Chapter Twenty Six

Family Feud

"What?! You're Nero?" The four of us exclaimed once more in unison as the blonde haired woman proclaimed proudly that she was Emperor Nero. The woman did so as she placed her hand on her chest and wore a smug smile.

"Oh so all of you speak English as well? Good good!" Nero exclaimed excitedly.

"You're Emperor Nero?!" I asked again just to verify that what I heard was correct.

"Yes that's what I said." Nero replied with a slight frown as her cheeks flustered in embarrassment. "Why do you all sound as if you do not believe me?" Nero asked, placing her hand on her chest.

"Well it's just that uh…" I said before being elbowed abruptly by Scathach. I saw Scathach cast me a disapproving glance out of the corner of my eye.

"Yes, what is it?" Nero inquired as she leaned forward.

"N-Nothing, it's nothing." I shook my head in reply which caused Nero to tilt her head. There was no point bringing up the fact Nero was supposed to be a man in history, that would only complicate matters. "We're just so surprised that we're meeting you out on the battlefield in person."

"More importantly we're surprised that you can speak English." Jeanne spoke up as she took a step forward to face Nero, saying what was probably on everyone's mind right now.

"Yeah. If you don't mind me asking, how exactly is it that you know how to speak English?" I asked as I turned my attention back to Nero. "The English language shouldn't exist during this time period." I added.

"Well that's simple really; I had a friend of mine teach it to me." Nero replied.

"A friend of yours?" I inquired with a raised brow.

"Yes, a friend of mine has been teaching me the English language over the past few weeks." Nero explained. "When I first heard her speak it, I was intrigued by how English sounded so I demanded she teach me!" Nero went on. "After a while, she reluctantly agreed to teach me. She seemed to think it might prove useful to me later and it just so happens she was right! I'm sure she'll be pleased to know she was!" Nero explained. "I'll have to express my gratitude to her the next time I see her."

"I think all of us will want to thank her, if given the chance." I said. If it wasn't for this mysterious woman, we'd have to spend the rest of this singularity communicating through a translator. That wouldn't be fun for any of us...

"I'm sure we'll get our chance to do so, but for now that'll have to wait..." Nero said.

"I think a reintroduction is in order." Nero said as she cleared her throat. "I am Nero Claudius, but you should already know that! I am the Fifth Emperor of the Roman Empire." Nero proclaimed proudly once more. "And who might you people be? You don't look like you're reinforcements." Nero pointed out.

"I'm afraid not. We were merely passing by when we heard sounds of a battle." I replied. "When we came to investigate we saw you and your men surrounded, so we made the decision to come to your aid." I explained. "I'm Christopher and these are my teammates." I said motioning my hand towards the others.

"I'm Mashu Kyrielight, and it's an honor to meet you Emperor Nero." Mashu introduced herself as she stepped forward out from behind me.

"A pleasure to meet you Mashu. My men tell me you saved several of their lives, Thank you." Nero said. "I caught a glimpse of you a few times during the battle, and you did great. To be able to move so swiftly with such a heavy shield is an incredible feat worthy of praise!" Nero praised Mashu.

"T-Thank you, but it was nothing." Mashu said, bowing her head. Nero gave Mashu an affectionate smile before she turned her attention towards Jeanne who was still standing besides me.

"I'm Saber, and it is a pleasure to meet you Emperor Nero." Jeanne said as she extended her hand to shake. Nero looked down at her hand suspiciously for a moment before she reached out and shook Jeanne's hand.

"Saber? What an odd name you have." Nero exclaimed as she shook Jeanne's hand vigorously. "No matter! The pleasure is mine to meet someone who is almost as beautiful as I! I must say that you and I bear a striking resemblance to one another!" Nero said as she cupped her chin and tilted her head.

"Eh heh, Is that so?" Jeanne said closing her eyes with a strained smile. I can only imagine meeting someone who so closely resembles yourself must be an awkward experience. "I can't say that I really see the resemblance, your Majesty." Jeanne said tilting her head in return. There was a pause before Nero replied, and I feared for a moment that maybe Jeanne might have offended her...

"... Yes I suppose you're right! While we are both similar in terms of beauty, our eyes do differ in color and your chest is larger than mine by a bit it would seem!" Nero affirmed, pleased it would seem. "Not nearly as voluptuous as mine, but I digress." Nero added with a nod of her head before she let go of Jeanne's hand and they both took a step back from each other. As she did, Jeanne let out a cough and lowered her head clearly disturbed by Nero's comment about her bust size. It seemed that Nero certainly wasn't shy about making such comments, but Jeanne on the other hand was as pure as they came. Nero seemed to pay Jeanne's discomfort little to no mind as she carried on to Scathach and greeted her.

"You there, woman with the crimson eyes!" Nero called out to Scathach who hadn't been paying much attention to our conversation. Upon hearing Nero call her out, Scathach turned to face her and crossed her arms with a blank expression. "My men tell me that you and Saber took out the entire enemy's backline by yourselves!" Nero exclaimed. "I must compliment you on your skills as a warrior and thank you for taking out the enemies archers!" Nero praised her.

"I was only doing my job, but I thank you for your sincerity, your Majesty." Scathach replied with a subtle nod of her head in acknowledgement.

"You must tell me how the two of you managed to sneak up on the enemy and fight them all by yourselves!" Nero demanded as she leaned forward with her fist raised. I can only assume that Scathach was feeling generous as she turned her entire body to face Nero and seemed to indulge herself.

"Well it was quite easy really…" Scathach began to explain to an attentive Nero. It always surprised me how well Scathach handled other royalty, being a Queen herself. If I ever praised Scathach like that she'd deck me in the face or punch me in the gut…

"Well I must thank you all once again for coming to my aid." Nero said with a slight nod of her head after finishing her brief conversation with Scathach. "While I have nothing to offer you right now but my sword, I promise you all when we get back to the capital that generous awards await you!" Nero said.

"No rewards are necessary, your Majesty. We're just thankful you didn't attack us." I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. A frown encroached on Nero's lips at my rejection of her offer and I felt myself begin to panic. Oh No...I hope I haven't just offended her. I'm pretty sure the penalty for offending an Emperor was a beheading… "What I meant to say was: I appreciate the offer but I ca…"

"There must be some reward I can offer you! The four of you saved my life and the life of my men." Nero protested. It seemed as if Nero wasn't going to have me beheaded, but I probably shouldn't reject her again. It's best not to tempt fate.

"If you insist on a reward. Information is what we seek." I explained. "Why don't you tell us what's going on here? Who is it that is attacking you and your Empire?" I asked.

"I would be more than happy to fill you in on our current situation..." Nero said before taking a brief pause. "It is however a long story, so perhaps it would be best to tell you when we get back to the safety of the capital." Nero explained.

"Of course I understand." I said with a nod of my head. "I wouldn't want to stay around here for much longer either." I added as I looked all around us to see the bodies that littered the field.

"Yes this wretched battlefield is hardly the place for such a discussion. Once we get back to Rome we will discuss the details over a grand feast!" Nero exclaimed. "...I've been meaning to ask though, are the four of you perhaps foreigners?" Nero asked next.

"Something like that…." I replied.

"Surely you're not from Britannia." Nero began trying to guess locations. "The Far East doesn't seem very likely, either…" Nero murmured. I glanced at the others who all seemed to be glancing at me as if telling me that this one was on me. I let out a sigh in defeat before deciding to answer.

"Well I know this is going to sound hard to believe, but we're from the Future…" I answered her and Nero paused for a few moments.

"...Normally I'd have a hard time believing you, but given everything that has happened over the course of the past few weeks, I think this is far from the most abnormal thing I've been told." Nero said as a frown was cast upon her lips. "For now I'll have to take your word for it. You have my sympathies however; I can only imagine how hard it must be for you to adjust to your new surroundings…" Nero said.

"Well let's just say that this isn't our first time…" I said, but before I could say more could be said we were interrupted…

A battle cry echoed across the battlefield and my attention was directed over my shoulder towards where the sound of the battle cry was coming from. As I looked over my shoulder I saw a wave of angry looking men carrying swords and spears appear from the top of the hill. They were all sporting the same crests as the men we fought only mere minutes ago, and had on the same gold and red uniforms as them as well. Which this could only mean one thing...

"Master, more enemy soldiers incoming!" Mashu exclaimed as she pointed towards the group of enemy soldiers rushing towards us.

"Looks like it. We're not quite out of the woods yet everyone..." I said as I spun around and shouldered my rifle preparing to take aim. Before I could start picking the Roman soldiers off one by one, another problem arose...

"Look out, enemy arrows!" I heard Jeanne exclaim. My head shot up to the sky to see a barrage of arrows coming down towards us. I looked around to see that Jeanne and Scathach were rushing to take cover behind Mashu's shield, while all around me Nero's forces were scrambling for cover. Then there was Nero who was standing out in the open caught up in the confusion of the sudden enemy attack. My head snapped back to the others who were now gathered behind Mashu's shield before snapping back to Nero. If the Fifth Emperor of the Roman Empire was struck and killed by an arrow, then I had a gut feeling that this singularity would be untenable. I had only seconds to make a decision as my gaze shot back and forth between my teammates and Nero… Damn it! I had to do something otherwise she might get killed! I broke out into a sprint towards Nero who was seemingly still caught up in the confusion as she looked around.

"Nero look out!" I exclaimed as I threw myself at her. Nero's attention snapped towards me and I saw her expression change to one of surprise just before I impacted with her. We hit the ground with a hard thud and there was a prompt oomph that escaped from Nero's lips as she hit the ground. I wrapped one of my arms around Nero's back and did my best to shield her small body with my own, and using my other free hand I brought her head into my chest. It wasn't a moment too soon as I heard arrows begin to land all around me, and I heard men scream as they were struck by arrows. There was a buzz in my ear and some dirt kicked up into my face, causing me to look to my side where I saw an arrow stuck in the ground only a few inches away from my head. That was a little too close for comfort, but all I could really do at this point was hope that an arrow didn't strike me anywhere vital if not at all. We spent what felt like well over a minute on the ground as I held Nero tightly and all around us I heard bodies hit the ground as more roman soldiers were struck by arrows...

After a few minutes I could no longer hear any more arrows hitting the ground and decided to slowly poke my head out to examine the damage. Several of Nero's men had been killed by the barrage of arrows and had joined the opposing soldiers from earlier on the ground. Not all of them were killed as I saw some of them were slowly emerging from cover, and looking over my shoulder I saw Mashu along with the others still safely behind her shield. Just then I felt someone squirming under my weight and heard the muffled sounds of Nero beneath me.

"C-Can't breathe…" I managed to make out from her mumbles.

"O-h. I'm sorry! Let me get off you now." I said as I pushed myself up using my elbows giving Nero room to breathe. "Are you alright, Empress?" I asked as I looked down at Nero who slowly opened her eyes in response and looked straight up at me.

"...Yes I'm alright. Thanks to you." Nero replied. Her head was in between my hands and our eyes were interlocked with one another. Now that I had a closer look at Nero she did bear some resemblance to Jeanne in a way, but most of all she looked like a carbon copy of Alter Saber. The only difference between the two being that Nero had bright lime green colored eyes while Alter Saber's were yellow, and atop Nero's head a strand of hair stood up while Alter Saber had no such strand. My eyes softened a little seeing Alter Saber's face once more as it reminded me of Raelin. However no matter how similar their faces were, Raelin had hazel colored eyes with dirty blonde hair that bordered on brown, and Raelin was a quite bit taller than Nero... I noticed that Nero's face had become flustered at this point and I realized we had been staring at each for a few minutes now. We had found ourselves in an awkward situation now, and I struggled to find words to break the silence…

"Senpai!" I heard a voice call out to me, and I looked over my shoulder to see Mashu rushing towards me. Behind her I could see that Scathach and Jeanne were following closely in toe. They reached me in a matter of moments and Mashu came to a stop behind me alongside the others.

"Mashu…" I greeted her. Upon seeing me I saw Mashu's expression turn to one of horror as she rested her eyes on me. I was left in confusion as to why Mashu looked so horrified, and then I saw a petrified expression strike Jeanne.

"Senpai! Your back, you've been struck by several arrows!" Mashu exclaimed as she knelt down next to me. My eyes trailed further down my backside and sure enough there were three arrows sticking out of my back.

"O-Oh…." I murmured.

"Chris are you alright!?" Jeanne exclaimed as she knelt down beside me placing her hand on my shoulder.

"I-I'm fine guys." I replied, raising my hand to try and reassure them. There was another hand on my shoulder, and I looked to see it was Mashu's this time as her eyes were filled with concern.

"We need to look your back over and get those arrows out as soon as possible!" Mashu said as she pulled on me till I was on my side.

"Guys I'm telling you I'm alright..." I protested as I looked back and forth between the two.

"Chris, how can you say that? You've been struck by three arrows!" Jeanne exclaimed as she looked at me equally as concerned as Mashu.

"That's because I'm wearing my vest…" I replied. Just then I felt as Mashu pulled on my jacket and I heard a rip as she peeled it back to find the black bullet proof vest underneath.

"Senpai is right, his vest absorbed the arrows." Mashu said looking up at Jeanne.

"Well that's what I was telling you." I said with a motion of my hand. "If I really had been struck by three arrows to the back I'd be bitching a lot and be in some real pain." I explained.

"Thank goodness…" Jeanne said as she closed her eyes relieved it would seem. "... Still though, what on earth were you thinking rushing out into the open even after I explicitly warned of incoming arrows." Jeanne scolded me.

"That's what I'd like to know." I heard a familiar voice speak up and looked up to see Scathach standing over us with her arms crossed. She wore an irritable expression on her face as she looked down upon me.

"Well I was saving someone's life…" I replied.

"Whose?" Jeanne asked.

"That would be mine…" I heard the familiar voice of Nero speak up and I looked to my side to see Nero slowly sitting upwards.

"Oh Empress Nero, I didn't even notice you!" Jeanne exclaimed, placing her hand on her chest in surprise.

"Yes it was the Empress's life that I was saving." I said with a nod of my head.

"And for that I am in your debt once again." Nero said as she rubbed her forehead. "You have my eternal gratitude Christopher. Thank you." Nero added.

"No need to thank me Empress, I'm just doing my job." I replied with a subtle nod.

"You almost got yourself killed, idiot!" Scathach exclaimed as she leaned forward to yell at me.

"I was saving Nero! We did come here to fix the past!" I barked back.

"Think what you want, Lancer, but Christopher made the right decision by choosing to save Emperor Nero." Olga's voice suddenly buzzed into my ears. "If Emperor Nero had been killed, it would have created a time paradox that would have been unfixable." Olga said, confirming what I had suspected about Nero's importance.

"I know that geez, but he could have gone about it more smartly." Scathach murmured as she turned and proceeded to rub her forehead in frustration.

"Like how?" I asked.

"If you were gonna shield Nero from arrows, the least you could have done was used a dead body to shield the both of you." Scathach exclaimed as she snapped around to face me.

"There's no way I had that kind of time to move a body over us!" I exclaimed.

"Tch…" Scathach said biting down on her lip as she seemed to be stumped.

"Chris is right Lancer, so I suggest you drop the subject." Olga intervened once more, coming to my aid against Scathach.

"... Yeah I know. He should just be glad though that it was a volley, and not a direct shot at him." Scathach retorted. "Otherwise I don't know if that vest would have been enough to save him." Scathach added.

"Well I'm not dead, so don't sound so disappointed." I replied. I saw a vein pop on the back of her head as she raised her fist at me in anger. Before she could say anything however, another voice intervened in our argument.

"Would the both of you please just shut up!" Jeanne exclaimed much to our surprise. "Chris is not dead, Lancer, so quit complaining. He did what he had to, to save the Emperor." Jeanne said which earned a hmph from Scathach. "And Chris I'm sure Lancer doesn't want to see you dead, she is just as concerned for your well-being as we all are. So please don't make such comments..." Jeanne scolded me sharply as she turned to face me.

"I'm not so sure about that one…." I murmured under my breath which earned me a stern glance from Jeanne once more.

"Now then Empress Nero are you alright?" Jeanne asked, turning to face Nero.

"Yes, I'm seemingly unscathed thanks to Christopher." Nero affirmed.

"That's good to hear." Jeanne said with a soft smile.

"So what was going on Empress? You were just standing out in the open." I asked.

"I don't know exactly. There was suddenly all this shouting and I was bumped into by several soldiers, and I was knocked down." Nero explained. "Then by the time I got up the four of you were shouting in English, and I must admit I'm still relatively unfamiliar with English…." Nero murmured before trailing off. Nero began to rub her head with a look of confusion as she still seemed unsure of what really happened.

"It's fine Empress Nero, so long as you're alright that's all that matters." I said and Nero looked at me for a moment before nodding her head with a confident smile.

"...Yes of course!" Nero exclaimed. "More importantly those damned United Empire fools dared to interrupt my beautiful voice!" Nero exclaimed. I would have thought trying to kill would have been a more egregious offense, but I guess with Nero things were different. More importantly I guess we knew the names of the enemy we were facing, the United Empire. "Where are those bastards now?" Nero demanded.

"Some of your men rushed forward to engage them, and we killed a few of them before coming over here." Scathach answered. Nero looked over towards where the fighting was taking place, and I followed her gaze to see that some of her soldiers were engaged with the enemy. Once again it looked like we were facing a larger force than our own, and this time we had even fewer numbers.

"Is there no end to these battles where we are outnumbered?" Nero asked with a wave of her hand. "I'm glad to be the last ones standing, but I'm not happy. I'm downright tired in fact!" Nero exclaimed.

"I'm tired, and we only just got here." I said jokingly and I felt a light slap on my shoulder from Mashu.

"I wouldn't take a nap now Chris, I'm sensing more on the way…" Jeanne said.

"What, more of them?" I exclaimed as my attention snapped back to Jeanne.

"You must be joking Saber! What more could they possibly throw at…." Nero exclaimed before being abruptly cut off once more.

"My beloved younger sister's child." The unfamiliar voice of a man called out.

"That voice, could it be….?!" Nero said as her attention was directed towards the source of the voice. "Uncle!" Nero exclaimed loudly as her eyes rested upon the source.

"Uncle?" I said as my gaze shifted to where Nero was looking and there I saw a man standing a little over six feet. He was wearing gold and black plated armor that went from his neck to a little past his thighs, while he wore a pair of sandals and a red cape. The man had dark blue colored hair or maybe it was black it was hard to tell, and looking closely I saw that his eyes were pure black with red irises. His arms and legs were bulging with muscles while he had black wrappings around his wrists and ankles.

"No… no, dare I say. The fool who inexplicably lost his way, aligning with the United Empire…" Nero yelled as she appeared to be fuming. "...Caligula!" Nero yelled out the man's name.

"What did she just say? Caligula. Is that what she said?" Roman asked, buzzing into our ears once more.

"I thought she said Claudia." I said.

"No, I definitely heard her say Caligula Senpai." Mashu corrected me.

"Oh I guess that makes sense, Claudia is a girl's name." I said.

"Is he a blood relative servant living in this era Doctor?" Mashu asked.

"If the girl really is who she claims to be, then it would certainly seem that way." Roman replied. "We'll have to inquire about that later though." Roman added.

"I don't even know who Caligula is!" I said.

"I'll tell you about it later, there's no time for it now." Roman replied. "What I can tell you is that he is undoubtedly a servant! So get ready for a fight guys!" Roman exclaimed.

"Well let's get this over with…" I said as I tried to get up.

"Hold on Senpai, I still need to pull those arrows out from you back." Mashu said as she gripped my forearm and held me where I was.

"R-Right…" I said as I cast a glance to the others. "Looks like you guys will have to handle this without me for the time being." I said.

"That would be the smart thing to do." Scathach said.

"Don't worry about it Christopher, I'll handle my Uncle." Nero said as she pushed herself up off the ground and gripped her long red sword in both her hands.

"I'll help you too Empress Nero." Jeanne said as she stood up besides Nero and withdrew her sword from its sheath.

"I'll be joining you as well, since I don't think I'll be needed here." Scathach said, casting me a glance. I don't know why she bothered asking me, I told her long ago that she was free to act as she pleased.

"Don't worry about me Lancer, I'll be right here." I said looking over my shoulder at Mashu.

"I don't recall saying anything about being worried." Scathach said with a raised brow.

"Of course you didn't…" I murmured as I returned my gaze to her.

"I'll be staying behind with Senpai of course until I remove the arrows from his back." Mashu said looking up at the others.

"Don't worry about us, just look after Chris." Jeanne said.

"Right." Mashu said with a nod of her head. I was right here, you know. It's not like I was in critical condition, I think Jeanne was forgetting all that the arrows were sticking in my back plating and not my actual back.

"Thank you, all of you. Now let's go beat my Uncle!" Nero proclaimed as she lifted her sword up. Jeanne and Scathach nodded their heads in agreement, and the three of them rushed off to face Caligula and his men.

"Your destiny…" I heard Caligula call out. "Your destiny is to serve me. Bestow your life. Offer your body…!" Caligula rambled off. "ALL OF IT. GIVE IT UP!" Caligula demanded in a deranged voice.

"Tch, Uncle how could you!" Nero yelled back as she rushed towards him.

I watched as the three of them rushed towards Caligula and his men with their weapons drawn. While I sat here left behind with Mashu to watch the first battle between servants happen in Rome. Just then I felt a strong tug on me which was more than likely Mashu pulling an arrow out from my vest.

"You know you really should be more careful Senpai." I heard Mashu say and I looked over my shoulder to face her.

"Are you going to start lecturing me too?" I asked and Mashu shook her head in response.

"No, you did the right thing by saving Nero." Mashu replied. "I just wish that you would be more careful. If you were to die the mission would be over for all of us." Mashu reminded me of something I had been told a million times.

"I know, I know. I've been told this countless times by Lancer." I said waving my hand.

"Yet you often seem to find yourself in danger." Mashu pointed out.

"It's not like I'm trying to get myself killed, but there was no time to grab Nero and get behind your shield." I explained and I heard Mashu let out a sigh. "...Listen Mashu, in our line of work danger is always expected. It's impossible to avoid it." I said as I faced Mashu giving her a serious look.

"I know, I know." Mashu said. "But you can at least try and minimize the danger to yourself." Mashu pointed out.

"While that's true, it's a little difficult to do when everything wants to kill you." I replied.

"Just please stay behind me from now on." Mashu said with a sigh. "I am your shield after all." Mashu added.

"I know you are Mashu, and you're a great shield at that." I said which earned me a soft smile from Mashu in response. I know Mashu was just looking out for me, so I should probably do my best not to worry her. "... Listen I'll try not to do anything stupid like that again, but for now let's just get these arrows out of my back. We need to hurry up and back up the others." I said and Mashu nodded her head.

"I'm working on it, but if I'm not careful I'll end up ruining your jacket even more than it already is." Mashu replied.

"My jacket is already ruined Mashu, and with it so are my dreams of completing a singularity without one getting torn to shreds."

"Senpai, have you considered not wearing a suit jacket?"

I rushed towards my Uncle who stood across the field from me atop the hill, the only thing standing between him and I were his soldiers, most of whom were engaged with what remained of my centuries. What I wouldn't do to have a legion with me right now instead of a mere centurie, but due to the dire circumstances of the empire, we didn't have the manpower to spare. No matter though, I'd win this battle even without a legion behind me! I charged into battle and soon my sword met flesh as I tore through a man who was engaged with one of my own soldiers. The enemy soldier hit the dirt dead and my soldier turned to look at me in shock. Once he saw that it was I, he gave me a nod of thanks before moving onto another enemy soldier. I spun around just in time to see another enemy soldier prepared to bring his sword down on me. I swung my sword upwards diagonally and tore through his chest leaving behind a massive gash. The soldier stopped in his tracks and his hand went up to his chest as blood oozed from the wound I had created, and it didn't take long before he fell over sideways, hitting the dirt with a loud thud. Satisfied he was dead I looked around the battlefield for my Uncle and saw that he was still standing near the top of the hill. I began jogging towards my Uncle, but before I could reach him I, my progress was impeded. My ears rang as my sword clashed with that of yet another enemy soldier who stood in my way. The armor that the man wore seemed to suggest he was one of my Uncle's legates. Perhaps my Uncle thought I would be bested by one of his legates, but unfortunately for him I wouldn't be so easily defeated. The air filled with sparks as the man and I swung our swords repeatedly at one another, attacking at different angles, and he matched me blow for blow. We soon found ourselves in a deadlock and pushed back at each other, both of us trying to get the upper hand on one another. With our blades interlocked with another, I found my eyes fixed on the man's eyes whom were angrily looking back at me. With the man's eyes fixated on me I took this opportunity to force the man's sword downwards, which caused the man to be taken by surprise.

"Get out of my way!" I exclaimed as I gave a heavy shove with my shoulder, causing the man to fall to the ground before raising my sword and bringing it back down into his chest. The soldier cried out in pain and blood escaped from his mouth before the grip on his weapon loosened and he let it go. As I pulled out of his chest I heard a cry out from behind and spun around just in time to see another soldier charging towards me with his weapon raised. I prepared to defend myself, but I feared it might be too late. Before he reached me however, he suddenly fell forward and hit the ground by my feet. I was taken aback by his sudden collapse and looking down I saw a puddle of blood begin to form beneath him.

"Why don't you leave the riff raff to your men and I, Empress?" A familiar voice said to me. My gaze traced upwards from the corpse at my feet to find the woman with red hair standing in front of me as she pulled her spear out from the soldier's back. I had only just met her and her companions recently, but they had offered to lend me a hand against the United Empire. Truth be told I was cautious of foreign help, but they had proved themselves to be more than capable so far. "You should focus on defeating your Uncle." Lancer said, which was a sound suggestion.

"Right… You have my thanks Lancer." I replied with a nod of my head. With that I took my leave and headed towards my Uncle who still awaited me at the top of the hill.

After battling my way through several more of my Uncle's soldiers I finally reached the top of the hill where I found him standing there waiting for me. Panting from the climb, I slowly lifted my head to face him after a few short moments of panting.

"Uncle!" I exclaimed. Uncle stood there not saying a word and instead outstretched his arms as if enticing me to attack him. I gripped my sword firmly in both hands and rose it up near my head before charging towards him. My Uncle made no attempt to move out of the way or try or draw his weapon and instead just stood there motionless. I had found it to be a bit odd, but I had already closed the distance between us and was prepared to bring my sword down on him. I swung my sword downwards, and prepared to hear my sword tear through flesh, but instead my sword was stopped short… My head shot up and I saw my Uncle had stopped my sword with his bare hands, the tip of my blade caught in between his hand. "What?!" I exclaimed stupefied by the sight. I immediately tried to pull my sword out from his grasp, but the sword wouldn't budge at all. I began frantically pulling on my sword to no avail, and looking up at my Uncle I saw him looking down at me with a devilish grin. I didn't like the look in my Uncle's eyes and was about to let go of my weapon so I could jump out of his reach, but before I could I felt myself rising up off the ground. Soon my entire body was off the ground as my Uncle raised my sword up into the air, and before I even knew it I was sent flying through the air as my Uncle threw me over his head. I went soaring across the battlefield for several meters before I came crashing down to the ground with a loud thud. I lay there dazed for a few moments before slowly raising my head out of the mud. "Owe…" I murmured as I let out a groan and rubbed the back of my head. I heard footsteps coming from behind and before I could even get up; my head was violently yanked backwards as someone pulled on my hair. I flinched and soon I found myself dangling above the ground by my hair. As I spun around I came face to face with the one holding me up by my hair, and it was none other than my Uncle.

"Let me go you bastard!" I exclaimed as I kicked and lashed out at him with my fist. My kicks did little to dissuade my Uncle as he merely shrugged them off, and I had lost my weapon after being tossed so there was little I could do other than kick and punch. Uncle had a greedy look in his eyes and I worried what he was going to do to me if I didn't figure a way out of this situation…

Just as it seemed like I was all out of options and at the mercy of my Uncle, my Uncle let out a sudden cry of pain and he let go of my hair. I hit the ground with another loud thump as my Uncle released his grasp on me, this time hitting my head. This caused me to grasp the back of my head in pain, as my head pounded profusely. The pain subsided after a few moments and I slowly brought my gaze upwards to find a pair of armored boots standing before me. As I wondered if they were friend or foe, the person standing in front of me dropped to one knee and appeared to look me over.

"Emperor Nero are you alright?" A familiar voice asked me as I felt them put a hand on my shoulder. I lifted my head to look at the person behind the voice and for a moment I was blinded by the sun directly behind them, but soon my vision cleared and I made out my own face looking back at me.

I blinked my eye rapidly in response, startled by the sight of my own face staring back at me, until I remembered that this was of Chris's companion, Saber. Saber, the girl who looked almost exactly like me in every regard. At first I found it to be a bit uncanny, but now I'm just trying to get used to seeing someone else with a face that so closely resembles mine.

"...Y-Yes I'm alright." I said meeting Saber's blue eyes as she knelt besides me. "Thank you for your help Saber." I added which Saber smiled in response.

"Of course." Saber replied. "I came as soon as I could, but I was preoccupied dealing with some of your Uncle's men. When I met up with Lancer, she told me that you had gone on to face down your Uncle." Saber explained to me. "Then when I got here I saw him holding you up by your hair, so I rushed to your aid." Saber said, which caused me to let out a slight huff.

"I would have gotten out of his grasp sooner or later, but regardless thank you for your help." I replied, to an unconvinced looking Saber. "Regardless, where is my Uncle now?" I asked. Just before Saber could reply, there was a loud roar heard and our heads swiveled around to face where it had come from.

The source was none other than my Uncle, who stood several meters away from us letting out a roar of anger with outstretched arms. It appeared as if whatever Saber had done to him, had left him really pissed off. His gaze now fixated on us, and his eyes beamed with hatred. I pushed myself up off the ground onto my knees, before grasping my knees and slowly proceeding to stand up. I grasped my head as it proceeded to pound vigorously, not seeming to like that I was standing up so soon. Saber's hand went to my shoulder and I looked over my shoulder at her to see her eyes filled with concern.

"Will you be alright Empress?" Saber asked me.

"Yes I'll be alright, don't worry about me." I replied with a dismissive waste of my hand.

"That's good because I'll need your help fighting your Uncle." Saber replied with a stern look in her eyes now. "I managed to inflict a minor wound on him, but it seems that has hardly slowed him down." Saber said.

"I can fight, but nothing I did seemed to affect him." I pointed out.

"Yes that would be the case." Saber said which caused me to tilt my head. Saber, seeming to notice my visible confusion, went on to explain. "It's hard to explain, but just know that your Uncle is a servant now. This means he's resistant to most attacks from normal humans, like yourself and Christopher."

"Okay then, so how can I help you?" I asked.

"Leave most of the fighting to me, and instead focus on supporting me." Saber said which caused me to puff my cheeks out in annoyance. "I'm afraid I am no mage, like Christopher, so I cannot infuse your weapons with mana." Saber explained and just then my eyes widened in realization.

"Ah I just remembered, my weapon, Aestus Estus! I've lost it!" I exclaimed as I patted my waist looking for my sword.

"You mean this?" Saber asked as she reached behind her back and seemingly withdrew my long crimson sword before holding it out to me.

"Yes that's it!" I exclaimed as I took Aestus Estus from her and proceeded to rub it affectionately.

"I found it lying on the ground on my way over here and decided to pick it up." Saber explained. "It looked uh…. Too unique to be an average soldier's sword so I figured it was yours."

"Yes I lost it when my Uncle threw me, Thank you!" I said with a nod of my head. "Now that I have my sword, I'm ready to fight!" I said which Saber nodded her head in affirmative.

"Yes and not a moment too soon, as it looks like your Uncle is coming to us instead!" Saber exclaimed as she raised her weapon at the ready, and I spun around to face my Uncle.

By the time I had spun around to face him, my Uncle had already closed the gap and was on top of us and was charging directly at us. His speed alarmed me, and he let out an enraged cry before throwing himself up into the air. I gripped my sword tightly in both hands as I prepared myself as Uncle bore down on us. I leaped back just as Uncle landed in between Saber and I with a loud crash as he pounded his fist into the air, which caused the Earth to shake violently as I landed on the ground. A dust cloud sprouted up in my Uncle's wake and I raised my arm up to my face to shield my eyes, but dust found its way into my lungs and forced me to cough violently into my arm. The coughing fit subsided after a few moments and as I looked around I found myself standing alone, my vision obstructed by the dust cloud that still lingered over the battlefield. My eyes darted around frantically as I searched for either Uncle or Saber, but neither one was in sight. It seemed we had become separated thanks in part to the dust cloud that my Uncle had caused, and perhaps that had been my Uncle's plan. Calling out to Saber would be a mistake so instead I opted to remain silent and stay alert. With my vision still obstructed by the dust cloud, my vision would be limited so instead I would have to rely on my hearing for signs of my Uncle. I remained perfectly still and focused on listening to my surroundings, and for the most part all I heard was fighting going on in the background between my Uncles men and my own. Soon enough though I heard the sound of footsteps rushing towards me from my right and I spun around to face the sounds. Not a moment too soon, as I raised my sword my Uncle's fist impacted with my sword sending vibrations up my entire body and sparks filled the air leaving me a bit astonished. I saw as my Uncle's fist flew straight at my head and I narrowly ducked my head to the side to avoid it. Having missed my head, my Uncle retracted his fist and attempted to strike at me once more, and this time I tilted my sword to block his blow. I stepped back and tried to escape my Uncle's reach, but he was too fast for me. He threw his fist at me once more and I raised my sword to block it, causing more sparks to fill the air. This back and forth continued for the next few moments where my uncle would strike at me with his fist while I attempted to either dodge his blows or block them with my sword, all while attempting to back up out of his reach. Soon though we found ourselves in a gridlock as my Uncle attempted to overpower me striking my sword with another powerful blow.

"WHY. DO. YOU. RESIST!?" Uncle exclaimed, fully enraged that I had blocked his attack. I gritted my teeth as I attempted to resist his overbearing strength, and just then my Uncle grasped my sword in both his hands. Not again! My eyes widened as I began to panic, trying to pull my sword out from his grip was to no avail, and if I didn't figure out something soon I'd find myself in a similar situation as earlier. Just then out of the corner of my eye I saw a glimmer and it was Saber! Saber rushed towards us in a flash and swung her sword upwards between Uncle and I. Having no other option was forced to jump back or lose his hands. Not wasting any time Saber went on the offensive and swung her sword at my Uncle, and he in turn raised his arms to block her attack. Saber's elegant blow struck against my Uncle's gauntlets causing more sparks to fill the air. Saber and my Uncle went back and forth between one another as Saber swung her sword at Uncle at multiple angles, trying to get a solid blow, while my Uncle would attempt to strike at Saber's head with a blow here and there. I watched as the two of them went back and forth between one another for what felt like several minutes, and in that time I had managed to recover some of my strength. I stood upright and gripped my sword firmly in both hands at my side as I watched and waited for an opportunity to present itself.

The battle between Saber and my Uncle raged for several more minutes as Saber would strike at my Uncle with her long sword, while he would block each of her attacks with his gauntlets, but in doing so he would be forced to take a step back each time. Compared to when he was fighting me, my Uncle was completely on the defensive this time. Occasionally here and there my Uncle would throw a punch at Saber, but she was too nimble for him and would duck out of the way of his attacks each time and put him back on the defensive... I shook my head, now was no time to be in awe of Saber's fighting! Now was as good of a time as any to come to Saber's aid while my Uncle was distracted. I gripped my sword firmly in both hands and took several steps forward before I charged my Uncle with my sword raised above my head. With my Uncle's back facing me I swung my sword downwards preparing for the sounds of metal tearing through flesh and bone...

Instead of blood and bone fragments, I was met with nothing as my sword was stopped once more, and I looked up in horror to see my Uncle had stopped my sword with his free hand. He was once again gripping my blade with his hand, stopping it from tearing through his backside by mere millimeters.

"Are you kidding me? How does this keep happening?" I exclaimed, completely bewildered at how he could catch my sword each time. My Uncle looked over his shoulder at me with a look of hatred, and turned the rest of his body to face me as he reached out with his other hand to try and grab me. I leaned back to avoid his grasp, and pushed back against him with my sword. Even though I was pretty strong, my Uncle pushed back against me and bore down on me, and was practically breathing down my neck as he tried to overpower me. There was little I could do in this situation, free of letting go of my sword, and I would have to hold out... Just then my Uncle's grip loosened on my sword, and one of his hands went to his back as I saw crimson stains coating the grass behind him.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!" My Uncle yelled incoherently as he let go of my sword and swung his arm at Saber, who had been standing behind him with her sword still wet with Uncle's blood. Saber ducked her head underneath his attack and thrusted her sword forward and it was followed with blood splattering across my entire front side. My eyes blinked rapidly for a moment before I saw the tip of Saber's sword protruding out from my Uncle's back, and I saw Saber standing in front of my Uncle with her grip still on her sword. I let out a sigh of relief, as it seemed that we had finally beaten my Uncle, but before I could even finish that thought there was an enraged yell from my Uncle. My attention snapped towards him, and I saw him grasp Saber's sword sticking out of his gut. Saber looked up at my Uncle who was staring down at Saber angrily, and grimaced in response. Uncle proceeded to pull the sword deeper into his body, and with it brought Saber closer towards him. Saber frantically attempted to pull her sword out, but to no avail as it seemed as if my Uncle had a firm grasp on her sword. Half of Saber's sword was now sticking out from Uncle's back and she was now within his grasp, and before she could get away, he grasped Saber by her collar and proceeded to smash his head into hers. Saber staggered backwards, letting go of her sword, and her hand went up to her head where I saw a small amount of blood trickle out from beneath her hands. With Saber staggered my Uncle reached out and grabbed a chunk of Saber's hair which caused her to let out a cry of pain. He proceeded to fling Saber in my direction and before I could react, Saber's body slammed into me and I let out a startled yelp before our bodies crashed onto the ground with a loud thump. The world was spinning as I looked up at the sky, and I laid there for a few moments dazed until everything finally quit spinning. Saber was currently sprawled out over me and attempting to push Saber off me was to no avail as her armor was far too heavy. Saber fell back down on me with a loud thud and I let out a grunt in pain.

"S-Saber you're crushing me." I murmured as I squirmed underneath her weight.

"S...Sorry." Saber replied as she slowly pushed herself off of me and sat up. "Are you alright, Empress?" Saber asked as she rubbed her head.

"I'm fine…" I responded as I sat up besides her. "More importantly how are we supposed to beat my Uncle, he keeps blocking all of my attacks!" I exclaimed infuriated at this point.

"I'm not quite sure…" Saber replied. "I've landed multiple blows on him, but he manages to keep going."

"I knew my Uncle was strong, but I never knew he was this strong…" I murmured as I scratched my head in frustration. Just then there was an enraged cry and both our attentions snapped towards where it was coming from. The source of course was my Uncle, whom we found standing several meters away from us. Uncle let out an enraged cry with his fist raised by his sides. My Uncle gripped Saber's sword, which was still sticking out from his gut, and proceeded to pull it out effortlessly before tossing it to the side as if it was nothing.

"NEEEEERRRRROOOO!" Uncle called out my name, which caused me to grimace in response. More of Uncle's soldiers appeared from behind him and flanked his sides. His heated gaze landed on the two of us, and I was sure that he was about to charge us. Saber and I rushed to get up on our feet...

All of a sudden my ears rang violently as a loud bang went off and one of Uncle's men dropped to the ground dead. Uncle and the other men with him looked at the dead soldier with a look of astonishment. Another bang followed the first one and the other soldier was struck by something before he fell backwards, hitting the ground with a loud thud. My Uncle looked at his fallen soldier before his attention shot forward, and I followed his gaze to see where he was staring.

"Mashu! Christopher!" Saber exclaimed. Sure enough the pink haired girl with a large shield and the man in all black were not that far behind us. They appeared to be accompanied with the rest of my men, which means the rest of my Uncle's forces had been defeated. The man, Christopher, was crouching down as he held a strange looking black object in his hands that he appeared to be aiming.

While the pink haired girl stood besides him with her shield raised. There was yet again another enraged cry, and I turned my attention back to Uncle to find him with his fist raised. His cry was cut short however, as a third bang echoed in my ears and Uncle was struck in the shoulder and let out a cry of pain, but didn't go down. I was a tad astonished to see my Uncle survive an attack that had killed his men in one hit, but then again I can't say I was surprised with everything he had survived so far. Mashu and the rest of my men rushed up to us while Christopher stayed back. I saw Lancer emerge from the hill and she stopped besides him, the two of them seemed to exchange a few words before exchanging angry glances. They were too far away for me to hear what they were arguing about...

"Are you guys alright?" Mashu asked and my attention snapped back to the pink haired girl that had fought besides me earlier today.

"Yeah we're fine." Saber said with a nod of her head.

"Sorry about taking so long, we had to fight our way through Caligula's men to get here." Mashu said and I nodded my head in understanding.

"Well now that you're all here, let's finish off my Uncle." I exclaimed, and Mashu and Saber nodded their heads in agreement. With that I directed my attention back towards my Uncle, who was still standing where he had been earlier, as he gripped his shoulder and side...

"Ah, ah….. My beloved…. Younger sister's….. Child…" Caligula winced as he held his bleeding shoulder. "Why, won't you bestow yourself? Why, won't you devote yourself to me?" Caligula said looking up and meeting Nero's gaze whose eyes looked at him sternly as she gripped her blade, blood smeared across her face. "So beautiful…. My…. My…. My…" Caligula said just before several more United Empire soldiers surrounded him and began to drag him away as they retreated.

"Uncle!" Nero exclaimed.

"He's getting away!" I exclaimed as I came to a stop besides Nero and I raised my rifle once more.

"Let him go Christopher." Nero commanded as she put her hand on my rifle and lowered it. I looked at Nero astonished at what she was asking me to do; to let the enemy retreat was unthinkable!

"But we could've finished him…!" I exclaimed.

"Maybe so, but we need to get our wounded back to the capital." Nero said as she glanced back at her men. "Not to mention I'm exhausted from today's battle." Nero added as she gripped her forehead. I stood there looking at Nero for a moment to see she looked like she was about to collapse, before reluctantly nodding my head.

"...As you wish Empress." I said as I proceeded to sling my rifle over my back.

"Something tells me we'll be seeing him again…" I heard Scathach murmur from behind me.

"I can no longer sense his presence and it looks like the rest of the enemy troops are retreating as well." Mashu reported.

"I can confirm." Jeanne added with a nod of her head as she looked at me.

"My uncle must have been the commander of those troops. I never would have imagined I'd see his face again." Nero said as she watched the United Empire troops retreat into the countryside.

"I can't believe a servant actually would have agreed to retreat." I said astonished.

"Not all of us are suicidal like you." Scathach dug at me. A vein popped on the back of my head as I turned around to face her and shook my fist at her angrily.

"Looking at his state, he was most likely the berserker class. It must have been hard for him to consider escaping but still…." Roman suddenly butted into our conversation and I turned around to face the others. "Perhaps there is another Master that commands him?" Roman speculated.

"Another master you say?" I murmured as I stroked my chin. "Could it perhaps be the same person behind the singularities?" I inquired.

"Maybe, we certainly can't rule out that possibility." Olga replied.

"Hmm, huh?" Suddenly I heard strange noises coming from Nero and I faced her to see she was flustered with a look of confusion.

"Wh-What's the matter, Empress Nero?" Mashu asked with a look of surprise.

"There's a man and woman around here, one who can be heard but not seen. From the feel of it, maybe a pair of Mages?" Nero inquired.

"If she understands magic then that makes this conversation a little easier." Roman said. "Yes, I and Olga are Mages, and these four are part of an organization called Chaldea…." Roman managed to say before being abruptly cut off.

"How wonderful. You four, no, you six!" Nero interrupted Roman.

"Hey, you interrupted me….!" Roman protested to no avail.

"At first glance you had a strange appearance but all of you fought magnificently. Once more, I give you my praise!" Nero said. "I am not so sure about the voices, but you four truly are the defenders of Rome. You have my thanks." Nero said. "I swear to you that I will rebuild the empire. Yes, this I swear to the gods, my ancestors, to myself, and to the citizens of Rome!" Nero proclaimed.

"We'll do our best to help you rebuild Empress Nero." I said with a subtle bow of my head.

"Yes, Yes. Thank you!" Nero said with a smile. "Now then, let us be off to Rome. I grow tired of all this fighting." Nero said as she spun around and marched back down the Hill.

"Lead the way Empress." I said and gestured my hand at her to show us the way as she passed me by. Mashu and Scathach were next to walk by me as they followed Nero back down the hill and left Jeanne and I standing on the hilltop by ourselves. I turned and faced Jeanne who picked up her sword off the ground.

"You had me worried back there when I saw those arrows sticking out of your backside." Jeanne said as she ran her fingers across her blood stained blade. "I thought that you were dead for sure." Jeanne said as she looked up at me with a stern expression.

"Well you got struck by an arrow back in France, so it's only fair I take a few arrows to the back." I joked which caused Jeanne to give an unamused expression in response.

"That's not funny Chris." Jeanne scolded me.

"Sorry Jeanne, but I couldn't pass up the chance to make that joke." I replied which caused Jeanne to let out a long sigh. "I'm glad to know you were worried, but as you can see my armor protected me." I said as I patted my chest.

"It won't always save you, if you had been struck in the head…" Jeanne said.

"I know, I know, and I'll try to be more careful from here on out." I said raising my hands up and waving them to calm her down. "You're the third person to hammer me about it." I added.

"That's because we all care about you." Jeanne replied.

"I know and I appreciate it, but as I told Mashu earlier danger is part of the job." I said and Jeanne faced the ground with a frown. We stood there in silence for a moment before I turned around and saw the others were already at the bottom of the hill. "Well we best get going, otherwise we might get left behind and have to camp out here for the night." I said jokingly as I prepared to take off, before I could though Jeanne's voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Hey Chris?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I don't really look like Nero do I…?"

"Noooo! Of course not…."

"Really?"

"Well kinda…."

"Chris!"

"I'm only joking, calm down!"

Hey there I know it's been several weeks since I've posted a chapter, but I have one for you today. I give updates on what's going on over on my Discord, which you should hop on over too if you haven't already. Short story though is that I've been busy I don't think me being busy will change anytime soon, I will continue to try and post a chapter every two weeks, but I'm not sure if I'll be able too. At the very most I can tell you there will be one chapter per month, and more if I get the chance. If you want to know when the newest chapters come out, make sure you follow Fated Destiny on Fanfiction to know when its updated and hop on over to my Discord. Anyway, Thank you for reading and for your continued support! If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider leaving a favorite/like. Feel free to leave constructive feedback and reviews in the comments below or tell me what you think I need to improve on. Just a reminder that new chapters of Book Three release every two weeks on Friday or Saturday. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to seeing you next time.

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