The slow clap of Lev had once more echoed throughout the cave, amusement swimming in his eyes despite his smile transitioning to the more human one Shido recalls when he first met him. "Truly, that was exceptional. I will reward you with telling you my true identity."

"My name is Lev Lainur Flauros, a Demon God Pillar in charge of this year and sent to dispose of you humans once and for all." Shido felt chills on his skin, if he wasn't already too tired to stand, he would bet his legs would've fell from under him, as if the air itself changed when he reintroduced himself. "The future that you are all incapable of seeing past is not due to some strange disappearance. It is simply incinerated, your era has simply come to an end."

"What..do you mean..?" Shido was scared to hear the answer, but he needed to know.

Flauros seemed to have a sadistic smile grow on his face upon seeing Shido's face filled with unease and fear. "Why, outside of Chaldea, everywhere else has become exactly like this city before you now."

"So, instead of us losing contact with the outside world, it's that the rest of the world doesn't exist anymore." Romani added on, and Shido couldn't do anything other than stare listlessly, mouth agape.

"You were always rather perceptive, if only you listened and walked right to your death. But, it is futile. When the time within Chaldea passes 2018, it too shall be wiped from the universe and then nothing will be left of the world."

Again..Everyone died..again.. It wasn't enough for them to die because of Mio, now they are all simply dead? Can..can I use Zafkiel again? Just reverse time..once again..

Shido tried his best to call upon it. He had Camael after all, so maybe he could use Zafkiel? But, he was too tired to even properly use Camael again, its form having long since disappeared after he saved Olga. Hell, he couldn't even stand at all anymore, his body only standing straight because Mash let him lean on her.

Just..once more. Force it out. Even if it burns through my life, do everything to bring it out. If not, then that means..they're dead and there's no way to save them. That despite everything, everyone had died, only to leave me left behind..

Why..am I the only one left alive..? Should..I have died..too..?

Despair flooded Shido, like a tidal wave, crashing over his entire body. There were times he felt despair, when he was abandoned by his mother at a young age, realizing Kurumi killed others unlike the other spirits and seeing the corpses of all the ex-spirits infront of his very eyes.

This felt far worse than that. It could compare to him seeing the corpses of the ex-spirits, but now he knew there was no way to reverse it. Despite what he tried to convince himself, he could sense that Zafkiel isn't even an option for him. Even if it was, he had a feeling it wouldn't work in the end.

Does that mean.. everyone's gone forever..

Shido felt a pain on his forehead, and groaned as he looked and saw that Cu apparently did a finger flick, using enough strength that Shido felt it throb in pain, even over his other injuries that made his body feel numb.

"-Oi, I don't know what you're thinking, but cut it out. There is no time to despair over this situation, you can do that after this is over." Cu grinned as he ruffled Shido's hair, seemingly either ignoring or not even noticing Shido wincing in pain. "Plus, I don't think you should make a girl worry for you so much. It's bad for her heart."

Shido tilted his head quizzically at that, before realizing who he was referring to. His gaze quickly snapped over to Mash, who looked immensely worried for Shido, seemingly having called his name repeatedly while he was stuck up on the despair he felt.

"..I totally was uncool, wasn't I?"

"N-no, not really-"

"Absolutely." Cu cut off Mash's attempt to make Shido feel better, which made the girl look a bit worried for his reaction.

"I would've hoped you would deny that at least." Shido felt a wave of relief flood him, for the fact there was someone who could ensure he remained grounded and not let him try to take everything on his own.

He was willing to bet they would reprimand him for getting so caught up in those thoughts.

"Now, how will you all face the rejection of humanity from human order itself? Your own foolishness led you to be rejected by our king! Now, you will all be burned away like worthless scrap paper! Kakakakakakakakakaka!" Flauros let out a maniacal laugh, his face twisted in one of glee.

Though, many pillars of flames rose from the ground, burning him to a crisp - or it would have. But, he simply waved his arm and the ground broke apart, directing the pillars of flames away from him.

"..Oi, how much mana is left?" Cu asked, any trace of the grin he typically had on his face gone as he held the spear he used against Saber in his hands.

"There isn't enough for you to attempt to use that large scale Noble Phantasm of yours, if that's what you're asking. In fact, any Noble Phantasm would completely drain our current reserves and force Shido to supplement it." Romani answered, a grim look on his face as he did so.

"Do you mean..!" Mash gasped in shock as Shido felt her grip tighten on his arm that was draped over her shoulder.

It took a moment for it to register for Shido. That rather than simply take a bit of a toll on his circuits - it would kill him. The mana cost for the servants he has isn't that huge, but there has been a constant use of their Noble Phantasms since they met Archer and engaged in battle.

Now, it could be figured out that Cu had some other method to get mana, judging by his survival without a master for so long, however that supply of mana quickly dried up midway into his battle against Archer.

However, now the cost of them not holding back using their Noble Phantasms were catching up to them. If even a single servant attempted to use their Noble Phantasm, then it would have some of the cost be directed back towards Shido. That cost, while he may be able to bear with it normally, was not possible for him.

After all, he already spent so much of his mana that he couldn't even use any of the spells inlaid in his mystic code.

While he may try to assume that Camael could save him, Shido frankly didn't believe it could. It could fix any life threatening injuries, but it can't simply fix his magic circuits running out of mana. If anything, it would be best for him to believe that attempting to do anything with his magic circuits besides just maintaining his servants would kill him.

"-Here then." Angra quietly said as he walked to Cu and casually patted his shoulder and caused confusion between Mash and Shido compared to Cu, who clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"This doesn't make us even, you bastard."

"Don't worry. You still have to pay me back a lot more, after all." Angra twisted Cu's words, stepping to stand infront of the entire group.

"But, the rejection of humanity? Sorry, but I don't quite handle rejection that well." Angra smugly grinned as Flauros glared at him, though Flauros' expression quickly changed to one of arrogance.

"Then, pray tell, how do you plan on stopping me?"

Angra didn't say anything, but he simply raised the corrupted Holy Grail he held in his hands. Shido recognized that the corrupted Grail had the exact same sense of wrongness and evil that he sensed in that strange shadow, which now that he noticed, wasn't in the sky anymore.

"Now, come on out to play! Help me out this time, me's!"

As he shouted that, various beings emerged from the ground, forming themselves out of the mud released by the corrupted Grail. They were the very same creatures Shido recalls they faced earlier, but the amount was completely different.

Back then, they faced enough for them to be a horde of enemies, but now it was like they were a whole army. All of them let out inaudible roars and moved so fast their figures were blurry to Shido's eyes. Meanwhile, the one that summoned them, Angra, had stood back and watched as the continuous supply of monsters ran towards Flauros.

They were all merely failed iterations of 'Angra Mainyu', ones that would normally be popping up like cockroaches if Saber hadn't suppressed them while she held onto the Grail. Since he needed them though, all Angra had to do was merely let them form as they naturally would, driven by their instincts due to lacking any proper mind.

Others may think of it as cruel, to send alternate versions of yourself to fight against an enemy you knew they could never beat, but Angra hardly cared. After all, they were just mindless beasts, not that he would actually care even if they were identical copies of his current self.

"You are truly less than I already thought you were if you believed this was enough to take me on." Flauros glared as he thrust his hand out, and bands of light surrounded the army of monsters, who tore each other apart just to get the slightest bit closer to him.

"Let me show you how out of your league I truly am." The bands of light glowed brighter and Shido could tell they were all going to die from Flauros' next attack. "-[Incernation Ritual: Flauros]"

Then, all of them burst apart, exploding and not even leaving behind any remains. It shocked Shido to see such a scene, as he doubted if they could defeat someone capable of doing something like that so easily.

"Now, take the chance you bastard."

Then, as if Angra's words were the signal, Cu appeared from the ground out of mud, the one standing next to Shido breaking apart into a pile of mud and dirt. His spear was coated in a crimson sheen, the air froze with the distinct sensation of death in the air and it was like everything was slowing down as he watched it. "Now, pierce the heart! Gae-"

Flauros jumped backwards launching himself out of range, or he would have, if he wasn't forced back down by what appeared to be a bunch of runes suspended in the air. He gnashed his teeth together in apparent rage and anger towards Cu trying to kill him. "[Incineration Rit–"

"-Bolg!"

Shido bore witness to it once again. Despite the fact that it should've been unnatural due to their distance from each other and the way Flauros was out of reach, the spear pierced through his heart in a movement he could only consider completely natural.

As if to ensure he wouldn't survive, flames sprouted from the ground and started burning Flauros, forming into a pillar of flames just as Cu jumped back to Shido's side, twirling his spear in his hands as he did so. Shido would normally consider that too much, but considering his true identity, Shido actually felt it wasn't enough.

Maybe Cu felt the same way, because not even a moment later, roots grew from the ground and sunk Flauros all the way into the ground. Sounds of enraged yelling was heard before water flooded the newly made hole, silencing them.

"Do you feel sad about that, master? That you had to kill again?" Angra asked teasingly, mocking Shido's sadness every time they had to kill an enemy. However - this time was different.

To Shido, Flauros was the same as Westcott, if not even worse. He had manipulated others for his own gain, attempting to appear as a kind individual, purposely killed others and hatched a plan to destroy all of humanity.

At least for Westcott, he had some semblance of morality and kindness judging by both Elliot's words about his death, and the way he had Ellen lose all memories about him upon his death. Not that he was even sure if that was done by Westcott or Ellen herself.

"No. This is one of the people I don't feel any regret that they died."

Angra's face went still in shock at the admission from his master, and seemed to start examining him all of a sudden. Even Mash looked a bit surprised by the admission, guessing that since he empathized with Archer and felt remorse for everyone else that it would be the same for Lev, Flauros or whoever he was.

"Are you sure you're the same irritating bastard? Did you get switched out or something, or did you just lose so much blood you're actually normal for once? Though, couldn't you have just died and let me rest if that was the case?"

Shido didn't have the energy to smack Angra, but it was clear from the glare he sent his way that if he could, he would've. Though, it seemed like Mash followed his line of thinking, as she used her free arm to chop Angra's head.

"Oi! What was that for!?" Angra yelled in indignation, but before Angra could inevitably say anything more, Cu smacked his head and sent the servant flying in the air.

"Ha..hahah..hahahaha!" Shido couldn't help himself from laughing at the scene, only stopping when he felt his lungs hurt from all the laughter. He laughed in relief everything was over, from the comedic view of Angra being smacked so hard he flew in the air and that there would be nothing unexpected happening agai-

"DO NOT COUNT ME OUT! I AM THE GREAT DEMON GOD PILLAR FLAUROS!"

The voice resonated through the air, and before they knew it, the ground split apart as a towering column of red flesh covered by cross-eyed pupils arose from the ground. It made Shido gulp in fear of what sort of monster Lev was.

Shido had no idea what a Demon God Pillar was in the slightest. It wasn't something Kotori mentioned nor had he even heard it from that damned Marshal, but he could tell just by looking at him that even if he had been in his best shape, he couldn't have beaten it.

However, that was only if he was by himself. He has people with him, people who are far stronger and more capable than Shido himself.

"Let's do this guys-"

Shido was cut off as everything around them seemed to shake, the ground beneath their feet, the mana and the very air itself.

"-Guys! The singularity can't hold itself much longer!" Romani screamed out as he quickly went towards utilizing the controls infront of him as fast as he possibly could.

"Doctor! Hurry up and rayshift us back, or at the very least save senpai!" Mash hurriedly told Romani, clearly scared about the possibility of not being Rayshifted in time, yet still holding the desire that even if she may not live, that Shido would.

"Hey kid, I think it's the end for me here."

Only after hearing that, did Shido turn his eyes to Cu and saw a sight that made his eyes widen. Cu's body was glowing a faint light, the same as the other servants did before they disappeared. He didn't seem shocked or surprised, rather, it was like he expected it to end like this to him since the start.

The ground beneath their feet started to fall apart, the cave starting to be destroyed by attacks launched by the eyes from the Flauros' new appearance.

"What do you mean?" Shido couldn't stop the tremor in his voice at the fact there may be someone else he might not ever see again.

"-We are initiating the Rayshift! Hold on you guys!" Romani's voice cut in, as the space they were in started to become unrecognizable.

"[Incineration-"

Shido grit his teeth, and using the only amount of strength he could gather, he gripped onto Cu as tightly as he could. Cu's eyes widened, and Shido felt Angra leaping onto him, using his blades to keep a hold of him by stabbing Shido's legs.

"There's no way I'm letting you stay here to die! You're coming with me!" Shido grinned triumphantly when he saw Cu smile his way. Though he wasn't able to feel relieved by it considering they aren't safe yet, he felt assured that Cu might just survive with them.

Bands of light surrounded the entire group, and Shido knew that they couldn't hope to escape in their current situation. Yet, he strangely wasn't that scared.

He should most likely be considering what happened to the monsters and what happened to them. Maybe it was a result of so many things happening in succession that Shido could barely register them properly, or could've been something else entirely. Shido had no idea, but he didn't have the time to ponder it at all.

"-Ritual: Flauros]!"

"Those bastards! I swear, I will make that boy pay! And not to mention that mere servant, attacking me like that..!"

"Is it not due to your negligence that such a thing happened? If you had attempted to use your true form since the start, you would've killed all of them with ease."

"Ahh.. I apologize for my failure, my liege. It was a mistake on my part, but I promise that they will not survive for long. They will pay for what they've done to me..!"

"It is not an issue. Though that boy.. maybe.. never mind. Do as instructed, and ensure that humanity shall all face incineration."

I was planning to release this chapter a bit later, but I got around to finishing the last EP of the new season and got motivated to finish this chapter. Also, as it may suggest, Flauros now has a grudge agaisnt Shido and his group, so look foward to him trying to mess with them as much as possible later on when they meet again.

Now, the next 2 - 3 chapters will not include much action, and focus on how they handle learning about everything alongside character interactions so I'm sorry if that's not really your favorite stuff to read. Anyways, see yall next time.