Candidate #48."

"Call me Sasuke." He insisted.

The Animusphere heiress rolled her eyes, "You were the one who summoned King Arthur of the Lance, yes?" At his silence, she continued speaking, "And you were providing your Servants with magical energy during their fights, which helped them greatly during their respective fights. As a Master, that's what you're expected to do, aside from issuing commands to your Servants, of course." The girl regarded him with skepticism, "In fact, you're quite exceptional, Sasuke. Most other Masters would have died after providing such massive reserves of magical energy to multiple Servants. But you've done that, while providing for a high-class Servant like King Arthur, and suffering no tangible consequences by the end. How odd."

Sasuke gave her a knowing look, "...I'm sure I have no clue what you're talking about."

Olga Marie, in turn, sent him a flat stare, "Of course you don't."

Romani watched the interaction with mirth, "At any rate, I've read the report from Mash about the Crystal. And what Lev said was true. Currently, we have no means to contact the outside world. The staff that was tasked outside Chaldea haven't returned. I fear humanity has already been destroyed."

The Director closed her eyes, "Hmph, that does seem to be the case. Chaldea seems to be the only place outside of the normal timeline. I theorize it stayed in the timeline before it collapsed."

"Think of us like a colony floating in space." The Doctor said, "The outside world is dead, until we do something about it."

"If it's already been done, can we reverse it?" Sasuke asked. It was a completely valid question. After all, if it was done already, then nothing short of time travel could reverse something like that.

It was the Director who answered. "Hm, It's not exactly "reversing" it, but there is something we can do. First, I want you to take a look at this. We tried scanning Earth with the resurrected Sheba. It's the Earth of the past, not the future. The Fuyuki Singularity was destroyed thanks to you. But we hypothesize that the future was unchanged due to another cause. The result being—"

The orange glow of CHALDEAS disappeared as Sheba's lens activated. The Director continued, "This distorted world map… A newly discovered dimensional disturbance which Fuyuki pales in comparison." Olga Marie explained. She operated on a computer, as Sheba's lens moved. The glow on the globe becoming more static, before it displayed seven red spots on different parts of the globe. Sheba's lens was pointing towards France. "One may change the future by changing the past. But one cannot overwrite the future by slightly altering the past. History in itself has the power to heal itself. You might be able to save a person or two, but the end of that era… It will still end with the definitive result unchanged. These singularities are different, however. These are humanity's turning points. Significant events in human history, so to speak. "What if this war never ended?", "What if this naval voyage wasn't successful?", "What if this discovery was wrong?", "What if this country couldn't become independent?"... The ultimate decision point to determine the state of humanity. Destroying them is akin to destroying the foundations of human history. That's what these seven singularities are."

"The future has already been decided when these seven singularities were formed." Romani continued for the Director, "As Lev said, Humanity doesn't make it in 2019. Chaldea is unique. We're still yet to reach that future."

The Director looked at him pointedly, "Do you understand? Only we can fix this mistake. Now we have the chance to return these Singularities to normal." The girl puffed her chest, and straightened herself. Giving the image of a dignified leader, "So here's my command to you, Master of Chaldea… I want you to Rayshift into these seven singularities and get history back to the way it was, the way it's always been before it went haywire. It's the only way to save humanity as it stands right now."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. Seems straightforward enough.

Romani was the one to speak next, "That said, we're still quite powerless… All other Master candidates are either in cryostasis or dead. Mash and Artoria are the only Servants we have." He spared a glance towards the mounted knight, "Lancer Artoria is immensely strong, but we can't keep relying on her forever. I realize we're essentially forcing you into this role, but I'm gonna say it anyway—"

"Allow me, Romani." The Director interrupted, to which the Doctor nodded in response. The white-haired Chaldean leader faced him, her expression one of authority. "Master Candidate #48, Sasuke Uchiha. If you want to save humanity. If you wish to have a future beyond 2018… Then you alone may face these seven singularities stationed at various points in human history." She paused for a second, auburn orbs staring straight at his onyx eyes, "Are you prepared to do this? Can you shoulder the burden of Chaldea and humanity's future?"

Sasuke closed his eyes for but a moment. And in that brief instance, memories flooded into him. Memories of a war, of decisive battles against enemies they were ill-prepared to face. A war against a legend long past. A war against a Goddess, a war to defend the ninja world. A war to secure humanity's future.

He may not be exactly the same man that fought those wars, but this incarnation of him was still the same one that overcame the Curse of Hatred, and the same one that inherited the Will of Fire. The will to protect. This world was his second home, just as flawed and corrupt as the ninja world. But it was a world that willingly gave him a second chance, a chance to correct his wrongs. And he'll protect it all the same.

The Uchiha subtly smiled. It was a bit surreal to think it was his second time doing this.

"You didn't need to ask that." He answered, prompting Olga Marie, Romani, and Mash to smile.

"Then allow me to officially welcome you, Master of Chaldea." The Director held out a hand to him, "Welcome to Chaldea, Master Sasuke. Let us save humanity together."

With a rare smile of his own, Sasuke reached out and gently but firmly shook it.

"Gladly."

"Thank you, Sasuke. With that decision, our fate has been decided." The Director said, "We shall now carry out the Preservation of Humanity as laid out by yours truly, the Director of Chaldea. Our objective is the protection and recovery of human history. Our search target will be each era's relic and grail. Our opponent is history itself. Many great Heroic Spirits and legends will stand against you. Challenging them is an act of blasphemy against the past. To save humanity, we must defy human history itself. Remember, this is the only way to take back the future we lost. I declare, as Chaldea's Director, that our mission — Grand Order, shall henceforth commence!"

They celebrated after that. His induction party, as Romani had called it. He ate and drank some, but most of the food they managed to make were sweets. So the staff probably ate more than him, even though it was his party, supposedly.

When Chaldean time striked 11PM in the evening, he'd returned to his room to retire for the night. Bidding Mash and Artoria goodnight, as they went to their rooms. As he approached his room closer, Olga Marie was there, leaning against the wall outside his room. He could only assume she was waiting for him, wanting to talk.

She straightened herself at the sight of him.

"Director?"

The Animusphere heiress looked at him with a conflicted expression, "I hope I'm not much trouble. I just… want to talk a bit, if it's alright." She told him, a hand rubbing unconsciously at her arm.

Sasuke, on his part, was a bit weirded out. "What are you saying, acting all nice and shy all of a sudden? It really doesn't suit you." He said, quite frankly, with absolutely no regard or considerations for her feelings.

A vein materialized on Olga Marie's forehead. And for a second there, she'd seriously considered shoving a full-powered Gandr down this disrespectful lout's throat. "Grr, you…!" She forced her to calm down, as she cleared her throat, "Ahem… Your lack of delicacy aside. I just want for something to be clear" She looked at him, anger evaporating, and replaced by an emotion he couldn't quite pinpoint, "Sasuke, you… you saved me from the explosion, am I correct."

"I did." Sasuke confirmed, as Olga's lips quivered with emotion.

"I see… And what made you do it? What made you want to save me?"

Sasuke pondered for a moment. "I guess you could say my body just moved on its own."

The white-haired heiress was taken aback by his answer, eyes widening ever so slightly. "Eh, is that really it? That can't be it, right?"

"No. That's all there is to it. I wanted to save you, so I did."

"I see…"

Tears streamed down her cheeks, as emotions poured. She forced herself to smile,

"S-seriously, what's with that? That's so lackluster. Couldn't you have come up with a better reason?" She rubbed her cheeks dry with a sleeve. "But still… Thank you, Sasuke. Thank you so much. Because of you, I'm still here with my precious Chaldea. I-I'm…I'm still here… I… I'm alive…" Tears continued to run down her face, as she tried and failed to dry them with her sleeves. Sasuke let her. It was healthier to let out some pent up emotion rather than to keep them locked. God knows she needed this.

Realizing she was at death's door just then, and would have died if it wasn't for him, must've been a major wake up call. On top of that, she was also "betrayed" by someone she respected. It was one dam being broken right after another. She was an extraordinary girl, to say the least. Anyone her age would have succumbed and crumbled down had they experienced something remotely similar.

It was several moments of awkward waiting when the girl finally calmed down. He took a handkerchief from his breast pocket and offered it to her. The girl stared at it for a second before reluctantly but gratefully accepting the gesture.

*sniff* "T-thank you." *sniff*

"..."

"I don't know how to console someone…"

"Eh?" The girl looked up to him still teary-faced, bewildered.

"But I do know this… I'm glad I saved you. I'm sure you'll do great."

The girl smiled.

"...I know I already said this but… Thank you, Sasuke. I wholeheartedly mean it."

Sasuke offered a nod before opening his door to retire for the night.

"Ah, Sasuke, wait…" The girl hurriedly called out.

Sasuke stopped, turning around.

Olga Marie tapped the handkerchief at the corners of her eyes before composing herself completely, "Romani told me earlier that a person related to you is here in Chaldea right now." She informed, eliciting an expression of utter confusion on the Master's face.

'Someone related to me?' Who in the world could that possibly be?

"Romani talked to this person earlier, too. Romani said she told him that she's your family."

"What?" Sasuke inadvertently uttered. The Uchiha processed the information, racking his mind on who it could be. It couldn't possibly be someone from the previous world, could they? That's completely impossible, so it must be someone who he's related to in this world.

"More accurately, she told Romani that she's… well, she's your mother."

"..."

"I realize this must be personal, Sasuke… But do you happen to have a mother?"

"...No, I don't. But what I do know is that she abandoned me when I was little, to build her own family. My old man didn't want anything to do with me, so I've lived on my own as soon as I was able." Sasuke told her, without any hint of emotion in his face. Like it didn't matter to him at all.

"I see. So, it's like that, huh?"

"..."

"Well, I'd best be off. Thank you for sparing some time to talk to me, Sasuke. If you ever want to talk about something, I'd be glad to lend you my ears in turn."

Sasuke watched as the girl walked away, until she disappeared at a pathway to the left, before closing his door.

The Uchiha washed his face, took off his uniform, and lazily plopped down on his bed.

There was a whole lot to think about. About the mission, Servants, Singularities, Holy Grails, humanity's future. But…

"My mother, huh… Small world."

AN: 16,000+ words ain't no joke.

That said, no action for Sasuke this chapter. He can't keep hogging the spotlight all the time after all :)

Anyway, I'm going to have to research the order in which the Events take place. I'll also be including Events in this story, since they're canonical as well.

AGAIN, do NOT engage with the troll in the reviews.

Thanks for reading!

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