AmethystPone: Thank you for the review, and regarding the question you have about Ratatoskr offering him some form of protection, that is an issue that I plan to address in a later chapter, when I go into detail of how Shido got caught up in going to Chaldea in the first place.

"Before we get there, make sure you're prepared to face the full strength of the legendary King Arthur." Angra said as Shido, Mash and Olga all ran through the cave that was there where they left Cu to fight Archer.

"Wait! The Saber that we're fighting is King Arthur!? Why didn't you tell us earlier!?"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, leggings. I just thought it would be more funny if you couldn't plan ahead and had the chance of dying. Kakakakakakakakaka!"

Hearing that, Olga had to put a hand to her head and rub it in order to ease just how much Angra frustrated her.

Shido had no idea himself what that meant, but he knew that for servants, the more widely known they were typically means they're stronger than other servants. So for someone like King Arthur, a figure known throughout the entire world. Not only for his reign, but the legendary sword he pulled from the stone along with the sword he wielded as king. Such a historical figure had one obvious Noble Phantasm that anyone remotely aware of him knows about.

Excalibur, a sword fabled to be a legendary sword given by the Lady of the Lake and is said to be one that King Arthur was never killed while wielding.

Still, there was something else Shido felt wary of. It wasn't as well known, nor did he know all that much about it, but Shido recalled that there was a scabbard for Excalibur. One that was said to stop any wounds from battle to bleed, something that even Merlin stated was said to be the greater treasure compared to Excalibur.

If King Arthur was summoned, then did that mean he possessed both Excalibur and the scabbard? Or did it just mean he was only summoned with Excalibur?

"Don't worry about the scabbard. Even if King Arthur is summoned, they'll only have Excalibur on hand. The scabbard is separate from King Arthur." Angra spoke as if reading Shido's thoughts, though Shido did feel some relief from hearing that assurance.

Nonetheless, after a couple minutes of running they had reached an open area from the cave they came from. It was a bit surprising to see Angra properly lead them there without any of his usual tricks or lying to them about the path there, but it was something Shido was grateful Angra held off on doing considering the pressing situation.

"—hk!" Shido didn't know who made that sound, for all he knew it could've come from his own lips.

As the area infront of them was an opened up area where the very ground itself radiated a sense of evil and danger. Though, that wasn't what grabbed the entire group's attention and made their bodies instinctual survival senses warn them as if it was a blaring siren telling them 'danger! danger!'.

It was a figure covered in jet black armor that had red accents running down its entirety, her skin that was visible seemed to be a deathly pale and her blonde hair swayed lightly as she wordlessly turned towards the group. Her eyes were hidden behind a visor, yet it felt like she was looking at them like prey, assessing each and every one of them to find any possible weakness. The sword she held in her hand seemed to be giving off a sense of oppression, feeling as if it had enough power to utterly decimate them without any issues through pure strength alone.

The presence she gave off and the body's instinctual sense of danger was only enhanced by the jet black thing hanging behind Saber. There were no words Shido could use to describe it other than a shadow, and even that felt insufficient when that very thing spilled strange looking mud, radiating such a sense of power and wrongness that felt overwhelming.

If the Shido standing here was the one before his experiences with the spirits, then he would be hyperventilating, struggling to even breathe in the presence of such a terrifying enemy. —In that sort of way, it was a good thing he had gained so many horrible experiences since the last couple years, as Shido could tell this enemy would use that opportunity without any hesitation to kill them.

Even if the scene happening before him wasn't nearly as inspiring of Shido's fear compared to when he saw the power of the [Spirit of Origin], the thing behind Saber was enough to make it feel ten times as worse as back then for some inexplicable reason.

"—You know, I really guess this annoying bastard in me is influencing me a lot more than I would like." Angra sounded irritated as he spoke, his body was not shaking at all like the rest and seeing such a calm and carefree demeanor from him strangely had Shido start to feel a bit less afraid. Not that it eliminated his fear or anything, but it was enough for him to slightly regain his bearings.

"Avenger, attack her with all you got! Mash, make sure he doesn't die! I'll help Shido survive as much as possible, so focus on fighting!" Olga quickly yelled out her orders towards the servants and without any hesitation, they quickly lunged forward at incredible speeds towards the enemy Saber.

The enemy servant raised her sword, gleaming in the dark underground of the mountain they were in as mana gathered towards her.

"EXCA—"

"Damn it! Already using her Noble Phantasm!?" Olga grabbed Shido by the arm and with reinforcement magecraft being used on her body, jumped as far away as she could. Not only that, as she threw a stone with a marking Shido knew as the sign of capricorn, which immediately formed a sort of barrier.

Saber's jet black sword grew with a dark sinister light that seemed to look as if it could swallow up everything that stood in its way. In spite of that, Angra continued his run towards Saber, his speed easily being beyond what Shido himself could hope to achieve.

"Lord—" Mash firmly pressed her shield against the ground, mana swelling up to the point even an amateur magus like Shido could tell.

"Stars, Cosmos, God's, Animus—" Olga chanted as she held another stone in hand she just picked up after throwing a second stone she held in her pocket that, similar to the first, created a barrier to help shield them.

Not wanting to be entirely useless, Shido cast an [Instant Enhancement] spell onto both his servants. The switch inside of his body was flipped from the action and he felt some small pain that accompanied his use of magecraft.

"—CALIBUR MORGAN!" With that shout from Saber, her Noble Phantasm was released and the jet black that seemed to swallow everything filled his entire vision for a moment.

The roar of the attack followed, and Shido saw as the light that would swallow all of them up had changed directions.

Shido knew the enemy standing before them wasn't kind enough to give them a warning shot and he knew she had enough skill to not miss hitting her most powerful attack like that. So, he knew something happened to make her miss. Something he found out a moment later, as he saw Angra throwing his daggers towards her.

The daggers themselves easily broke with a single swing of her blade, yet Angra was able to bring them back each time they were destroyed.

"How are you, Saber? Did you enjoy your time you spent killing your master? Or was it that you just failed to protect him despite promising to be his sword?" Angra grinned as he spoke, quickly dodging a beam of light coming from Saber's sword. A feat only possible through his A ranked agility.

"What do you know of me?" Saber spoke for the first time as she stood faced off against Angra, who only had his grin widen into one that seemed vile looking.

Shido could tell that despite Saber engaging in what Angra was saying and not continuing to attack, she was not talking to reach an understanding, but moreso doing it as if it was the only thing to entertain her. It felt like she believed she could kill them at any time, so delaying it wouldn't cause her any issues.

"What do I know? Quite a lot, if you want me to be honest." Angra twirled his daggers, neither him nor Saber moving for the attack.

{Master! Use this chance to get something ready!} Angra's voice entered Shido's head, making Shido give a nod towards his servant who was using bluffs to buy them time.

"And if you know that much, then how come you stand before me now? If you truly understand what I desire then you should see that it would be wise to side with me rather than against me." Saber's voice was ice cold, reminding Shido of how Archer seemed as if his emotions froze over.

Come on..

Shido grit his teeth as he felt his body start to heat up, pressure on himself slowly increasing and pain slightly flare up. It was as if his body was over-exerting itself, yet there was no sign of overuse from his magic circuits. So, despite her hesitancy, Olga turned back to Saber and continued her chant, inscribing the symbol of capricorn onto another stone to prepare for what Saber may throw at them later.

Mash, similar to Angra, didn't move to attack as she could tell she would be easily overwhelmed the second she tried. Even with the increase of strength Shido's use of magecraft provided to her.

Angra seemed to have the grin fall off his face, and his voice changed from the playful one he usually had to a more serious one. "..You know, I think you're misunderstanding something very important."

"What would that be?"

Angra stopped twirling the blades he held as he raised one of them towards Saber slowly with a determined expression on his face. One that was different to the expression he wore when they had that conversation last night.

"A kingdom can never last forever. On that day, Britain had merely met its end like everything else in this world. And if you want to know why Britain can never last, it's very simple. The answer is—human malice." Angra was calm and composed as he spoke, looking similar yet vastly different to Saber who didn't have a shred of emotion on her face.

Those words failed to elicit a response from Saber, whether it was denial or acceptance. However, that wasn't the main purpose of the entire exchange to begin with. It had a much simpler purpose.

—To buy time for an attack outside Saber's expectations.

"—Camael!" Shido roared that out, his voice drowning out the sound of his bones breaking apart and the blood being thrown up from his mouth, swinging the large halberd formed from particles of light upwards in Saber's direction.

It wouldn't make sense for the weapon to reach Saber considering the distance between them. The only way he could reach with its current state would be by throwing the Angel. Yet, that was if someone was only thinking of the halberd itself.

Flames immediately tore through the ground, a giant wave of them firing towards Saber's direction that he could feel the heat of even with Camael already burning inside of his body.

"—hk!" Shido leaned on the halbert after having it be supported by the ground, coughing up blood, his bones shattering and muscles tearing apart before they were healed by the very same power that is destroying them.

Still, he forced himself to stand up properly even as Olga yelled words of concern to him as Camael had changed in accordance with Shido's will. A grin on his face despite the situation and the pain coursing through him.

Let's start this battle!

Humanity is a weird species. There are millions, billions and even moreso that exist all throughout the entire world, but humanity is the only one to progress as much as they did.

They built, grew, cultivated and harvested to learn new things. Still, it wasn't as if that was all they did. Similarly to how they grew and cultivated, they destroyed and desecrated. Tarnished and stolen.

For every good thing they've done, there is an equal or worse bad thing they've done.

His very existence was proof of that. The good things would be overshadowed by the bad, and even those small good things would never last nearly as long.

That may be considered pessimistic to others, but he didn't care to have anyone else understand how his mind worked. Or rather, they would have to be messed up in the head to understand his own.

—However, there was one thing he believed. That even if the good was always short lived, small and never as big as the bad things, that very fact was what made it so beautiful.

When he saw the good in a world encompassed by evil, some emotion within him blossomed. An emotion he could never accurately describe despite the near infinite definitions for everything in the modern world.

If his past self, the one who had remained as nothing, a simple zero that was the same as a blank canvas waiting to darken the paint drawn onto it were to look at him now, he doubted it would recognize him. Even if it gained its own ability for rational thought and judgment, it would find him too far removed from his essential base that made him who he was.

He was even opposing that version of him from before as he was locked into combat with Saber. Even if indirectly.

Though it wasn't as if he wanted to fight. He could care less about a moral battle between him and it anymore. His own version of that battle had already long since ended in that looping world.

Still..

He had no desire for combat. He would rather run away. He could even just let Saber kill him to make it so he suffers less in the long run.

What about his promise with his Master? He was All the World's Evil, it was expected he would pull something, right?

There was no reason to prolong his suffering or to fight for the sake of some moral battle he didn't care about.

Still..!

He jumped away from Saber's attack, throwing one of his daggers that was easily destroyed by a wave of her arm before he created a new one to replace the now broken one.

A blast of pure crimson flames from his Master's strange weapon fired towards Saber. She sliced through the attack, yet instead of the blade continuing forward, it was locked into place by the demi-servant. Her knees were buckling under pressure and arms shaking, feet burying into the dirt as she did her best to use her shield to stop the blow.

Still..!

Angra moved forward with his only good stat, his highly ranked agility, and sliced at Saber's head. Even if it was a dull blade unfit for cutting, it would still be more than enough to separate the head off a body if he applies enough force.

Again, the attack failed as Saber let go of one arm holding the sword and smashed it into Angra's side as he was in midair, hurling him into the ground. It wasn't as if he didn't try to dodge, but that all he could do was use his arms as cushions for the blow that otherwise might've just straight up killed him.

Even then, he wasn't uninjured as both the bones in his arms were broken.

The shielder girl may have seen it as a chance, as she finally could overpower the force on the shield when Saber was only using one arm, throwing the arm holding onto the sword away from her. She was sorely mistaken.

With this opponent as an enemy, one could not afford to think of anything like that as less than a trap set up to kill you.

Angra lunged forward despite the pain in him and tackled the shielder girl just in time to avoid another beam of Saber's corrupted Excalibur.

I just can't help but feel like I need to knock some sense into your twisted wish!

Yes. That was the simple reason Angra continued fighting. Not for the sake of his Master, not for that joke of a promise he made to the busty servant nor any sort of noble reason that may be expected of a person recorded in the Throne of Heroes.

It was because something inside of him, something he inherited from a suicidal person that had no self worth was burning with that desire he could tell would never be satisfied unless he defeats her. Unless he destroys that wish she holds and would stop at nothing to gain.

Because, even if she had grown frustrated, angered and hated the fall that came to her country, you can never change the past. The past is something that must not ever be changed to such a degree. As it would be trampling over what warmth and good came from it, no matter how small or how short it lasted.

It would be trampling that beauty he found in such short and seemingly insignificant good in such an evil world. It would be as if she told everyone who shared the good and kindness they had to each other, struggled through the world filled with evil and said that their pains, frustrations and conclusions didn't matter to her.

That she would eliminate that for the sake of her own desire to see nothing change, to see that the beauty they gave birth to would die out along with any that came due to their end.

After all, despite being an Avenger Class servant, a class container that required a hatred towards all of humanity—he loved them and their struggle even more than he hated them.

There was no doubt his love was only a side effect from granting that simple wish for life, of his form being changed—No. More like his being given an actual and proper form was the cause of the side effect.

In the end, it didn't matter. No matter what resulted in him loving humanity, no matter what unsightly things Saber witnessed as she committed herself to her wish or whatever else happened, none of it mattered to Angra. He would mercilessly crush her wish with all his might just as she mercilessly fought to crush them.

There was no saving her in this battle.

There was no leading her to a new path.

This was a battle that ended with one side crushing the other.

"EXCALIBUR—!" Saber's corrupted blade gathered the mana accumulated inside her, no doubt given thanks to the grail.

"Lord Chaldea!" Mash, seemingly learning from her earlier failure, had wasted no time and used her Noble Phantasm immediately. The phantasmal wall brought forth from Mash seemed as if it would protect them from anything, yet Angra knew that wasn't the case.

For Excalibur was a blade that could topple even the most mighty of defenses. Especially now that it had a mana pool as near infinite as the Holy Grail.

"Win! Defeat her and win!" As Shido yelled those words out, Angra felt mana flooding him immensely as he gave a savage grin.

Angra easily made it towards Saber, his usually E ranked strength stat increased through the use of his master's Command Seals as he swung his arms. It should've been that with his higher agility, he would have caught Saber off guard and killed her.

—However, that would fail to account for one of Sabers best combat skills that she developed through life. Of which, being her [Instinct] skill that can allow for her to avoid fatal blows and act in the best possible path to victory when in combat.

Angra's eyes widened as Saber canceled her use of her Noble Phantasm, and with what seemed to be a use of her [Mana Burst] skill, swung her sword towards Angra's neck. It would without a doubt decapitate him, and unlike the hit she used to smash him into the ground, this wasn't one that he could block at all. Neither could he hope to evade it either, as his body wasn't fast enough to do so when they were in such close range along with how Saber used her skill to make her movements faster.

Still, Angra grit his teeth as one of his blades, Tawrich, formed inside of his mouth and using that, it intercepted Saber's blade. It wasn't capable of blocking the blade, and broke on contact, yet it allowed for his body to slightly shift in position to avoid that fatal strike.

However, he didn't escape unharmed. Instead of his head being decapitated, something else flew through the air. Simply put, it was his arm.

The limb flew through the air and hit the hard ground. The pain didn't even matter to Angra, though it's not like he had time to process it before he had to throw himself away just in time to avoid being hit by a giant stream of fire coming from his Master's strange weapon.

Saber swung her blade towards his Master and easily had the stream dissipate into thin air.
With no obstacles in her path, Saber launched herself towards Shido in a single step, her body enhanced by her [Mana Burst] skill.

Angra could probably keep up if he was in normal condition, but he was badly damaged and didn't have a large enough mana tank to just heal all his wounds like Saber could. Even the small amount of mana he could use through his [Self Replenishment] skill merely became a small drop in the bucket for the amount needed to heal his wounds and bring him back to his full abilities.

Damn it..!

Angra watched as Saber flew towards Shido who was supported by Olga, easily slicing through any beams of flames that Shido launched towards her or just being unaffected entirely by them.

—Yet, just before she made it towards him and swung her sword, an explosion happened between the two of them. One that even Saber had to stop moving and block.

"Hope I'm not late to the party!" With a grin on his face, Cu swung the weapon he held in hand and aimed it towards Saber as both Shido and Olga were behind him. It even seemed that Shido's weapon turned back into its halberd form, possibly due to overextended use of its other form or just over-exerting himself.

..How does he have that?

Angra could only think that thought as he looked at the weapon Cu held in his hand. One that was impossible for him to currently possess in his Caster form.

It was the weapon Cu Chulainn was most known to possess, one he was notorious for having. It was the lance, Gae Bolg.

"Now, let's turn the tides a bit, shall we?" Cu jumped towards Saber as he spoke those words, commencing the final battle to attain the Holy Grail.