"...Who are you supposed to be?" Olga asked while blinking in confusion, "Have we met before?"
Sherlock Holmes hadn't expected for this.
For one, there was no discernable need. Olga, as tragic as it was, had been dealt a fate worse than death by the Flauros-possessed Lev Lainur in Singularity F, most assuredly eliminating her from play with no seeming hope of return. In order to leave, she would have to, either have to have encountered decently powerful with Magecraft, or herself have abilities that revolve around space-time. The latter was an almost laughable theory; all the information gathered about her all pointed to her capability in magic being subpar and below the standard of the prestige of her family, to the point that her own father sought an outsider - Kirschtaria Wodime - to take the place of the successor to the Animusphere branch of magic.
The heartbreak the girl must have gone through in that moment must have been unbearable, but such was the life profession of a magus.
The chances of one of the few semi-friendly forces coming across her in her predicament was just unlikely. After Singularity F had been resolved, even that minuscule chance had dwindled drastically. As far as everyone in the world of magic was concerned, Olga's death was all but proven, certain beyond a doubt. In fact, it could be considered paranoia or insanity, to even consider her survival.
Yet, here she stood before him, staring at him with all the caution, steel, and authority of a true-bred queen forged by fire and trial.
'She's certainly been through a lot since that incident.' Sherlock thought, curiously, as he faced the previous Director of Chaldea.
If one were to miss this clear change in her demeanor from her previous - and truthfully disastrous - time heading the organization, then one could outright feel it around her. As if time and space itself was contracting and grinding against itself, as if bending and reshaping itself in order to properly accommodate the young adult.
"Well, well, Ms. Animusphere. It seems that fate hasn't quite dismissed you yet." Sherlock said calmly.
"If that's the case, it has a real funny way of showing its favor." Olga countered, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.
Sherlock let out an amused huff. "As per its usual modus operandi. Believe me when I say you are not the first nor shall you be the last to experience such in this world we live in."
"You sound more amused than you should be, given you no doubt know about what happened last time I was with Chaldea."
"Fair enough. If someone had said that you, Olga Marie Animusphere, would be here still alive. I would have labeled them a liar or a false prophet." The great detective admitted.
"A pleasure, I'm sure." Olga responded, with sarcasm dripping off of every word, "It would be much more pleasurable meeting if I knew as much about you as you know about me, Mr?"
"Holmes. Sherlock Holmes?"
Once again, Olga blinked before squinting her eyes at the taller man, looking him up and down in doubt.
"As in the great detective from Baker Street? That Sherlock Holmes? Aren't you supposed to have that deerstalker hat on you?"
Sherlock sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "While I am quite fond of it, I can assure you that its reoccurrence in my various cases was an invention of the good doctor while writing those memoirs."
"If I didn't know better, it sounds like you are a little embarrassed about your fashion choices in life." Olga casually replies while placing her helmet on the head of the truly advanced looking motorcycle she came in with - a sign that she was beginning to feel comfortable around him, or at least, not threatened by his presence, "On that note, you've been summoned here, correct? How long have you been in Chaldea, because I don't remember seeing you around when I first got here…"
"A natural question to ask, given current circumstances." Sherlock acknowledged before adding on, "But that is an answer you will have to receive later, I am afraid."
"And what is that exactly?"
BOOM!
"Because we have more pressing matters to attend to." He practically drawled as he and Olga steadied themselves from the whole building shaking like an earthquake, "From the look of things, our enemies won't get allow us the luxury of idle chatter before slaughtering us all in the building."
"Enemies…you mean those people in black I saw outside?" Olga asked as she stood up tall again, "They're the ones trying to kill everyone in this building?! Who else is in here besides you and me?"
"Amoung the most important are myself, Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mash Kyrielight, Da Vinci, Goredolf Musik— your successor —and many other employees currently at risk." Sherlock explained as Olga's eyebrows raised higher and higher with each name listed off by the great detective.
"Mash and Ritsuka are here?! Even Da Vinci managed to ma-wait."
In a moment of true fascination that has the detective's curiosity peaking as high as a mountain, Olga's golden-amber eyes began to literally light up as what appeared to be hands on a clock start moving from with her irises, performing a full on 360 spin before stopping, and with a quick blink, they were gone, as if they were never there in the first place.
"...I need to get to them before whoever is attacking the building manages to take them out!"
Olga began to quickly move forward towards the source of the invasion stopping when Sherlock abruptly stepped in front of her.
"While I understand your worry, doing anything reckless in a time like this can only make the situation worst." The Ruler-class Servant tried to reason with, only to be met with a fierce scowl.
"I refuse to let anything happen to them, not like last time!" Olga shot back full of passion, "I may not have been able to protect anyone last time, but things are different with me. I have the chance to actually make a difference for these people this time around!"
"That doesn't change the fact that the situation is proving to be too volatile to just jump into half-cocked." Sherlock responded insistently, "Do you really think you have the power to beat back whatever is about to completely level this whole building?"
He didn't expect an downright sinister smirk to answer his question.
"Like I said: I am not the same girl as before. Now when I have this."
With a certain flair out of her pocket, Olga took out the strangest and most advanced-looking stopwatch the great detective has ever laid eyes upon, twisted the faceplate, and pressed the button on top to make it produce the oddest sound imaginable.
ZI-O!
She then took out an equally strange and advanced belt buckle with her free hand. Logically, she couldn't have hidden it anywhere on her person without it standing out but Holmes was too curious to stop her and ask questions. He watched with an inquisitive eye as Olga slotted the watch into the belt's right side and placed it on her waist.
"Henshin!"
Things were going much easier than expected, in Anastaia's humble opinion. While she had yet to find and take care of Chaldea's Master, everything went along as planned.
Of course, it was obvious that Chaldea's current team had no chance of survival given the fact that their defeat was completely orchestrated far before she even arrived at the building with her Oprichniki, her icy blue eyes observing as they went on to more or less massacre the screaming and running staff of the organization. Part of her was glad Kadoc wasn't here to witness the slaughter of the place he previously devoided himself so wholly to, no matter how much a front he liked to put up in front of others.
'A true bleeding heart, my Master has.' The Russian duchess hummed internally as she saw one of her men grab a Chaldea worker by the throat, 'I wonder how many of the others see through his mask like I have?'
Still, as much as she hated to admit it, that shifty fox, Koyanskaya, did create the best opening possible for her to strike…even if she'll never say such in front of that all too smug floozy.
"Still, doesn't change the ending result for these cockroaches." Anastasia sighed as the life of the worker begins to slowly fade away as the grip around his neck begins to tighten by the second, "Everything is going too well for me to fail at my task."
Then suddenly, everything began to go wrong.
All too suddenly, the head of Oprichniki chocking out the Chaldea worker was detached, with the rest of his body falling sideways onto the floor as the Chaldea worker is released, causing him to fall on his knees and wheeze, taking in the ability to breathe properly again.
His savior was some sort of brown soldier that donned on a strange, brown armor that looked highly advanced, with an equally advanced looking short brown sword that was dripping black blood.
The sounds of intense fighting began to reach her ears, with Anastasia being met with the sight of many more of those technologically advanced brown soldiers, clashing with her Oprichniki, leading them away from their would be victims, with someone of the brown soilders even aiding the workers out of this newly developed battlefield.
"Did Chaldea have a new security system in place? Why didn't Koyanskaya inform me of this development?" Anastasia questioned outloud as the fighting around her intensified to new levels, her tone of voice that of complete irritation, tch'ing before raising her hand, a mist of ice coming forth from it, "No matter, it will not be enough for them to sur-!"
Her ice blue eyes widened as she quickly used her ice magic to glide across to the walls on the right side of the halls, her survival instinct being proven right as a hail of strange blue bullets completely covered her previous spot with smoking holes.
Quickly turning to properly face her assailant, Anastaia's eyes narrowed as she stared at a man who wore white highly advanced armor with blue lines being of the same vein yet a step above those of the brown soldiers fighting the Orpichniki.
"So I take it that you are the leader of these new arrivals then?" Anastasia vocalized coolly as she readied her magic for the oncoming fight, "For what manner of a warrior are you, for have never seen anyone that resembles the likes of you or your men in my life up to this point."
Her opponent, in perfect English, replied with this:
"The kind that hunts people like your kind for sport!"
"If you think that I will go down like any simple human, then I am afraid you have already lost this fight, good sir."
Things have just gotten far more complicated for them all. How truly atrocious this situation has become.
"Fujimaru, Mash! In here!" Da Vinci shouted as they entered the hanger containing her pride and joy, the Shadow Border. While it saddened and hurt her that they'll have to abandon Chaldea, there as some joy to be found in finally getting the chance to use it.
They approached the Border's storage container where a couple more survivors were waiting for them. Meuniere, who expressed his relief at seeing them arrive, quickly urged to get aboard. Da Vinci quickly explained how they were supposed to escape— ejecting the Border on some rails she had set up beforehand but before they get the chance to enter, Ritsuka asked, "Hang on, is everyone already here?"
"Ye–yes, everyone who was in the west hall…" Meuniere muttered just loud enough for them to hear.
"What do mean? What about the people in the east hall?"
"...There's a wall of ice blocking the way to the east hall. Everyone who escaped there is frozen solid."
That should have been impossible. However, this invasion itself should have been impossible too yet it was happening. It was then Da Vinci revealed who was spearheading the invasion and responsible for the east hall freezing over.
"A Servant summoned outside of Chaldea…" Ritsuka said, mostly to himself. Yet another thing that should be impossible.
"They caught us completely by surprise. We have nothing at all to go on at the moment," Da Vinci stated, "Which is yet another reason why we should beat a temporary retreat. We can call the Mage's Association for help, gather intel on who we're up against, and–"
"...Uh… S-Somebody! Anybody...!" The P.A. System came to live and a desperate, scared voice came through, "If anyone's hearing this, please, answer me! Anybody at all!"
"Someone's still alive…?" They can't leave, not yet. Even as the other survivors urged them to get inside and leave, saying that it was too dangerous and Holmes was already waiting for them inside, Ritsuka knew they couldn't abandon someone.
"Oh God, they're coming! They're coming...! Ah... Ahh... Aaaaaah!" The voice in danger whimpered in fear, "Somebody! Anybody! Argh, why does this sort of thing always happen to me!? Dammit all! Who do they think I am!? I'm Goredolf goddamn Musik! The eldest son of the Musik family! I was going to lead Chaldea to glory! Yes, glory! That's what was supposed to happen! But now…"
"Goredolf…?" The one who bought Chaldea and was now its current director. He was the one in danger.
"So it's that Musik bastard, huh? All the more reason to forget about him! He's got no one to blame but himself!" The other survivor cried in anger. "Why should we help a guy like that after everything he did to Chaldea!?"
"You're not wrong… but…" Ritsuka weakly muttered.
"Aaagh! Ow, owww...! Ah... Aah... Ghnnn...! ...Why. Why do things always turn out like this? Why do they always turn on me in the end!?" Goredolf lamented. "This always happens to me! Always! Nothing's changed at all...! No matter where I go, no matter what I try, I was always an outcast. A loser. A social leper. I knew what everyone was thinking! I knew they all hated me! But what was I supposed to do about it!?"
Hearing the new director pour his heart out reminded Ritsuka of something— of someone.
"I don't know WHY they hated me! I don't know HOW to get people to like me! But I tried! I did the best I could! I never had my sights set on first place, you know? I would've been happy with second or third! But, haha, just look at how things turned out. Forget third! I didn't even end up placing at all!"
Who did it remind Ritsuka of?
"Ah... Ow, owww! Stop it! Stop iiit! Dammit! After a life of failure, I thought this would finally, FINALLY be my shot at success...! But a loser is all I'll ever be, no matter where I go or what I do. Dammit... Dammit...! I don't wanna die! I'm not ready to die! After all…"
Of course… it was her…
"No one's ever praised me before! No one's ever loved me before...!"
"...Come on, Mash." Ritsuka spun around the spot and headed out. He couldn't let it happen again. Never again…
It wasn't easy, but they managed to locate and rescue the director. To their surprise, he had been holding off the black-cloaked invaders all by himself but was out of ammo by the time they arrived.
Even though he pinned the blame of the attack on them, Ritsuka was still glad they managed to save the Director. Now, they had to return to the hanger and make their escape for real.
Naturally, they ran into a roadblock.
"Okaaay, that's far enough~ !" The sweet but sadistic voice of one Koyanskaya the secretary stopped them. She was taunting a massive rifle and backed up by the Oprichniki. "Looks like you're not going to be crossing this particular finish line, are you?"
Seeing her with the soldiers invading Chaldea was the last concrete proof they needed to know her true allegiance. While Goredolf initially assumed his secretary had been captured and forced to work against them, he quickly saw her true colors and turned against her. "Dammit! You little minx! How dare you toy with an innocent man's heart like that!?"
That was not really the point but Ritsuka still felt sympathy for Goredolf.
"Now, before I actually kill all of you and place you on my mantle—" Koyanskaya smiled sickly sweet, completely at odds with her readying her rifle. "—why don't you tell me where you got those fine little soldiers? Their tech is a bit behind but still pretty good since they're giving our own boys a decent run for their money."
"…those what?" Ritsuka had zero idea what she was talking about.
"Feigning ignorance, I see? Don't worry, I'll squeeze it out of you soon enough~."
"Senpai, ! Stay behind us!" Both Mash and Da Vinci stepped forward and prepared for combat. They may be outnumbered but they could blow a hole in the line to allow the two to escape.
But just before they engaged each other—
FINISH TIME! DOUBLE SURE SURE SHOOTING!
-a concentrated blast of green wind and purple shot past them and very nearly hit Koyanskaya had she not reacted fast enough. Instead, the Orphiniki that were behind her found new holes in their varying body parts and dropped like a sack of potatoes.
"Who—?!" Basically, everyone present snapped their head towards the direction the wind bullet came from.
Standing there, aiming an odd-looking and oversized gun was a fully armored figure. Their suit was a mix of black, gray, and pink with some silver parts including the watch strap-like piece going down their chest. Their helmet, meanwhile, was designed to look like a clockface and had large pink Japanese characters on it.
"Just a passing-by Demon Queen, remember that!" A young, feminine voice rang out from underneath the armor, before shaking her head in distaste, "Wait, no…doesn't work like how he does it. Note to self: better to come up with my own thing for the future."
Ritsuka recognized the voice from somewhere. He may know who it was behind the mask— 'But that's impossible.' The natural conclusion was that it was someone else who sounded exactly like her in that armor, but with what was going on, it may not be as impossible as it should be.
But for now, they had bigger problems to deal with than the identity of their savior.
"You guys go ahead!" The armored warrior instructed them, "I'll deal with her and her posse! Come, IXA!"
Besides her, a human-sized gate in the form of a strange red symbol appeared and opened to reveal another armored warrior. This one's suit was wildly different from the first one's, being themed more after a holy warrior. He had a black undersuit with white platings over it. His upper body was nearly completely covered in armor, with a red circular symbol on the silver shield-shaped plating on his chest. He also had wide, white and gold pauldrons that blended with his large chestplate.
His mask meanwhile was mostly white and had a blue band covering the top of his head. The most striking feature of his helmet, however, was the same golden cross-like symbol that split apart. A single, blue gem was embedded into the center of the cross in between his red eyes.
"Please watch over them in my stead and make sure they get to safety!" The woman in black and silver armor commanded as she once again raised her strange looking gun and pointed it at a weary yet still cocky-looking Koyanskaya, "I'm counting on you!"
"Yes, you can rely on me." The man known as IXA slightly bowed in respect before turning to face the Chaldeans. "Lead the way, I shall make sure none get in our way under my watch."
"...You know what, given our current dilemma, I won't look a horse's gift in the mouth." The woman of renaissance stated with a slight shake of her head before turning her head around to a clearly surprised at the new developments occurring before, "Everyone: while this may not be the wisest thing to do, I am inclined to trust the word of this woman and assume she has the best of intentions at the moment. Let's get going before anything else may get in our way."
"You're not wrong…" Ritsuka admitted, albeit in an unsure manner, "We don't have much of a choice here, so we'll have to rely on these two for help."
"I agree with Senpai," Mash AKA the Servant known as Shielder nodded in complete agreement, "For some reason, I can't help but get the feeling that she means well for us…"
"For the love of the Root, who cares?! As long as they can get us out of here, then I'm willing to overlook anything from these weirdos!" Goredolf shouted, half in fear and half in frustration.
Nodding in confirmation, Da Vinci then turned back to the strange - and quite intense - man in the crusader armor, "Then, we are in your care IXA. Please follow us this way!"
As the group began to make their way out of the room, Koyanskaya quickly began to aim her rifle at their retreating backs, "Don't think it will be so easy under my watch!"
BANG!
BLADE!
Before the bullet could even reach any of them, the strange woman in black and silver expertly blocked it with her gun-turned-swords.
"How annoying!" Koyanskaya huffed as she lowered her weapon, glaring daggers at her opposite, "Such a stubborn little thing! Why are you so insistent on getting in my way?"
"Because I failed them once and I will not do so again."
"Oh really? Do you have a personal history with those guys?"
"Irrelevant." The woman in silver and black armor flatly deflected before getting into a fighting stance, "If I were you, I would put my focus on the current task at hand!"
With surprising speed, the armored woman jumped forth and swung her blade at Koyanskaya, who managed to block it with her rifle.
"Oh really? I hope you don't regret your words too soon," The pink haired woman teased in an all too sinister tone of voice, showing sharp teeth as she gave a bloodthirsty grin, "Because you have my full attention as of this moment!"
"Just what I wanted!" The woman in black and silver armored shouted back, before swinging her arm back and going in for another slash, the first of many in this fierce battle for Chaldea's survival and fate.
"In here!" With the armored crusader named IXA following them and keeping an eye on their backs, they re-entered the hangar.
"We finally made it back...! Everyone's okay...!" Mash huffed as they approached the storage container where the remaining staff were waiting.
Goredolf, meanwhile, commented, "So this is the hangar! It's a lot bigger than it looked in the file!"
"Just shut it and get in the container, coglione!" Da Vinci retorted. They had to take off soon and fast. While Koyanskaya was distracted by that new person, they had the perfect chance to escape and fight another day. With most of Chaldea already frozen over, fleeing their home was the only choice they had.
"Heeey! Over here! Quicklyyy!" One of the Chaldean staff waved their arms. It was a useless but still nice gesture.
As they got close to the container, Ritsuka couldn't help but worry that things were going too well. Koyanskaya was busy, and the unknown Servant that froze the base was nowhere to be seen. They had the perfect opportunity— 'Then why do I feel like something's going to go wrong?'
The sinking feeling in his stomach remained even as they stopped outside the container and waited for their turns to get inside. Ritsuka glanced back at the summoned warrior and noticed he too seemed uneasy.
Well, as much as he could tell since he was in a full-body suit.
"What's wrong?" He asked, worry evident in his voice.
"Hmm…something truly troublesome seems to be afoot within our vicinity," IXA waved his hand dismissively. "You all go inside and I'll keep guard out here."
But he didn't really need to, right? His summoner ordered him to only get them to safety and he has accomplished that.
Before he could question him any further, however, Mash spoke up. "…Senpai, we have to go back again."
"What?!" Goredolf shouted in disbelief at her determined declaration. "We just escaped certain death and you want to go back?!"
"Yes," Mash nodded. "We can't leave her to fend for herself." It was clear she also had the same idea Ritsuka had as to their savior's true identity… and he was inclined to agree with her desire to go back and help.
However, Da Vinci was not going to entertain that thought this time. "As much as I want to help too, she gave us our chance to survive. We should follow her wishes and make our escape now." They've already burned up enough time saving Goredolf; they can't afford to do another 180 and help that person too.
"But—"
"She is correct, you would be wise to take the word of your elder here to heart," IXA interjected firmly, siding with Da Vinci. "Zi-O can handle herself; you all should just go along with what she wants. And the second you guys get out, I'm heading back to help her myself."
Even though he knew they were right and escaping was the most sensible move, they shouldn't even be standing out here in the open to discuss this, Ritsuka didn't like it one bit. The uneasy feeling he had was not helping matters either. 'What's causing that?' Ritsuka thought as he glanced around again.
"Senpai, is something wrong?" Mash asked, instinctively preparing herself for combat.
"I…"
"…There!" IXA suddenly shouted as he spun around and shot at something with his sword-gun. The weird but cool weapon aside, whatever he was shooting at was fast and IXA's bullets only struck the ground.
"Hmm… This is unexpected." A deep and familiar voice spoke through the darkness. "Acquiring yourself a brand new ally right at this most important moment; you all must be truly blessed by a higher power."
"You are… Father Kotomine?" The priest that accompanied the inspection crew was suspicious from the beginning, but to be working with the invaders too…?
"Get inside, now," IXA commanded them as he looked around for the priest. "I'll cover you."
Of course, none of them were going to just leave him alone either. "I'll fight with you," declared Mash as she moved to stand beside him. "Master, Da Vinci, we'll hold Father Kotomine off as long as we can.
"Got it, we'll leave this to you. Director Musik, Fujimaru, if you would so follow me," Da Vinci grabbed the new Director and Ritsuka by the arm, knowing the latter would not back down, and dragged them towards the container.
"Now…" IXA pushed the magazine of his weapon in, causing the blade to pop out. "Please, return that life to God!"
The white warrior was annoying, as Anastasia quickly learned. While he and his troops easily mowed hers down with ruthless yet calculated efficiency that matched Mother Russia's own Bolshevik army.
Really, she'd be more impressed with her opponent if he wasn't so damn hard to hit.
The Grand Duchess scowled as the white warrior flew right above using those strange flying contraptions on his back, taunting her like he was someone how above her, a truebred princess of the royal bloodline of the Romanov dynasty!
Once again, the white warrior above her rapidly shot multiple blue bullets at her, and in response, her shadow - powered and manipulated through her dear Viy - grew behind her before forming a huge wall of darkness right above her, shielding her from the oncoming attack, all of the bullets splashing harmlessly against the shadow, not one reaching its mistress.
"You can't stay behind your little tricks forever!" The flying white warrior taunted from above, the sheer arrogance and ignorance directed at someone of her station causing her frown to go deeper inward, threatening to leave a permanent mark on her delicate features, "In fact, it looks like your time is about to run out."
Before she could ask what he was even talking about, Anastasia found herself surrounded by the enemy brown soldiers, all with their blades raised towards her in a threatening manner, their intent much more obvious for any outsider to see.
"So you've managed to overcome the Oprichniki, have you?" She stated calmly, her icy blue eyes going sideways over to outside of the group surrounding her, with no signs of the forces she arrived within sight in these halls, save for the multiple stains of black on the walls and floors, "As loathed as I am to admit as such, your formality is undeniable."
"Wish I can say the same about you princess, not to say I didn't enjoy this little dance of ours." The arrogant fool prattled on as he once again aimed his guns at her, "Any last words before you met your end?"
"...This farce ends now."
Closing her eyes, Anastasia's magic expanded to impasse the entire room as she simply whispered:
"Viy, Viy, Viy!"
In a simple instant, the entire room area was overcome by ice and shadow.
And once Anastasia reopened her eyes, everything that wasn't her was frozen solid, still in the seemingly endless blizzard conjured up in the room.
Lifting her head and peering through the raging snow storm, the white warrior was still and unmoving up in the air, his forced silence the sweetest of music in the duchess' ears.
"Finally, I don't have to endure his drivel any longer." Anastasia sighed in relief as she lifted a pale hand and snapped her fingers.
CRACK!
CRASH!
The white warrior and his brown soldiers shattered like glass, leaving nothing behind but the smashed ice on the ground that contained their remains.
"That took much too." The white haired Caster huffed slightly, patting back a piece of hair sticking out, "Still, the rest of Chaldea couldn't have gone too far. I just need to-!"
Anastasia stopped mid-step, blinking at the sight of the area she was in somehow…fading in and out, as if somehow disappearing from the realm of existence itself.
"What in the world…?"
"So I am to assume that you are the puppet master behind those brown soldiers, just as you are that white armored cleric?" Koyanskaya questioned loudly as she shot at her enemy, who quickly hid behind the nearby wall for protection, "Your method of summoning is completely different from that of a summoning a Heroic Spirit; no summoning incantation nor even a whiff of magecraft coming off of you or your 'Servants', if they can be even called that. Just who are you and how are you doing all of this?"
She received her answer in the form of a hail of bullets speeding her way, forcing her to hide behind the wall closest to her as a shield.
"How rude!"
"That was the point of me trying to put a bullet through your head!" Was the loud reply she received, "More or less the expected action of your enemy in battle, is it not?!"
"Hmph! So brutish for a lady such as yourself! Weren't you raised to have better behavior than the one you're currently displaying?"
"My mother passed away before she could make a major impact on my view of life while my father didn't find the need to pay any attention to me throughout my younger years, so no, no they did not."
Koyanskaya clicked her tongue before reloading her rifle gun, then allowed her head to lay on the cool surface of the wall.
To say things have gone off the rails would be vastly understating things. Everything was supposed to have been smooth sailing once she convinced that fool Goredolf into buying Chaldea, she and the forces granted to her by the Cyphers - and by extension, the Forigen God - was supposed to have laid waste Chaldea and anyone within who could interfere with their plans.
This…unexpected factor had truly upended things to such a severe degree. Just who was this mysterious woman in armor and those she had called upon to defend the building? Her first instinct was to think that Chaldea had managed to call upon a true ace upon their sleeve for situations like this, but from their looks, they were just as much as in the dark as she was. Why then, what in the world did this woman have to gain from interfering?
'Still, if she is allowed to live through this, then she could prove to be an even greater hindrance to my plans than even the Last Master of Humanity.' Koyanskaya thought.
That was simply unacceptable. Not when she had so much to lose after coming so far. She will NOT be denied her heart's desire and shall regain what has been taken from her, being hell to all those that have wronged her.
Slowly, Koyanskaya peeked over the wall she was hiding behind, her olive green eyes scanning the area for any sign of the armored warrior but unable to find a single trace of her within her line of sight, despite knowing she was nearby and ready to strike at any moment.
Perhaps a little taunt will cause her unexpected enemy to make a rash move? "You know I'm not the only one here aiming for Chaldea's total destruction." She began, putting an extra touch of mockery - not off sounding for her really - to really provoke her foe, "I'm sure your little friends aren't as safe as you'd like them to be with your little toy soldier. Soon, your efforts shall prove to be worth less than nothing by the time I'm done with you."
The response she received wasn't what she hoped.
"Thankfully, you won't even have the chance to finish things right now."
All too suddenly, a bright pink light emitted from the corner of her eye, almost blinding her.
"GAH! Just what do you think you're trying to…what is this?!"
In front of her, the whole area around her began to outright fade in and out of existence itself.
"Something that's going to cost me quite a bit for a while." The woman in silver and black admitted as she almost casually went out to the open, also fading in and out in sync with what seemed to be the entire building itself, "Though something definitely worth it if it means everyone gets to safety from you guys and whoever sent you over here in the first place."
"You…" The pink haired woman wearily left her place of - relative - safety, facing the mysterious armored warrior from across the disappearing hallways, "What magic is this? What are you thinking you are trying to pull here?"
"This is not magic at all." She answered in a tone that just screamed I-know-more-than-you-do, causing Koyanskaya's eyebrow to twitch in annoyance, detesting being on the receiving end of this kind attitude for once, "Such is the power of a true demon queen. Something I think you'll get more familiar with in the near future."
This was the last words she said before she disappeared without a trace, along with the entirety of Chaldea's building.
Within the raging blizzard, Koyanskaya looked up into the air in frustration.
"A demon queen?"
Inside the Shadow Border, the remaining crew were nearly finished with their preparations to depart. "Just a bit more…" Da Vinci bit her lips in anticipation before glancing towards the nearby station showing multiple camera footage, including the exterior. "How is Mash doing?"
"Fine, but…" Ritsuka trailed off. It was very clear Mash was struggling to use her abilities given current circumstances; most of the heavy lifting was done by the summoned hero. "How much longer can we stay?" A part of him was hoping that the pink-and-black warrior would run in after taking care of Koyanskaya so they can all leave together, not wanting to endure yet another sacrifice for his sake, especially from someone he has yet to even know.
"Not much longer; call Mash back, we have to go," Da Vinci ordered him. "Meuniere, are the engines ready yet?!"
"Almost!" The Chaldea staff member shouted back. "A couple more— uh oh."
"Uh oh? What do you mean 'Uh oh?'" Da Vinci asked with a deadly serious tone as she rushed over to his station. "What's wrong?!"
"These readings are… This should be impossible, right?" Meuniere was nearly into full blown panic as he eyed the readings on his screen. "Director, some kind of outside force is taking us out of sync with the timeline of the world!"
"Wait, what?!" Da Vinci cried out, quickly going over Meuniere's shoulder to confirm the readings herself, "Are you serious…what can be causing this here and now of all times?!"
Further complicating matters, Ritsuka called out to her too. "Da Vinci! Something's going on outside!"
"Find out where we are!" She ordered Meuniere before rushing back to him to see the camera footage and, sure enough, the Father that was somehow able to fight both Mash and IXA to a standstill (if slightly in his favor) was fading from reality. After a few moments, he disappeared.
"Meuniere, where are we?!" Da Vinci demanded, making sure to hide any nervousness she was feeling at this new development.
"We've… haven't gone anywhere at all," The staff member answered with disbelief in his voice. "We've definitely moved in time but we're still in the same exact place as before."
"You guys figure out what's going on, I'm heading out," Ritsuka said before running out of the room, much to Da Vinci's annoyance.
"Analyse the data further, I'm going out too."
Mash had no idea what happened. One second, she and the crusader was fighting (or to be more accurate, holding off) Kotomine Kirei when the latter started fading away. The priest barely got a word out before he completely disappeared.
"What…?" She wasn't complaining, of course. The whole ordeal was taking a lot out of her and it seemed to be finally over.
"…So this is Zi-O's powers," She heard IXA mutter to himself. "You all should be safe now. This means that my assignment is complete." Before Mash could say anything, the man vanished in a sparkle of golden light not dissimilar to a Servant.
'But he wasn't a Servant - atleast, not any one I've encountered so far.' The purple haired Demi-Servant muttered as she stared at the spot her fighting partner abruptly disappeared from. 'Just what in the world was he?"
Mash had too many questions now… and it only source of answers she knew of was the warrior that saved them from Koyanskaya. They had to find her and get to the bottom of what was happening.
"Mash!" She turned her head back to see Ritsuka, Da Vinci, and even Holmes coming out of the container. "Are you okay?!"
"Yes," She nodded as they stopped in front of her. "What happened? Why did the Father disappear?"
"It's… complicated," Answered Da Vinci. "We'll figure it out later. For now, let's find that woman. She has a lot of explaining to do."
"I do not think we need to go searching," Holmes commented before using his smokepipe to gesture to the hanger's entrance. The other three looked at where he was pointing out to see the armored heroine come in, if slightly stumbling to them.
"That definitely took a lot out of me…" The woman in silver and black armor muttered to herself, pinching the bridge of where her nose would have been.
However, as she got close to them, a small spark of lightning erupted from her belt. "Uh oh, that isn't good," she remarked almost casually before she let out a small screech as her belt sparked again. This time, the stopwatch-like object slotted in shot out and clanged as it hit the ground. The stopwatch-like object then disappeared in a flash of pink light.
As if responding to that, the armor that the mysterious woman donned on began to dissipate away, revealing the figure underneath.
A figure that everyone in the room was all too familiar with and shocked - except for Holmes of course - to see again.
"Dang it, I wanted to do it in a cooler way, considering this is my second chance at an introduction…" The young woman nervously laughed. She was going to cancel her transformation of her own accord but her Ridewatch had its own ideas. "Hello again, everyone. Didn't expect to see me again, huh?"
Except for Holmes, everyone was stunned into silence before, finally, Ritsuka muttered in complete shock and disbelief, "...Director Olga?"
Her only response was to give the most genuine and heartfelt smile he's ever seen from her.