Toa Solaric: Welcome back to another one-shot in my realm of dream and this is for my FGO: Paladin Emperor of Chaldea.

FGO: Paladin Emperor of Chaldea Part 2

It hadn't been long since Ritsuka obtained the power of Heroic Spirit Charlemagne and fended off his attackers. But what surprised him even more was when someone he thought was dead resurrected right in front of him.

"Mash…? You're a Servant!?" Ritsuka exclaimed in shock.

"Senpai… you're one as well?" Mash uttered in disbelief.

The two stared hard at each other in complete shock and disbelief for a few moments. They were too overwhelmed by the revelation that they were both wielding the power of the Heroic Spirits at the same time. Neither knew what to say after such an event.

"Fou!" A certain white squirrel intervened by leaping onto Mash's arm and snuggling against her violet hair.

"Fou-san…" Mash said, surprised by Fou's affection. "It's nice to see you."

'Fou only acts like that around…' Ritsuka's guard dropped as he remembered how Fou behaved around Mash, confirming her identity as the same girl he first met in Chaldea. Though relieved to see her alive, there was still something he didn't understand.

"Mash… what in the world are you wearing?" Ritsuka asked, staring directly at her outfit.

This caught Mash completely off guard, and her face turned red.

"T-This isn't what you think! This is just my transformation after accepting power from a Heroic Spirit!" Mash protested nervously.

Ritsuka might have understood something like that, but compared to Charlemagne, whoever Mash had made a contract with seemed less decent than he imagined.

"But who in the world made you wear something like that? Your belly is too exposed!" Ritsuka continued, his face slightly flushed.

The more Ritsuka looked at her armor, the more scandalous it appeared. It was even more revealing than the outfits he had seen at anime conventions. Not only did it expose her belly to the cold air, but the skirt was also too short! If anyone at an anime convention saw her wearing that, it would attract unwanted attention.

This made Mash's face turn even redder than before. With her Senpai's strong reaction to her outfit, it was worse than she anticipated.

"I-I'm not into this either, but—" Mash tried to defend herself before they heard beeping sounds coming from the watch on Ritsuka's arm.

'Almost forgot that I had this on me…' Ritsuka thought before pressing one of the buttons on the watch.

It wasn't long until a hologram of a familiar doctor appeared in front of them.

"Thank god, that I finally made it through!" Dr. Romani said with relief in his tone. "Hello? This is Chaldea Command Room? Do you read me?"

"Doctor Roman!" Ritsuka exclaimed in surprise to see a familiar face despite being virtual.

"Fujimaru? Mash? You two are alive? And what are you two wearing!?" Dr. Romani asked, looking surprised at Ritsuka's and Mash's current appearance.

"I met a Heroic Spirit when I was almost killed," Ritsuka answered, making both the Doctor and Mash look surprised.

But at the same time, Mash felt a sense of guilt as she had almost lost the person she had agreed to protect.

"I see. But Mash, what in the world are you wearing? It's shameless! I didn't raise you to be like that!" Romani scolded, making Mash blush again.

"I-It's not like I had any options! I already had a contract with Senpai as his Servant!" Mash explained, embarrassed.

"You did…?" Ritsuka raised an eyebrow at the information before he noticed something else. He could feel some of his magical energy being siphoned off by whoever was on the other end, and he could tell that person was none other than Mash.

'Who knew something like this would happen?' The young man pondered while Mash continued to recall the story of how the Servant saved her life but didn't reveal his true name in the end.

"A Heroic Spirit and a human, fused... A Demi-Servant? That's Chaldea's sixth experiment," Dr. Romani replied. "I see. So it finally succeeded, huh? Does this Heroic Spirit still have his consciousness?" he asked.

"I'm afraid his consciousness left after what happened," Mash reported.

"Doctor, where exactly are we anyway?" asked Ritsuka, curious and trying not to stare at Mash's outfit too much.

"You're currently in Singularity F at the moment. You and Mash have been rayshifted to Singularity F. Fuyuki, 2004 A.D.," Doctor Romani revealed, widening Ritsuka's eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Ritsuka uttered in shock.

"I completely understand what you're going through. It's still a surprise that you made it through the Rayshift with your mind and body intact," Romani said. "But do you know who the Servant merged with you is?" he asked, and Mash also seemed curious.

The young man nodded awkwardly. "Well… it might be hard to believe," he responded awkwardly. "It's Charlemagne."

Romani looked like he was about to faint from amazement. "Charlemagne… The great king who was declared the Holy Roman Emperor…" Romani uttered with his jaw dropped, "The Leader of the twelve paladins and a hero whose excellence parallels even the great King Arthur… to think that you'd be fused with someone like him!"

"But how is that possible?" Mash questioned, making Ritsuka look slightly away.

"Uhh… It's complicated," Ritsuka said uncomfortably, recalling what Charlemagne had told him about almost dying from using the spell the old man gave him.

"The fact that you combined with someone like Charlemagne is incredible. But there is also an issue that I see at the moment. At least not right this second. We did get one of the mana generators back online, and while it's true that Chaldea is meant to provide the lion's share of mana to the Servants summoned via the FATE system. Since you merged with Charlemagne without Chaldea system, you won't be able to receive magical energy directly from us," Doctor Romani explained. Ritsuka's face fell slightly.

"W-well, Senpai could always use a Command Spell to replenish his mana," Mash pointed out. Roman nodded.

"That's true. Particularly in light of the fact that once we get the rest of the generators back online they should replenish at a rate of one per day," he admitted, cupping his chin.

"What," Ritsuka replied numbly. All that agonizing over the Command Spells had been for nothing? That might give him some relief, but…

"Wait, what about Mash?" Ritsuka asked suddenly. "Won't she vanish if I used up the Command Seals?" Even though he was fine, he still concerned about Mash, especially learning that she shared a connection with him now.

This made Mash blush in response. "I-I can regenerate my own mana without any problem, Senpai!"

"R-Really?" Ritsuka asked. "That is amazing, Mash!" he said, coming close to Mash's face.

"Y-Yes, Senpai! I-I'm amazing!" Mash said, blushing at the closeness of her Senpai.

"Anyway, Fujimaru." Doctor Romani cleared his throat, gaining their attention. "Do you know what Charlemagne's Noble Phantasm is?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not…" Ritsuka said with a flat expression.

"That is unfortunate, but I am sure that we could figure it out later." The Doctor replied, looking upset. "The current mission has two new goals..." As the virtual projectile is getting glitching at the moment.

Mash frowned, "Doctor, you're breaking up. 10 seconds until the connection is lost."

This made the Doctor blink in astonishment. "Huh, so Sheba's output is unstable because we switched to the backup generators? Oh well, I'll brief you later." He said, "Both of you, I'm getting a strong leyline reading about 2 km from where you are— Bzzt –Try to get there somehow. That way, it will stabilize our connection." He continued as the screen turned gray. "Listen, don't do anything reckless, will you? I'll try to bring the power back up as soon as—" The screen turned pitch black.

"…" Mash frowned at this.

"The connection got cut off…" Ritsuka finished grimacing.

Mash let out a sigh before looking at Ritsuka. "Well, that's the Doctor for you. You can't rely on him in situations like this."

"And we're stranded here…" Ritsuka said with a worried expression. "But I guess we have no choice but to move forward…" And if they made it out of here, Ritsuka was going to find his way back home. He needed to let his parents know that he was alright.

"Right, you're so dependable, Senpai. I was actually terrified, so thank goodness." Mash said, smiling. However, she was secretly relieved that she and Ritsuka now shared a bit more common background; both of them now operated on Servants' level. "Senpai, where do you think we should go?" she inquired about their direction toward the objective.

Ritsuka looked around the burned, abandoned street carefully for a few moments.

"Let's try that way…" Ritsuka said. The two soon made their way through the fiery street.

"Wretched skeletons! Gah! Haven't been here ten minutes and it's all gone to hell! DIE!" Olga-Marie Animusphere, the Director of Chaldea, screamed as she hurled curses, both literal and metaphorical, into a crowd of animated skeletons rushing her position on an elevated mound of rubble.

"Director!" Mash called out as she leaped over the crowd of skeletons and landed next to her superior, materializing her shield to slam away the skeletons in the process.

"Mash!? But how are you here!? And what is that getup!?" Olga-Marie exclaimed, surprised to see Mash out here, especially fighting.

When four skeleton soldiers tried to come after Mash, the shield maiden swung her shield to destroy all of them as they came close.

Soon, Ritsuka appeared from another direction and swung his sword to release fiery slashes across the skeleton soldiers.

"I-I-I… b-b-but… t-t-that's… n-not even…" Olga-Marie stammered as her mind crashed from seeing Ritsuka fighting against the skeletons.

"Oh… Director, huh?" Ritsuka said, surprised to see who it was, looking very shocked and disbelieving at his presence.

Though he wanted to say something, his new senses as a Servant made him turn and face, dodging a spear aimed at his face before slashing down the skeleton soldier with his sword.

He then followed up with a knee kick into an incoming skeleton soldier's face before swinging a fiery energy wave slash that burned them down.

"Master, the battle is over," Mash reported after finishing off the last of the skeleton soldier force. She then made her way to Olga-Marie, who still seemed in shock.

"Director, are you alright?" she inquired.

"Director? About my situation. I know it's hard to believe, but the truth is-" Mash began before Director Animusphere interrupted her.

"A demi-servant, right?" Olga-Marie asked. "It's pretty obvious that you fused with a Servant. What I want to know is why it's successful now all of a sudden! Enough of that. You!" She shouted, stabbing a finger towards Fujimaru. "The civilian who showed up late to my speech!"

"Huh?!" Ritsuka blinked in confusion.

"How did you become a Master? Only first-class Mages can enter contracts with Servants! There's no way you could ever become a Master! What did you do to her to have her do your bidding?" She demanded, her face red with anger.

"M-Master…? Mage…?" Ritsuka snarled, and Mash noticed his tone wasn't friendly. "I was damn kidnapped in broad daylight!" he snapped in frustration.

Even though he normally wouldn't do it, the director made him remember that he won't be able to see his family because he was kidnapped and caught up in this mess!

"W-What?" Mash noticed that the Director looked incessant in rage, but also aghast and… scared? "… are you… serious?" she croaked for the first time.

"Do I look like I have time to joke around, Director?" Ritsuka continued angrily, showing the flame of his blade at the moment. "Because I'm not…" he added seriously.

"Wait, Senpai!" Mash hurried to intervene before her master's temper got the best of him. "I was the one who forced the contract on Senpai in the first place!"

"W-What?" Olga-Marie asked before Mash proceeded to explain the events prior to their encounter with each other. Ritsuka took this time to calm himself by taking a deep breath despite the ashen air around them. It was better that Mash was the one explaining since he didn't want to deal with Olga-Marie.

"W-Wait, what? He has a Servant fused to him too?! And it's Charlemagne!" Olga-Marie exclaimed, looking at him with something akin to disbelief and terror.

"I find it hard to believe it either…" Ritsuka muttered.

"Like I believed that! T-There is no way that a commoner like you just merged with someone like Charlemagne like that!" Olga-Marie snapped in denial.

Mash kept her neutral look during all of this.

"No other Master candidates shifted with us. You are the only human we've run into, Director. But that gives me hope. If you're here, that means there must be other candidates who got teleported here," Mash finished explaining.

This made Ritsuka raise an eyebrow at the matter. Did anyone else really survive that attack that pinned Mash to the ground? Even though he didn't know much about mages, he knew that no one else was moving beside Mash in there.

"…There aren't, actually. That's one of the few things I am certain about in this situation."

"Then why are we," Ritsuka gestured at the small group, "here?"

"I have an idea," Director Animusphere admitted. "We all share a common denominator it seems. None of the three of us were inside the Coffins. While Rayshifting flesh and blood is dangerous, it's not impossible for it to succeed. Meanwhile, Chaldea's systems must have gotten readings for the Coffins that their chances of successfully Rayshifting their occupants were below 95%. The breakers installed would have then cut off all power, aborting the attempt in order to save the occupants."

"Meaning we're essentially on our own?" Ritsuka asked.

"Correct."

"I see," Mash said. "That's why you're the director."

"You can be reliable when you're calm, I see," Ritsuka muttered under his breath. Unfortunately, it didn't go unheard. The director visibly bristled.

"What's that supposed to mean?! Are you saying I'm not usually calm?" Olga-Marie demanded. "Hmmph, whatever," she said, crossing her arms as she glared at him. "I understand the situation now. Fujimaru, since it's an emergency, I'll approve you and Kyrielight's contract," she admitted grudgingly. "From here on out, you'll follow my commands."

"Whatever…" Ritsuka shrugged. He realized that he might not have many options, especially if he wanted to get back home. He then looked at Mash. "So Mash, where exactly is the leyline located?" he asked in order to change the subject.

"It is where the Director was standing," Mash revealed, making Olga-Marie look flustered.

(An hour later)

Olga-Marie carefully drew a summoning circle around Mash's shield to prepare the ritual that would connect them with Chaldea. Ritsuka watched from nearby, letting Olga-Marie do the work, even though she insisted on being the only one among them with formal magus training. His thoughts were focused more on what likely occurred in his own absence and his longing desire to return to his ordinary life.

It wasn't long until he heard the voice of Dr. Romani and turned to see a virtual form of Romani come to life in the magic circle. "CQ, CQ. Hello, hello? Okay, the connection's back! Good job, you secured the connection. Now we can communicate again, and even send rations…"

"Huh?! Why are you running the show, Romani? What about Lev? Where's Lev? Put Lev on!" Olga-Marie Marie screeched, interrupting the doctor. Ritsuka placed his hands against his ears to block out most of her ranting at the moment.

"D-Director, you're alive? And you're unharmed? What the…"

"What's that supposed to mean? Where's Lev? What's the head medic doing in charge?" Olga-Marie Marie demanded.

The Doctor was startled, then flinched.

"Professor Lev was right in the middle of the explosions," was his answer. "The only reason why I've been entrusted with operational command is that there's no one else who outranks me."

There was a long pause before Olga-Marie Marie asked again. Her voice choked and wavering.

"Then… what about the other Master Potentials? Surely there's…"

The Doctor bowed his head, grieving. "…47, all in critical condition and we're short on medical supplies. We might be able to save a few, but all of them might be—"

"Don't be ridiculous! Cryopreserve them immediately. Think about reviving them later. Your top priority is to make sure they don't die!" Olga-Marie snapped, furiously.

"G-got it!"

The call with the Doctor ended, leaving Ritsuka, Mash, and Olga-Marie in their lonesome.

"That surprises me. Cryopreservation without prior consent is a crime," Mash stated, making Ritsuka aware of the law related to cryopreservation. "Yet, you made the decision right away. You put human lives ahead of your own reputation as the director."

"Don't be stupid," the director snapped. "As long as they're not dead, I can explain myself later. Why else? In the first place, forty-seven lives…there's no way I can carry such a burden."

Thankfully, the awkward moment was broken once Romani returned. He proceeded to deliver a report on the status of Chaldea since the explosion. 80% of the facility's functionality has been lost along with all but twenty or so other staff members. Repairs had begun on fixing the Rayshift machinery while stabilizing both Chaldea and Sheba.

"Good. That's exactly what I would have done if I were there. As much as I hate the very thought of it, I am entrusting you to run Chaldea as Acting Director Romani Archaman until I get back," the director said grudgingly. "Your top priority is to complete the Rayshift repairs necessary. Seeing as there is no other option, we will take care of solving Singularity F."

"Director, you're not afraid of being at ground zero? Since when did you become so brave?"

"Seriously, you don't know when to shut up. As you just reported, until the Rayshift repairs are completed, we can't leave. This is the only feasible option, regardless of if I want to be in the middle of it or not. Besides, it seems that this town has only low-level monsters. With Mash… And Fujimaru. Accident or not, we Animuspheres pride ourselves on doing our best in the situations we're given. I'll be looking into Singularity F with Ritsuka and Mash Kyrielight as investigators," the director said confidently. "That said, since my field staff is inexperienced, the extent of this mission will be to discover the cause of this anomaly. Analysis and eradication will have to wait until after Chaldea's restored, and I can send in a second team. You okay with that?"

Only discover it? Ritsuka thought.

"Roger that. Best of luck to you, Director. We can now communicate in short bursts. Feel free to contact me in an emergency."

"...Huh! Even if we went an SOS, nobody would come to our rescue," Olga-Marie muttered, a sentiment only Ritsuka could hear.

"Director?"

"Nothing, I'm cutting off the connection. Go do your job," the Director said before turning off the communication.

"...Director, are you sure about this? There's also the option of waiting here for rescue," Mash questioned.

"I can't afford to do that," the director responded, shaking her head slightly. "After we return to Chaldea, who knows how long it will take to select the next team? That would be over a month before we could even possibly have acquired anywhere near the proper amount of either personnel or funds. In the meantime, I will still have to deal with the Association. Do you have any idea how much they will be harassing me?" Animusphere threw her hands up into the air in exasperation as she continued her rant. "Worst case scenario, they will blame me for mismanagement and take Chaldea away from me. If that happens, I'd be toast. I can't go back empty-handed. I need something that will shut them up!" She shouted. She then turned her sharp gaze toward Ritsuka and was about to say something.

Only for it to be interrupted by missiles that came out of the ashen gray sky and targeted them. Olga-Marie let out a panicked screech at the sight of the incoming attack. Without thinking, Ritsuka leaped forward and broke the missiles with his sword, but more of them ended up coming toward their direction. Mash grabbed her shield from the ground and blocked the other missiles for him.

"Master, this attack! Do you think it might be a Servant?" Mash questioned.

"That is impossible! What would a Servant be doing in a place like this?" Ritsuka questioned at the ridiculous claim Mash brought up.

"Master! Do you have anything that can reach our attacker?" Mash questioned, looking back at Ritsuka.

"I'm afraid not, Mash! Whoever is attacking us is way too far for us to reach without getting ourselves killed," Ritsuka refuted, serious.

But it wasn't long until the mysterious barrage of attacks that were aimed at them suddenly stopped.

"I-Is it over?" Mash asked, wary.

"I'm not sure… but we should use this chance to get away from here before the sniper comes back," Ritsuka said with more urgency than ever.

It wasn't long before the unlikely trio of Ritsuka, Mash, and Olga-Marie made a run for the streets of the burned city, seeking possible shelter from the mysterious sniper lurking within the city itself.

"Okay—Oh for God's sake, what is happening? Was that really a Servant?" Olga-Marie questioned in disbelief.

"It's possible that a Holy Grail War happened in this town," Mash deduced. "Master, do you know what a Holy—"

"I got the gist of it. Basically, seven overpowered historical figures summoned by seven magi for a death battle over a wish-granting device," Ritsuka said, continuing to run. The only thing he didn't get was why the Servants were after them.

"I suppose you're informed…" Olga-Marie muttered. "For someone who doesn't know his servant's Noble Phantasm."

Ritsuka rolled his eyes in annoyance before he and Mash sensed something that they could only detect with their Servant instincts.

"Master, we have incoming enemies!" Mash warned.

"More prey! The Holy Grail will be mine!"

It wasn't long before their path was blocked on both sides by two shadow entities. The first one was a black humanoid figure with a large deformed arm, while the other figure was humanoid with many weapons.

"T-two Servants?" Olga-Marie gulped, nervously.

"Master, what do we do?" Mash asked, feeling a bit nervous about the presence of more than two servants and that they were cornered by them.

Ritsuka paused for a moment and looked around, realizing they wouldn't get out of there easily. "I will handle the one with the blades… you handle the servant with the deformed arm," he said with a hint of reluctance.

"A-Alright…" Mash said, slightly nervous, holding her shield ready. 'I can do it… even if I don't know my servant's true name, I need to prove that I'm not holding Senpai back…' she thought to herself.

The black humanoid figure charged forward at the trio, but Mash brought up her shield to protect herself and Olga-Marie. Mash then swung her large shield to send the black humanoid away from her and Olga-Marie. Before the servant could get up, Mash charged forward with her shield as she forced the shadowed servant against the wall, pinning him hard against it.

Meanwhile, Ritsuka blocked the incoming thrusts from the other shadow servant who seemed to be using a naginata. Even though he had the abilities of the servant, it didn't mean that this shadow servant was easy to fight. With the shadowed servant fighting with a naginata, it was most likely that he was originally from Japanese history.

"Come on! Entertain me more! Misery is the greatest source of entertainment to me!" The shadowed servant proclaimed like a villain would.

'It's not time for guessing, Ritsuka…' Ritsuka berated himself to focus on the fight. Not to mention, he noticed that during this whole fight, the shadowed servant didn't seem to be using any weapons except for the naginata.

When the shadowed servant was about to thrust at him, Ritsuka did a right shoulder roll to avoid the incoming attack.

"Pseudo-Knight, Circle!" Ritsuka summoned a number of shining swords from above to land around him, exploding in the process.

This took the shadowed servant by surprise for a couple of seconds. Ritsuka immediately leaped forward and unleashed a quick slash at the shadowed servant across the chest, forcing the shadowed servant to stagger back from Ritsuka.

"Damn you!" The shadowed servant shouted, getting back up despite the wound on the chest that Ritsuka inflicted.

The shadowed servant was about to charge at Ritsuka, but he didn't reach any further when a mysterious red rune spell on the ground activated and burned up the shadowed servant in the process. This surprised Ritsuka by the unexpected display of magic that happened out of nowhere.

"Sorry for the interference, but that guy was part of my war…" A new voice said, making Ritsuka turn around and see a newcomer emerge out of thin air.

In front of him was a tall, blue-haired Irish man with red eyes in a pale hooded robe and holding a wooden staff. Thanks to his new servant senses, Ritsuka could immediately tell that this man was a servant, especially powerful in the magic arts.

The question was, why did he help someone like him?

"Master!" Mash said, as she and Olga-Marie quickly caught up to him, but were wary of the presence of the blue-haired man.

"Who in the world are you?!" Olga-Marie questioned.

"Take it easy. I simply saved your friend here," the blue-haired man explained calmly.

"Wait, this Servant seems to be different from others! We should be able to get some intelligent information about what is going on in this singularity," the Doctor said from the communication device.

(Timeskip)

It wasn't long before Doctor Romani explained about Chaldea and the current situation to their possible ally, who introduced himself as 'Caster'.

"...And that's the current situation in Chaldea. Currently, Ritsuka is the acting Master and in the middle of field research. Let me confirm something. You're a Servant from the Holy Grail War that broke out in this city, and the sole survivor?" Doctor Romani inquired.

"If by that you mean I haven't lost. Our Holy Grail War changed to something else entirely along the way. I don't know how it happened either. The city was engulfed in flames, and the humans vanished. Only the Servants remained," Caster recalled, serious. "Only the Servants remained. Saber was the first to resume the Holy Grail War. That chap began rampaging like a tiger released from a cage. Archer, Lancer, Rider, Berserker, and Assassin were all defeated by Saber."

This brought a grimace to Ritsuka and the others.

"So the rule of the Holy Grail was broken…" Olga-Marie said.

"And in the end you won, Caster… Or rather, you're the Servant who survived," Mash said.

Caster nodded. "Yes. Any Servant that was defeated by Saber became like those two, corrupted by the black mud. They, and the monsters that sprung up like maggots, started looking for something together. The troublesome part is that I'm one of the things they're looking for. You see, the Holy Grail War won't end until I'm killed," he continued.

"You and Saber are the only surviving Servants… Then if you defeat Saber…"

"Yes, that would probably end the Holy Grail War here. But I don't know whether things would return to normal," Caster said.

"I see. You helped us, but in the end, it was for your own sake, huh? You want to defeat Saber, but you don't stand a chance doing it alone. That's why you zeroed in on us… Right?" Olga-Marie asked.

"That's right. But it's not a bad deal, is it?" Caster asked.

"I suppose," Ritsuka said. The more allies they might have, the easier chance of surviving this hellish world.

"So kid, since you're Charlemagne's Pseudo Servant, do you know what his Noble Phantasm is?" Caster inquired, looking at Ritsuka.

"I'm afraid not… Like Mash, I don't know how mine works," Ritsuka explained. This made Caster rub his chin while looking at him with a careful gaze.

"How about this? Your goals involve investigating the anomaly here, and I can help with the issue of your full abilities. My goal is to put an end to the Holy Grail War. We share mutual interests. So how about we join forces?" Caster inquired.

"Are you fine with that?" Ritsuka asked. This also surprised Mash at the same time.

Caster shrugged. "In general, Servants tend not to get overly involved in problems outside of their own time period," he answered, surprising the group.

"...That is a rational proposition…" Olga-Marie remarked. "But if we do this, you might need a Master…"

"Well, that young man does," Caster said, pointing to Ritsuka.

"Wait, can I really forge a contract with another Servant here while being in contract with Mash?" Ritsuka asked.

"Ah, yes," Doctor Romani confirmed. "That is more of a temporary thing while you are still in the singularity," he explained.

"What about the Director? Can't she be your Master?" Ritsuka asked Caster. After all, Olga-Marie is someone from a mage background, wouldn't she count as a Master too?

"It doesn't seem like she has the aptitude to be a Master. I mean, she possesses high-quality magical circuits, yet she doesn't have the aptitude to be a Master. Is it a curse?" Caster asked.

"Oh, shut up! What do you care?" Olga-Marie snapped viciously.

After forging a temporary alliance, the group soon headed to a local high school building in Fuyuki to evade the possible swarm of monsters and find possible respite. As they entered the deserted halls of the school, the atmosphere was heavy with an eerie silence that seemed to amplify the tension among them.

Ritsuka and Caster, feeling the need to strategize and hone their skills, decided to make their way to the empty track field behind the school. The overgrown grass swayed gently in the breeze, and the distant sounds of monsters prowling nearby only added to the sense of urgency.

Once they reached the open field, Caster turned to Ritsuka with a serious expression. "Okay, Ritsuka. Though this might be a temporary sparring session, I would like you to fight me as you did with Lancer," he said, holding his staff like a spear.

Ritsuka nodded, his determination flickering in his eyes. "Understood."

As they began to spar, the clash of their weapons echoed through the empty field. Ritsuka found himself struggling to keep up with Caster's swift movements and cunning attacks. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't seem to land a solid blow on the elusive Servant.

Caster, on the other hand, analyzed Ritsuka's every move with keen interest. He could sense the untapped potential within the young Master, but there was still much for him to learn about his Servant's abilities.

After several minutes of intense combat, Ritsuka found himself on the defensive, desperately trying to anticipate Caster's next move. Just as he thought he had the upper hand, Caster unleashed a flurry of fireballs, forcing Ritsuka to dodge and weave through the explosions.

With a final, decisive thrust, Caster managed to knock Ritsuka off balance, sending him skidding across the grass until he collided with the wall of a nearby building.

"Master! / Fujimaru!" Mash and Olga-Marie exclaimed in shock, rushing to Ritsuka's side.

Ritsuka groaned as he slowly picked himself up, feeling the sting of bruises and scrapes. "Oww… that hurts like hell," he grunted, trying to shake off the pain.

Caster approached him, offering a hand to help him stand. "I thought it was because you're a novice, but it is part of your Servant's unique characteristics as well," he explained.

Ritsuka furrowed his brow, trying to process everything that had just transpired. "What do you mean…?" he asked, still feeling a bit dazed from the intensity of the fight.

Even Mash and Olga-Marie are confused as Ritsuka when it comes to the unexpected revelation.

"Heroic Spirits have the attributes of multiple classes," Caster began, his voice calm and steady. "The same goes for Charlemagne, who was fused with you. He is a fictional Servant based on the historical figure of the Father of Europe, who was the Holy Roman Emperor."

Ritsuka's eyes widened in surprise at this revelation. "What? Charlemagne is both a fictional and historical Servant?" he exclaimed, struggling to wrap his mind around the concept.

"In that case, you must have been bonded with the fictional aspect of Charlemagne when he was the leader of the Twelve Paladins," Doctor Romani chimed in, offering his insight.

Ritsuka nodded slowly, trying to make sense of it all. "I find it hard to believe…"

Caster placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, his gaze steady and reassuring. "Then let me help you understand," he said, his voice gentle yet firm. "Let me ask the Servant within you a question… Is everything that you with Twelve Paladins fake?"

As Caster posed his question, Ritsuka felt a surge of anger and frustration building within him. His grip tightened on his sword, and he could feel the faint manifestation of other blades surrounding him, vibrating with his turbulent emotions.

"S-Senpai, is everything alright?" Mash asked, her voice filled with concern as she watched Ritsuka closely.

Ritsuka took a deep breath, trying to regain control of his emotions. "I'm fine… Mash," he said, forcing himself to relax as the manifestation of blades slowly dissipated.

Caster nodded in understanding, a knowing smile playing at the corners of his lips. "Good. As long as you grasp that part of the Servant, you will be able to reach that Noble Phantasm and make it yours eventually," he said, his tone filled with confidence.

With newfound determination, Ritsuka stood tall, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.

AN: That is the end of the one-shot for the second part of my FGO- Paladin Emperor of Chaldea, which make a rare reappearance in my realm of dream. I apologized if it is short, but I just feel like it making this way than writing a long one.