Not-yet-summer resort: Ending

Gawyn blinked.

No longer was he standing in the battlefield, he was now standing in a black expanse which stretched on for as far as the eye could see.

The back of his neck tingled, the feeling of something watching him.

He turned around and tensed himself, his posture remained as such only to loosen as he stared up at the figure standing behind him.

Short blonde hair, a shade equal to his own, piercing green eyes without an ounce of feeling within them. Just an icy cold gaze without a blink, their attire was different from his own and he could see the wisps of darkness clinging to their body, seeping through their armour and down into the expanse.

He knew who this was.

"...You're him, aren't you?" Gawyn swallowed, loosening his stance and staring into the eyes of the older man. "...You're me."

"No, I am not." The reply came swiftly and tinged with a sharp edge to it, emerald eyes burned for a brief instant before they dulled. "I am not you, just as you are not me. But we share a body, at least, so in that sense…we are joined to one another."

That sounded…

Gawyn wasn't sure how that sounded but it did not sound as though this was his grown up version.

He frowned. "I don't understand. If you aren't me, then who…?"

"It doesn't matter. Once this conversation is over - no, once this Singularity comes to an end - you won't need to worry about which of us is the real one."

"...Are you going to come back now?"

Their eyes turned from him, sweeping across into the distance for a short moment. A flicker of uncertainty before their eyes closed, a sigh escaped from the taller blonde. "I'm not sure. I was determined to do so in the instant that the barrier of Hanleth was torn down…yet the moment has finally arrived and looking at you makes me hesitant."

It did?

He frowned.

That didn't make sense to him, he stepped forwards. "For the sake of Master Ritsuka, you are the stronger of the two of us. You're older and have more experience, you should be the one to come forward."

It was the logical path.

The most experienced Servant - the most useful one - should be the one to be with Master Ritsuka.

They nodded their head. "Your words hold weight to them, rather, they are sensible. The complete willingness to throw away your own life so quickly for something like this is…But I believe that this would be called lip service."

Gawyn flinched as their eyes turned on him.

The gaze of Ash pierced through him like a spear.

"You don't want me to swap over."

"...What I want doesn't matter compared to the sake of duty-"

A click of the tongue, they turned their head. "This is why you disgust me. Even now you place your duty above all else and shackle me into becoming an accessory to your lifestyle. You vanish and then just dump the matter on another to deal with. Except I cannot truly blame you for that…You see no problem with your life."

This felt insulting.

No, their blatant disregard for the concept of their duty as a Servant.

His eyes narrowed and his lip pulled into a frown, he did not understand why they were becoming annoyed with this. Rather, it was not something that he would become annoyed with if their roles were reversed. He would have understood it well.

"You spoke of it earlier. I felt it pulse through your mind…Your urge to kill Alma."

Gawyn snapped his eyes down, his hands clenched into fists.

"...That was…a lapse…"

"...Are you so disgusted that you were on the verge of doing what you wanted?"

"I was going to lose myself to that anger." He snapped, eyes coming back up and glaring at Ash. "I was going to-if I could so easily cast aside my duty in a fit of rage, then I would not be worthy of the title of Servant! If I cannot maintain a clear head then-!"

Ash inclined their head, looking down at them with a slightly narrowed gaze. "...You still want to go and kill him, don't you?"

"...Does it matter?"

"...Maybe not to you." Ash exhaled, turning to face him and folding their arms. "To me? Well…I'm not sure. At the very least you weren't much of an eyesore for a few moments."

Gawyn almost recoiled at their words. "Why?! Because I was focused on killing him for my own selfish need!"

"Yes." They answered quickly, a twitch of their lip for the briefest moment before it evened out. "Though I don't care so much about the act as I care about the motivation. You wanted to kill him. For one single moment, it did not matter whether it was born of duty or not…nothing else mattered to you but killing them."

He did not understand this person.

They found that right to look upon?

His lips curled in disgust as he stared at them. "You find simple killing appealing?"

Another sigh escaped Ash. "That wasn't what I said. I never said I agreed with Alma or argued that he shouldn't die. Indeed, it is the best path forwards. His ideal and your own are not compatible. A clash is both inevitable and necessary. He will not abandon his thoughts, just as you will not."

"Then what…what is the issue at hand?"

"...You fought for yourself. I thought that was at least worth talking about."

They straightened themselves out, unfolding their arms. "I'll say it clearly. You are not the Gawyn I remember. So that makes you an improvement…Though there is still much I disagree with in regards to you."

Ash angled their head. "...Why do you want to kill Alma?"

Why?

"Is it obvious? He is-they are repugnant! An insult to everything mother-"

"Is that the only reason?" They asked, frowning. "Whatever happened to protecting smiles or whatever you boasted of?"

Gawyn clenched his jaw, his eyes lowered. "That is equally true…Alma's way of living is wrong. It is…The pain they would cause to those who live it, the brutality he boasts of. It is wrong and it is evil."

"And you don't like it…Alright."

He blinked, then raised his head. "What?"

"Until this Singularity is over, or until you die, I will not do anything. I will remain here until you try…I'm not like Mother. I'll let you play out your wish."

….What?

"No-that-you have to swap us back!" He snapped at them, taking a single step forwards and raising a hand to his chest. "You're the better Servant, you can deal with Alma and then go and help Master Ritsuka! The longer we are apart, the more danger he might be in!"

Ash hummed, then nodded his head. "You might be right…But Ritsuka did beat me, so I trust him to hold his own until the matter with you is settled."

Gawyn could not believe this.

"You-"

"I'm doing what I want."

Ash simply replied, gazing down at them across the tip of their nose.

"What I want is to see if you can actually achieve something this time around. Maybe it's because I found myself…No, I would not say it was amusing. But watching you struggle against Alma was cathartic. Perhaps a result of my existence as an Avenger."

Gawyn glared. "You-You are right…We are not the same at all."

"Hmmm. Maybe…but maybe we are."

They shrugged.

"We're both about to get the chance to do what we want, so who can say? I would tell you to try your best but…I refuse to lie to you. At least try and make yourself less unbearable when I think about it. Maybe that's my whole reason for going through with this, or maybe it's just to spite Mother by breaking her tool a little…Who can say?"

"...I do not like you."

"...The feeling remains mutual." They sighed as though his words were tiring to them, then moved their hand up and cupped their chin. "Still, if you're going to be wielding Anri's sword, I would rather you find a good reason to do that. Even in her anger, she still swung it with a better reason than you…or I."

A better reason to swing his sword-

A…better reason?

His anger faded away and his eyes lowered once more, thinning his lips ever so slightly.

He would not call it a better reason, but it remained a reason.

If there was one reason to stop Alma…it would be because-

If there was one saying that he felt the humans had coined that he approved of in this moment it would be 'over the moon' and it truly felt like that in the moment, between the look of pure murder from his little brother and right now, it was hard to decide which of the two was much better.

His legs kicked up, throwing his attacker off his chest before they could push their attack further, the scythe fell into his grasp and blurred, sweeping it around until the blade was looped around the back of their neck, he pulled backwards-

They ducked, the edge avoided them entirely and they even went as far as to flatten their ears. Turning around and glaring at him with pale yellow eyes before a mixture of a growl and a roar bubbled out of their sharp toothed maw and they threw themselves upon him like the wild beast they looked.

He turned the scythe, grasping it with both hands and putting it up between the two of them and looping it under their arms, flipping them over the top of his body.

They landed on their feet, then pushed off the ground and cracked the earth beneath them, he ducked and avoided the claws which would have torn out his throat, grinning from ear to ear as he twisted the scythe around and brought the head of the weapon to bare, they slashed along the flat of the blade.

Sparks flew where their attack met steel.

"I knew you were nothing more than a monster!"

He met the accusation with only a light scoff and blocked the neck attack with his forearm, jabbing them in the head and sweeping the back of the scythe around, the spikes which lined the nape of the weapon slammed into the shoulder of the woman.

They didn't so much as even blink at the attack.

Sweeping their leg forwards, the hoofed foot crashed into his thigh like a hammer, throwing his weight off balance for their uppercut to snap his head backwards, his eyes whited for a moment as he saw the flash of purple.

He pressed back, launching himself away and twisting the scythe around his body.

Light shattered as the arrows thrown his way were parried into the distance, he landed down and the barrage continued without fail. The woman snarled and unleashed yet another one, this time he caught sight of the recoil throwing her back as it rocketed towards him.

He ducked and sidestepped, not fast enough though.

The arrow tore through his right shoulder, a groove through his flesh and bone caused him to drop the scythe for a mere instant as he stumbled back, his right arm going limp in the process.

Atalanta pounced.

He took the scythe in his left hand and swung up the second she was close enough, she angled her head to the side and winced. He missed the killing blow but lopped off her left ear in the process, twisting his body and sweeping his leg up high, striking her in the sternum and throwing her back the way she came.

He stomped down, spinning the polearm between his fingers.

His laughter spilled out a moment later.

"I was wondering what sort of savagery might lay beneath you, if I had known all it took to bring it forth was to harm children, I would have killed them in droves just to catch a glimpse of it!"

Alma didn't get a verbal response.

Not with words at least.

Atalanta, now cloaked in blackened fur and dyed violet hair, unleashed a howl which was nothing more than pure aggression. She did not disguise her desire to kill him in the least, rather it was clear she was embracing it.

It went without saying that his Noble Phantasm was still active, the agony of that missing ear should have been eye watering, yet she didn't seem to even notice in the least. She must have been feeling it, but clearly she was just ignoring it.

It was marvellous.

She bounded forwards.

Wings split out from her back and launched her into the air with a single push, he tracked her lighting fast movements with some small difficulty, purple light danced across the bow before the arrows rained down upon him without hesitation, each one aimed at taking his life.

He skipped backwards, pressing and swinging where he could, diverting the arrows with his one arm and laughing all the while.

This was the most fun he had in years.

He'd need to thank Hanleth when he saw her, she really did give him the perfect little place.

…Ah, right, he killed her didn't he?

Oh well, he'd thank her memory.

He twisted through the air, narrowing his eyes as he realised that Gawyn wasn't where he had left him. That must have been what those thin little presences were, and that familiar feeling that had pulsed through the air. His lips pulled up into a faint grin.

He had thought he sensed her earlier.

No, it was not Caffrey, but it was certainly a Goddess.

Then who was-

Azure dropped from the sky above his head, the scythe blurred in his grasp and parried aside the falling stars. He frowned at the sudden offensive, then caught sight of something shooting through the sky right towards his face.

Gripping the scythe tight, he brought it up and held it in front of himself, the swirling ring of light slammed into his guard like a hammer, his legs dug down into the cobblestone to stop himself being bowled over, eyes narrowed slightly before he pushed back and launched the ring of light over his head and into the air.

It was only when it stopped spinning that he saw what it was.

A bow?

What the-

A distant crack like thunder, pain shot through his shoulder as blood exploded from the side of his body. He hissed between teeth and stumbled backwards, glancing to the hole that poked right the way through his body. A flash of instinct and he pressed off the ground, another crack and the spot where he had been standing exploded as something fast and small crashed into it.

Was this-?

Firearms. So that's what it was.

Then which group was attacking him now-

His eyes widened, he heard the crack of something heavy hitting the ground behind him. Whipping his head around and barely catching a shadow of the figure blotting out the sun before the hardened part of a rounded shield cracked against his jaw, something broke loose in his mouth and escaped from his jaw, accompanied by a spray of blood.

He lost his hold on the ground, twisting through the air for a brief second.

The snarling maw of Atalanta flashed through his mind, then her furred fist pounded into the front of his head, driving him down into the ground. Pain cracked through his shoulders as he hit the ground, it broke underneath him.

Their hands grasped him by the neck and pulled him from the ground, throwing him away from them and skipping across the ground.

He right himself, skidding through the ground and glancing up.

He stepped back, widening his eyes and watching the head of a spear shoot right over the top of his head. Swinging up, he clashed against the thrust and launched it away from him, catching a glimpse at his attacker and frowning at them. Not because of what they were wearing, but because of their general aura.

This wasn't a fighter in the least.

Rather, they weren't even anything like a proper kill.

It was like a mouse armed with a toothpick.

"Tch, pathetic-"

Pain slashed through the back of his legs, his weight dropped down as another distant crack of thunder heralded a painful impact into his ribs this time, blood spurted from the fresh hole as he stumbled away, kicking back and spinning through the air before he landed back to the ground, pressing his left hand against his wound while his right held his scythe once more.

A tiny white haired girl with fake bunny ears and wielding a large cutlass?

…Odd.

"Oh…weren't you that idol-?"

More flashes of light, he charged forwards and twisted the weapon, they pranged off the front of it and away from him, leaning back to avoid the second wave of purple arrows from Atalanta.

Thrusting his scythe down, he pole vaulted through the air, twisting himself into a spin with the blade facing outwards. He landed and struck down into the ground, splitting the glass horse which had appeared in front of the mousey woman in half. He pressed forwards, throwing both sides away.

Another spin, he landed a roundhouse kick onto the side of the bunny-eared girl, then leaned to the right as a bullet just skimmed past his cheek, drawing a line across his skin but nothing else.

His left hand surged forwards, grabbing the bunny eared girl by the face and slamming her into the ground, with a grunt he dragged her face across the stone and carved a groove into the floor with her features, completing a full spin and drawing a circle around himself.

Releasing her at the apex of it, he tossed the girl as far from himself as he could, then stepped back as a rather large axe struck the ground in front of him and cracked the earth.

Nothing.

There was no life from this hollow armour.

Which meant the link was-

His eyes switched around, then narrowed as they caught sight of the person who was the architect of this.

Jumping, Alma pressed his feet into the shoulder of the giant armour and springboarded off them. Launching himself through the air at the woman with the starlight clothes. He got close, then turned at the last moment as he finally caught sight of the Goddess who had been throwing arrows at him this whole time.

And she was literally throwing arrows, he had never seen someone loose a bow just by swinging it back and forth. What was disturbing was just how skilled her aim with that technique was, each of those shots would have killed him if they landed against his body. Kill shots, all of them.

He approved.

"I've got a bone to pick with you, bullying my follower like that!"

He didn't need much more to guess why they meant.

"I was just helping her expose her true feelings, if you've got a problem then you can-" He turned, spinning himself over and widening his lips into a smile. Atalanta dove right beneath him as a tackle, throwing herself with teeth bared and claws at the ready, his body turned around above her.

Then he swung down and drove a punch into the front of her face, hearing the satisfying crunch as his knuckles dug into her right eye and smashed her head into the ground, bouncing her up.

He touched the ground, grabbed her by the ankle and then hurled her right back the way she had come, briefly catching sight of her striking the metal armour and then bouncing over the top of them with an echoing thud.

As expected, the rain of arrows soon fell upon him.

He moved as fast as he could, weaving between them and avoiding the charging suit of armour. Eventually he stopped and slid around, throwing himself forwards and sweeping his scythe above, hooking the blade around the leg of Berserker as they charged forwards, pulling upwards and sending the Servant into a clumsy fall.

Alma charged the woman, the human master would be next-

"Ha!"

A blade crashed into his guard, he stepped backwards and chuckled as he saw the attacker pushing down with all their might.

Gawyn glared back at him.

"Back so soon!" He punctuated the remark by driving his foot into their gut, sliding them away from him and twisting the scythe over, catching Atalanta with a swipe to the throat, spinning her around and driving her down into the ground.

He whirled, kicking her in the side of the head and sending her body ragdolling through the rubble.

A skip and he was slamming his weapon into Gawyn's own.

"I'd be disappointed if you weren't taken out!"

There was something amiss in their gaze.

It still shone with a singular drive and yet there was something off. It lacked the same murderous drive as before.

Alma frowned, then grunted, shunting them back and sweeping the scythe across over their head, a ducking movement brought Gawyn low as they thrust for his foot. He rolled forwards and over the top of them, thrusting his polearm back and driving the butt of the weapon into the nape of his brother.

Clasping it with both hands, he swung around and aimed for their neck.

It struck steel and advanced no further.

Gawyn met his eyes with a calm gaze.

Several different presences flared around him, closing in from all sides.

Alma turned his head left and right and grit his teeth as he watched Servants charge in from all across, dozens of them of varying classes and capabilities. He knew, here and now, that he would die. It was only a question of which Servant would be the one to land the blow upon him.

Still, that was no reason to retreat.

This was just how things went.

But until the very end, he would struggle and claw with all his might-

"Heard you were the bastard responsible for this!" The roar from the distance, he turned and brought his scythe over himself like a shield, skating backwards as a broad sword crashed into the flat of his blade like a missile.

He turned and widened his eyes.

The owner came flying in, silver armour coupled with red accents and a pair of horns, their leg swung forwards in a flying kick and hammer the sword further into his guard, shunting him over into a roll and quickly pressing off the ground to avoid the follow up punch.

A flash of white, then an armoured boot caught him in the face, throwing him backwards and just barely catching a glimpse of the spear wielder in bleached white armour.

Alma flipped himself over, throwing his scythe into the ground like an anchor and looping himself into one spot, spitting blood out from his mouth along with several teeth. He jumped forwards, backhanding Atalanta away from him and thrusting the base of his polearm to the side, catching the bunny-eared girl in the temple.

He pressed forwards, flipping through the air and swinging down. The spear wielder caught his attack off their shoulder armour and twisted themselves around, throwing a punch at his face which narrowly avoided missing him, though the power behind the punch still blew apart the ground behind them.

"Think you can ignore me, hah!?"

The same boisterous voice, he pressed off the knee of the knight and flipped himself back through the air, watching the broadsword cleave through the space in front of his features before he landed down.

With a crackle of red light, the horned attacker twisted around fast as lightning and swung at him, just barely able to bring his guard up as the blade smashed into the polearm and bowled him over, Alma bounced several times before catching himself.

Rising up only to be tackled to the ground by Atalanta, he pressed his knees into her gut and flipped her over his head before she could start tearing away into his body. He rolled with her, reversing their positions and bringing a hand up to deliver a punch.

A kick to the head that felt more like a warhammer drove him face first into the ground, his world turned white with pain as he remained dazed for a moment, scrambling forwards and climbing out of the hole, turning around.

A rounded shield larger than his torso shattered his ribs, he folded over it as the air escaped his lungs and surged from his mouth along with a spray of blood, he was driven back into the earth like a nail, crunching solid rock with his body.

Despite all the pain and all the agony he was suffering, he could hardly say he wasn't satisfied.

Pressing his hands above his head, he willed strength through his body and pushed himself into a flip, throwing himself back before the large axe could cleave him in two. The moment his feet hit the ground he was skipping once more, dancing between blows and playing the part of a frantic mammal trying to escape.

"There!"

A light voice, he turned and gasped as pain lanced through the side of his body, he wasn't long in responding, grabbing the arm of the person who drove the sword through his gut - a blonde girl in a white dress and silver armour - and dragging them forwards, delivering several knees to the gut and then a backhand across their temple followed by a forehand from the other side.

It was enough to daze them, further so when he pulled himself free and twisted around, sweeping their legs from beneath them and catching the back of their hair with his fist. Wrapping his fingers tight and turning back around.

With the feeling of a maniac smile on his lips, he swung the girl like a club and smashed them right into the face of the horned knight, throwing both of them far from him, though the move left him open to the spear wielder, he proceeded to shoulder barge him while driving that spear through his right arm.

They yanked upwards, tearing the limb away from his body.

It hurt like nothing he had ever experienced before in his life.

But it was incredible to see that look of silent fury on the face of the white haired man.

He punched them in the cheek.

They didn't even flinch, just maintained their glare as they swung the spear back across and this time aimed for his neck. Alma ducked down, avoiding the strike and kicking back against their knee, throwing themselves into a roll before shooting off into another animalistic dash, cackling to himself all the while.

The white haired Master.

Where had she gone-?

"There you are!"

He shot forwards-

And was promptly clotheslined by a spear to the throat, flipping underneath the attack and striking the ground, rolling well past his target as his neck closed up. Gasping and sputtering, he whipped around and hissed as the same grey spear drove itself through his knee and then planted him into the ground.

He glared, the same white haired woman from earlier who lacked any sort of killer instinct.

Movement in the corner of his eye made his lip twitch, he did the unexpected and stepped forwards, his left hand grabbed the woman by the shoulder and then yanked her before she could balance herself, with a push he threw her in the path of the blue arrows, each one of them slammed into the woman and sent her careening past him.

"Marie!"

Much to the shock and surprise of the human woman.

Affection, was it?

His lips peeled into a bloody smile, grasping the spear and ripping it from his leg, flipping it around in his grasp and then hurling it forwards like a javelin.

It was parried from the air by-

…A microphone? What-?

"Hey! No killing my competition until I beat them first!"

Alma stared at the crossbreed girl in a frilled dress in utter stupification.

Where had she come from?

Suddenly the girl grew wings from her back and threw herself at him, with his leg crippled as it was, he made it barely half a step before she smashed into his side, driving the makeshift spear into his ribs and then pulling it free withways. Blood splattered to the ground as she took half his sternum with her.

He threw a punch back at her head, she ducked down and avoided it, then slashed across his unwounded leg and sent him careening forwards, her tail whipped around his feet like a noose and yanked backwards, flipping him back and soon he found himself facing the sky.

No.

Not yet.

Not until-!

He let out a roar, light exploded from his body as Emit Force tore asunder the ground he snapped his gaze up and threw himself forwards-

Then blanched as he noticed the dragon girl hadn't even taken a single step back, his surprise left her smash the spear against his cheek, he felt more teeth fly from his jaw as he stumbled away from her, flipping around and then staring not at the dragon girl, but instead at the soles of a pair of silver boots.

His eyes trailed up and he found himself staring at the face of the horned knight, their helmet receding and showing off a youthful blond face and eyes burning with rage.

Their kick smashed into the front of his face a moment later, he flew for seconds before he finally made a painful interaction with the ground, crashing through several pillars of rubble and bending a steel bar behind him.

A cough ejected more blood from his body, his vision was dazed and his face was numb.

He could already feel his body breaking down.

But he still had some strength left.

His scythe returned to his grasp, he pressed it into the ground and levied himself up on it, grunting as he staggered forwards.

His eyes rose up, staring at the array of Servants before him, all of whom were just waiting for him to make a move.

"You will always lose, Alma."

A voice cut through the noise, his eyes turned to the form of Gawyn as he marched forwards, sword in hand and scowl on his lips.

"You, who care for nothing but destruction, who focus on nothing but the pain that can be inflicted upon the masses with no consideration for the people who suffer."

Gawyn raised their sword, pointing it towards him.

"None of the victories you have claimed have ever lasted long. You care for nothing but yourself, and none care for you."

Stepping forwards, Gawyn clasped the sword with both hands and angled their body.

Alma watched him silently, then let out a small noise of amusement. "You say that brother…but look how desperate they all are to kill me-"

"No." Gawyn declared. "It is not about killing you. It is about fighting evil in whatever form it takes. Here and now, I shall end your evil."

Alma narrowed his eyes slightly, for the briefest of moments, the sword in the hands of Gawyn glowed an ethereal blue.

But that was neither here nor there.

Alma stepped forwards and took in a deep breath, placing his weight on his scythe and smiling lightly. "...We'll see about that."

He could use his second Noble Phantasm right now if he wanted to, it would be a simple thing to enact right at this moment…yet…where would the reward be for something like that?

It wasn't as if he cared for fair combat…but he wanted to see what his brother would look like when they plunged that sword into his chest.

He pressed off the ground and accelerated towards them.

Gawyn charged forwards, moving with only a single step and coiling their sword back, the blade burned brighter and brighter until the steel was hidden beneath a cloak of sky blue light.

…It was oddly captivating.

He swung down at them at the same time Gawyn thrust forwards.

Their sword met his scythe, metal screeched and shattered, the sword powered through as Alma's weapon disintegrated beneath it. The sky blue blade continued on its path, driving itself through his heart and out the back, Gawyn's body slammed into his own and carried them both backwards, his back crashed into the metal once more and bent it further.

Blood choked out from between his lips.

Alma stared down at the certainly fatal wound, then towards Gawyn as they held their place.

"...It's over. Alma."

"...So it is, Gawyn." His head leaned back and his eyes closed. "...I'm glad I got you to have a little fire in your eyes."

"It was not worth it."

Alma let out a small noise as he shook his head from side to side, even after all this time, did they really not understand?

"Hey, Ash…what was it like to watch yourself fight for a goal you chose to believe in?"

He got no answer, instead Gawyn tore the sword from his chest, the only thing that kept him upright. Sliding down against the wall until he lay upon the ground, Alma stared up into the eyes of the blonde and smiled. "I bet it was fun…wasn't it?"

The green eyes peered back at him for a few moments, then dust slowly peeled away from their body. Gawyn brought up their hand and stared at it for a couple of seconds before he clenched his fist, closing his eyes. "Both you and him are the same type of evil."

"Well…we are brothers, aren't we? Good luck little bro…I hope you kill plenty of demons…"

Gawyn looked at him in disgust, it was the final sight he had before their body faded away.

The shockwave slammed into his back, stumbling him forwards as he turned himself around and glanced to the distance.

A pillar of light stretched high into the clouds, piercing through them as though it were a tower to the stars themselves.

All he could do was stare in complete and utter bewilderment as to whatever that attack was, it certainly wasn't anything else that he was familiar with, leaving him with the conclusion that it had been the deployment of someone's Noble Phantasm.

But whose?

Shrieks cut through his thoughts, banishing them away as he turned and flung himself forwards into cover.

A bellowing war cry from Mash was followed by the sound of metal grinding against metal, then a heavy crunching sound and the tearing noise like tinfoiled put through a speaker. He watched as the shielder swung with such force that the arm of the golem was wrenched clean from its body, scattering across the ground in a shower of debris.

Light flashed and struck the chest of the metal creation, the golden arrow punched a hole clean through its torso and staggered it backwards, the flames billowed out from the gaping hole in its chest.

A sputtering noise escaped it, black smog belched from the eyeports and then it slumped backwards, dropping to the ground with a hefty crunch.

Progress, if it could truly be called that, was slow.

Between the pillars of root bursting from the ground right in the middle of battle without warning, demons dropping down from them like apples from a free and the golems which were now fighting against them, they'd barely made it halfway to the location that Romani had said the signal was coming from.

And that was with the support of whatever Servants had happened upon their battle and lent their aid unto them, those he knew of and those he had never met before in his life.

Ritsuka threw himself forwards, he grimaced at the dragging sensation along his back as he slipped down an incline of rubble, shunting his body and launching him into a roll, he grunted as his shoulder slammed into another piece of upturned rock and stopped him, poking his head up and narrowing his gaze at the field.

"Focus on the Demons coming from the north-"

A cloud formed right above the location he indicated, Ritsuka had only a second to watch the rumbling darkness before streaks of light dropped from it without end, shooting to the earth like raindrops.

Yet they clearly were not, as indicated when the demons cried out and dove out of the way, yet the storm cloud split itself apart and gave chase to those who attempted to escape, relentlessly pursuing them and droppings arrows into their body in the hundreds, until they were needled to such and extent that there was barely a patch of skin exposed on them.

Even when they dropped down, the rain continued for a good few seconds longer than necessary before it faded away.

That alone would have been overkill.

The sweeping inferno which rolled in immediately afterwards, washing over the corpses and leaving only dust in its wake, had him lean back with shock.

It was barely a second later that something grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him backwards, a gasp escaped him as he was flipped around and pulled away from the boulder and up, seconds later he found himself under the piercing golden eyes of one rather concerned looking Gwyndolin, naturally still in the swimsuit.

"Charging Demons? I thought of you with more sense!" They snapped at him, pulling his arms up and looking over every inch of him, even going so far as to grab him by the head and turn it to the side, like they were fretting over a dropped cup, looking for even the slightest indication of a scratch.

Ritsuka barely got the chance to say anything more before a second presence slammed into him, he managed to glance down, revealing the teal coloured hair of Kiyohime doing much the same, looking over the marks on his shirt for a few moments with an intense glare, patting the dust down from him before she looked up.

A rather pointed glare in her eyes, one of concern and frustration.

"You should be more careful in future, Anchin-sama! But don't worry." With a flourish, she moved back and clipped her fan up closed and smiled rather gently, "I shall be here to ensure you remain safe from now on. None of these things will score so much as a scratch on your face."

Ritsuka was only slightly comforted to hear that, though he was still in something of a daze at their intensity.

He opened his mouth to speak-

Gwyndolin clicked their tongue, looked off to the side and manifested a bow in their grasp. He barely saw their arms move, only the flicker of light across the string of the bow and then arrows hurled themselves from the weapon at incredible speeds.

With a rate of fire equal to some manner of firearm, Gwyndolin unleashed the barrage with such accuracy that he nailed several demons within the span of a single instant.

"Like flies, these cretins." Those rather disdainful words were followed by Gwyndolin rising up, their snakes looping through the rubble and carrying them up until they reached the summit. They called down a moment later. "I spy the source of the incursion, the northeast is where I sense these pests emerge. Concentrate our efforts to that location."

A rush of wind, Ritsuka brought up his arms and lowered them from the cloud of dust which virtually appeared right next to him, revealing Medusa stood near him with her spikes at the ready, briefly turning her head down to face him before turning it away. "Shall we move on that location then, Master?"

He paused for a moment, then nodded his head, sweeping an arm behind him and waving for the others to join up with him.

"Romani? What's it looking-"

"More coming in by the minute." Romani explained without waiting for him to finish. "Right now we're looking at nearly a hundred, and that's without including the golems which have been turned into dangers as well."

Ritsuka grimaced, sparing a look towards Mash before he turned back to the man. "How bad?"

"You're going to have to fight your way through the entire thing and with the number of enemies growing by the moment, there's no telling how long it could go on for."

Mash brought her shield up and readied herself, turning to him with a determined gaze. "Ready, Senpai."

He nodded back. "Let's move!"

With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps being the first one to rush over the cover wasn't the best idea. Though that was hardly to say that he wasn't well protected, but it was barely in the same breath that he vaulted the rubble that his eyes fell upon the rather large, heavily muscled, red skinned monster with the head of some skeletal bull.

In its arms it held an axe which was nearly the size of a bus, piercing red eyes glared down at him as it brought the axe down towards him, roaring all the while.

Ritsuka froze up as he stared at it-

A blurring mass charged into the demon and caught it in a tackle, Ritsuka had a half second to spot that it was Heracles who attacked the beast before the two of them vanished into the distance, with only the distant thundering of Heracles footsteps being the only indication of what happened.

He remained there for a couple seconds.

A whistle flew over their head, he ducked down at the explosion and the wave of heat that washed over him.

"I think we should do what Gawain does in these situations!" Ritsuka trailed his eyes to Gareth, the Lancer smiled rather broadly as she cocked her spear back and forth, the weapon hummed and glowed blue. "Brute force!"

…That sounded like a plan Ash would come up with.

Well…Might as well.

"I will render aid as I can." Gwyndolin's voice echoed above him, in the next few seconds the air around them shimmered, the gold plated giants armed with halberds fizzled into existence, they marched in step and mounted over the top of the rubble and assumed ready positions, clanking all the while they moved, otherwise silent.

"Stay with me, Anchin-sama." Kiyohime pulled him closer to them, "I'll keep you safe."

"Thanks." He replied with a nod, then moved forwards and peered up, this time he didn't get ambushed as he climbed. Eyes narrow and jaw clenched, he looked straight ahead to the door which led to the prison they had been in.

"Pharros, you said Berserker would still be alive?"

"The city is his Noble Phantasm." The Caster replied quickly, stepping around him and to the front. "If he died, then it would have vanished. The control over the golems is concerning, as is their relation to Chaos…he's probably been taken over or corrupted by the flame…"

In which case, they were now a prisoner to them.

He'd need to see if there was anything they could do, hopefully defeating the demon would stop them but if nothing else, then at last he knew that defeating the Berserker would cause the city around them to vanish and - with them still on it - that would be a fairly bad thing to end up happening.

Stepping forwards, he slipped down the rubble and onto his feet once more, the others flocked down to join him before they rushed forwards, right into the mess of demons and golems alike.

Her feet carried her forwards like the wind, bounding over the rubbles and flames that surrounded her.

Her arm swept out, the sword glistened in sunlight, whistled as it glided through the air.

Red splashed over her body, limbs fell with each swing of the sword.

She thrust her arms out next, light flashed along her limbs, skin peeled and revealed golden scale, her fingers sharpened into claw and buried themselves to the knuckle in flesh, she tore and twisted, ripping bone and flesh from whatever stepped before her.

A goat demon turned, their jaws opened wide and roared-

Her hands clamped down on the upper and lawyer jaw, she yanked and pulled the top of the head clean from the body, her fingers buried themselves into the chest and heaved with all her might, hurling the corpse through the air and moving to the next.

The sword flashed in her grasp, as nothing more than a streak of light as it fell upon the next pale skinned bat, the two halves of the body dropped then hurtled through the air, swept up in the wind that trailed behind her as she moved.

A push off the ground.

Her body angled itself feet first, the skull of the lipless demon caved inwards as she struck it, the head snapped backwards with a cracking sound and twisted about, the green behemoth dropped to the ground, mush where the head had been as she pressed it into the ground and springboarded into the air.

A swipe with her claws, the next head vanished in a spray of mist.

Red sprayed through the air, warmth splashed over her face, she moved past the mist and further onwards, she didn't care which direction she moved in.

She just moved where she saw the next demon, where her scent took in the next monster.

A twist through the air, her shin crashed into the helm of the golem, metal cracked inwards, splitting apart like clay, sending sparks where the shards bounced off the ground, the moment she landed she pressed forwards.

Swiping upwards, claws tore through plate steel like wet paper, the body was pulled apart at the joint and she pushed through.

Scales formed over her body, her eyes narrowed into slits and pulsed with energy.

The bat demon froze in the air, she kicked off the ground and battered through the body, it split apart over her, teeth bared to the world as she struck the ground in a roll, throwing herself upright and flinging herself forwards.

Her thumbs pressed into the glowing red orbs of the demon, the howl of agony ruptured the air as it swept up. She pulled her arms free of it, throwing her weight to the side and gripping the right horn that grew from the head, she swung with it and pulled to the side, bone snapped as she tore the protrusion from the skull.

Her hands clenched around, swinging it down with both hands, driving it through the top of the skull.

The demon went limp, collapsing like a puppet.

She pushed it further down as she pressed into the air, her eyes swept about for the next target.

Movement in the corner of her eye, a demon flew at her with a boney spear clenched in its hands-

Magenta light speared through its chest, knocking it from the sky.

She hit the ground with a crunch, turning herself about to the source of the attack and she paused.

A tall figure in white robes, wings like twigs jutted from their back as they stepped forwards, a large sword burned with brilliant orange flames in their right hand, their left held a smaller sword with a purple light clinging to its silver skin.

With skin like wood and a face covered in roots, the figure came to a stop and raised a brow with a faint creaking sound.

"...If the slaughter of demons interests you, then I would recommend keeping pace with me."

They turned about face and marched forwards, their arms weaving back and forth as they blurred forwards, dancing from demon to demon with each attack requiring only a single swing of the sword, cutting and slicing as they moved.

She darted forwards, punching her claws through the chest of the grey skinned demon, right through the back of their body and pulling her hand free with a spray of blood, the sword cleaved in the space above her head, removing the demon's own with a flash of light.

The dual wielder swung forwards, thrusting the burning sword into the ground and unleashing rivers of fire across the ground, they raced forwards and sought out the legs of the demons, fire crept up their limbs and scorched them black.

She threw herself into their wounded states, hacking and slashing until all that remained was a pile of gore.

"Messy." The dual wielder commented in the aftermath, then offered a grunt which sounded almost impressed. "But thorough. Good."

She offered but a single blink towards them, raising a brow a second later before she grunted back in response. "They might regenerate. The smaller the pieces, the better."

They made a small noise, twisting their body and sweeping down from the shoulder to the waist the two halves of the demon slid and dropped to the ground with a splat. A moment later, their burning sword was raised and breathed fire upon the corpse until it was but a smoking lump on the ground.

"As you say. Now then." Clearing their throat, the figure moved once more, sweeping through the air and cutting a demon from the sky as they did so. "The less time I spend in the company of these creatures, the better. My patience for demons runs thin."

They turned as a demon dropped from the sky, thrusting a spear towards them.

A sword pierced through the chest of the beast, pulled upwards and split them vertically.

She turned back to the Servant, sweeping the sword to the side and flicking it clean.

There were no coherent thoughts to be found in the mind as the body trudged forwards.

What thoughts that emerged were rabid and without focus, a chaotic spree as the world around the marching suit of burning armour transformed, the caves and rocks dripped as heat turned them to liquid.

The walls of liquid fire bubbled and shifted as forms pulled themselves free of the burning embrace, screeching and clawing their way to the surface before they stumbled forwards without concern for the heat.

Bodies of twisted flesh and bone, combinations of the two and elongated limbs.

All manner of creatures clawed their way from the chaos and charged forth without restraint, the only intention flooding across their minds was to destroy and kill whatever was in their path. Only then would they move on to what was important, to what came next.

Metallic groaning echoed from the body, the armour slowed and the hands moved up, clasping at the front of the helmet and dragging fingers across the plate metal, clawing their way into the steel and producing a grinding screech matched only by the inflamed vocal cords of the form.

If there was anything left of Berserker, it had long been overshadowed by the Chaos that took root in their chest.

If the Chaos Flame had been the heart of the city of Izalith, then the Noble Phantasm of Berserker had always been a weakness. For the Demon King to carry a shard of the Chaos flame in their staff at all times meant the heart was always present.

In effect, they were the utterly worst individuals to be kept imprisoned within the heart of Berserker's Noble Phantasm.

Had they been granted more information at the time, Berserker would have understood and immediately destroyed the Demon King before the chaos could take root in their body. However, they had remained ignorant to the danger until it was much too late.

Those were the only thoughts that managed to pass through their mind before it was twisted further by Chaos itself, not even the monsters being born of the fires that surrounded them understood the mentality of their creator, only that they were born to spread that chaos wherever it could reach, for that was their lifeline.

They existed within that Chaos, thus the only logical goal was the spread the Chaos as far and as fast as they could.

"So this is where you were."

Light exploded at the end of the tunnel, flashes of fluorescent blue mingled with splats of red and the hiss of flesh against heat.

Berserker stopped walking as the bodies of the demons that moved ahead of them fell to the ground as bloody ribbons. The eyes behind the helm narrowed as the shadow at the end of the tunnel, the footsteps came next, slow and steady, there was no scent in the air to betray fear, nor did the voice carry any trace of anxiety.

It was cold.

Uncaring.

No.

Inconvenienced.

"I doubt Gwyn would truly be needed here personally, but his fear is irrational. Honestly, to think that Ritsuka and the others might have perished because of something as feeble as you."

The voice continued on, they passed from shadow and into light.

Snow white hair, golden eyes of slitted pupils.

A face so familiar and yet so different, a face known to Berserker but not with that expression.

Not with those eyes.

"No matter." The speaker announced, folding their arms behind their back and regarding them with detached interest. Dismissive eyes flickered across their body as motes of blue formed around their shoulders.

A single flash, Berserker stumbled backwards from the impacts across their chest, only they remained standing.

The demons that had risen up beside them were shredded into a fine mist within an instant, the lava was soaked with their blood, hissing and spitting as the brief obscuring wave was burned away and light flooded through in a moment, the dim glow of the white haired attackers eyes was the only sign of something being amiss with their expression.

"Oh, I see. The Shard of a Holy Grail."

They sighed.

"Fujimaru tasks me something fierce, this day. To think I would need to use up so much strength for him…Well, no matter. I was planning on putting you down anyway."

Berserker growled, their body snapped forwards as the wounds that littered their chest burst with fire, the skin knitted itself closed, the cracks and gaps in the plate erupted with rivers of searing orange. Dripping to the ground as they started to walk forwards, the root boney extensions jutting from their back cracked as they moved, scraping along the walls of the cave.

The white haired boy sighed.

Azure light formed near their body, raising a single brow at Berserker. "Try not to trouble me too much. I had to put some rather important work on hold to come here."

Berserker charged.

Ritsuka slid to a halt, Mash swung out in front of him and parried the blow aside.

Gareth charged forwards, slamming into the body of the Demon and throwing it into the ground, spear piercing through its chest and exploding in a shower of fluorescent sky blue and lumps of flesh.

A demon moved to take advantage of Gareth, a spike blurred through the air and pierced the side of its head, it slumped and was jerked away, Ritsuka tracked it until a sword of glowing gold cleaved right through the middle of it and dropped two halves to the ground.

Boudica kicked forwards, driving her knee through bone and shattering the jaw of the next demon she laid eyes on, the head snapped back and the body soared through the air, flipping away into the distance.

Orbs of fire struck it down, the burning husk fell to the ground a second later.

Ritsuka moved forwards through it all, his pace steady as he kept behind Mash as best he could, then stopped and pointed up into the sky. "Gwyndolin, fliers incoming!"

The warning earned a shout of affirmation, yet it was not arrows that soared through the sky.

Instead, he heard the voice of another individual.

"I'll handle this, brother." He turned around, then blinked as Berserker stepped forward with a pair of wings jutting from their back. "I was sent on ahead to helm you, others will be coming soon!"

He heard the boom of Berserker launching themselves into the air, he saw the flash of movement and the displacement of their rapid ascension. Then the crack of the sound barrier shattering ruptured the air, and the group of flying demons were separated in the wake of the explosion.

A single second, Berserker appeared in the sky.

Their body was aflame with yellow and black flames, then they twisted themselves around with such speed that they sucked air towards them, becoming a glowing orb of fire which pulled the demons into the surface within the same second.

Ritsuka eyes were pulled down, Torin hurled themselves forwards, burying the double headed axe into the skull of a victim, throwing them to the side and slamming their hand into the ground, roots burst from the earth and wrapped around the limbs of the demons, tangling them up and halting their movements.

The statues of Pharros jutted up, a firing squad lined up and pelted the trapped demons with orb after orb of green slime, each impact earning a hiss of pain from the demons until they were silenced by a flash of light sweeping in from the side.

Boudica had unleashed a crescent of gold from the tip of her sword.

Despite all that, Ritsuka knew they were still making slow progress.

Ground churned, a deep rumble shook through his very bones.

The earth split open, a dozen roots looped around one another like so many serpents and burst through the buildings around them, debris showered down from the sky, thudding with deep metallic cracks against the shield of Mash, those that were not reduced to dust by the flames of Kiyohime before they could even reach him.

Ritsuka slipped behind Mash,he was feeling a little hot under the collar as well, he'd noticed that the further they pushed, the greater the heat had become.

Like walking into a sauna, he wiped a hand across his brow and grimaced as he watched his sweat hit the ground and sizzle.

To say nothing of what he assumed the soles of the directors feet were like, given that she was still barefoot.

"Step aside if you do not wish to become kindling, humans."

The dominating voice brought him up short, he turned his head to the speaker and blinked as a man in royal red robes strode past him, flanked at the side by the unmistakable form of Salaman, who actually nodded their head in greeting.

"Myself and the acolyte of Izalith shall clear away this stain on her legacy."

The God Flann declared without even looking at him, sweeping up an arm, the sleeve dropped down to the elbow, flames crept up their skin until they fell into place around their palm and their fist clenched shut, fire burst from the gaps like jets before aiming it straight ahead.

A terrible screech cut through the air, then the palm opened up.

Ritsuka saw a flash of light streak through the sky like a meteor, the ball of flames surged forwards right into the midst.

He closed his eyes, missing the impact and bringing his hand up.

Mash slammed her shield down, he could only tell because of the echoing crunch of metal in stone, and then the impact slammed into him, feeling it pulse through his body punch to the gut, his ears ringing as he blinked sight back into his eyes. Sweeping his head around until he stared right down to where the God had aimed.

It was a sea of flames, burning figures shambled around and cried out before they dropped down to the ground and writhed.

"I trust this will suffice for fuel, acolyte."

The calm words of the God followed, Flann stepped back as Salaman moved forwards.

Ritsuka saw a flicker of grief and disappointment across their face before they exhaled, resignation followed.

"I truly wish it had not come to this, but I know how much you demons respect strength…So I will have to deal with it."

The fur cloaked man brought their arms up.

The sea of flames twisted and rippled, lapping away as though caught in a breeze, Salaman weaved their arms back and forth, fire dancing across their fingers as they drew them in circles.

Flames rolled across the ground and climbed into the sky, spinning and conjoining as they rolled faster and faster until they formed the unmistakable shape of a sphere, burning bright like a second son hovering in the sky. Even when the last of the flames had been drunk into the orb, it continued to spin around.

"The moment of ignition is here."

Demons and golems alike shambled to form some manner of defence, but Ritsuka could tell it was already too late.

"I am the one who masters the fire of life."

Salaman's voice turned sombre.

"Embrace these flames and let this end be swift."

They clapped their hands forwards.

"Magnus Ignis Sphaera."

The orb shot forwards, accelerating like a cannonball right into the midsts of the demons.

It struck and then exploded, shattering everything into a muffled ringing and unleashing the stolen fires with a force a hundred times stronger, the bricks turned to molten sludge and were hurtled high into the sky, a shockwave of orange tinged light flung itself outwards and slammed into him like the open door of a furnace.

Ritsuka stumbled backwards, rivers of liquid stone flowed outwards, towers set aflame came crashing down to the ground and ignited the dust in the air, a vortex of flames rose up in the aftermath and stretched high into the sky before it faded away.

He could do nothing but stare at the devastation, certain that nothing had survived.

It was proven true.

When the smoke settled and the raining embers abated, it revealed nothing but smouldering ruins and a large black crater where the entrance to the prison had once been, glowing bright white with the heat, the sludge which had once been the walls slipped around the open entrance.

Salaman's exhale snapped him from his awe and to the Servant once more, the man turned away and shook their head from side to side.

"...I really wish I didn't need to do that."

Flann scoffed. "Your mercy is wasted on creatures that understand only violence."

Salaman kept silent for a brief second, then replied in a quiet tone. "...They understand much more than that…" their eyes flickered to him, they jerked their head in the direction of the ruin. "I've cleared the way for you…and that'll be the extent of all I can do."

Ritsuka opened his mouth to say something, then paused as he watched the Servant turn translucent, motes of light peeling away from their body. A thin smile on their lips which seemed rather unconcerned, or perhaps it would be a look of acceptance.

"I don't have a Master and honestly…" Their eyes flickered down to the ground. "...I'd rather not stick around after doing something like that."

What could he say?

It wasn't as though he didn't get it, Salaman seemed to look at the demons as being something more, where few others did.

"...I'm sorry."

The Caster jerked upwards, then smiled at him. "You really are, huh? Just…they're more than this. Try and remember that…please."

He was gone before Ritsuka could offer a reply to them, the last remnants of their body cast into the wind.

His eyes lingered on the area they had been for only a moment, an exhale escaped him as he turned his head back to the field before him, the lake of burning which bubbled and spat at him.

Tremors shook through the ground, Ritsuka narrowed his eyes.

They got stronger and stronger, louder and louder as the seconds ticked by.

He tensed himself, readying for the attack that was bound to come.

It was instant.

His eyes shot wide, he kicked back off the ground and watched the world spin in slow motion, the explosion barely grew from the entrance to the dungeon as the shape threw itself from the depths and right into the sunlight.

The hammer dragged itself through the river of lava, sweeping the molten liquid right towards him, it splashed over the shield of Mash and splattered against the ground either side of him, never touching him but he recoiled all the same from the heat alone.

An earth shuddering impact came next, rippling around him as he beheld the sight of the demon from earlier.

Hammer gripped in its hand, the head of the weapon slammed clean into the guard of Flann, their arms raised and brought to shield themselves. A cracking sound tore through the air, the expression on the face of the redhead twisted into a grimace of pain before they vanished, swept into the air with the blow.

Air surged right through him, his body shuddered.

"A contest of will. As I expected. As I said. You, like the others, will fight to kill."

Ritsuka caught himself, bracing his feet against the ground and shouting right back. "Don't turn this around on me! If you'd just told me from the start what you were after, then I would have heard you out! All this cryptic and ominous stuff wasn't needed!"

He thrust a finger forwards, pointing to the face of the Demon. "All I wanted was some answers, that was it! You just needed to tell me what the problem was and I would have helped you find a solution."

His arms dropped back down, his expression tightened. "That was all that needed to happen…we could have just talked this out."

The Demon turned to him and stared, glowing eyes matching his own for a brief instant.

A grunting sound, accompanied by a shake of the head. "I will not waste breath with you. A choice was made before you even stepped foot in this lair. You were complicit from the moment you agreed to remain. Do not deny."

His hands clenched into fists, it wasn't that they were wrong, he had chosen to remain, but it was a gross oversimplification of events. "I didn't know what was happening and if I did, then I wouldn't have gone along with it for as long as I had-"

The demon slammed the hammer into the ground, cutting him short.

"Your sorrow does not alter the fate of my kin. Nor the future they could have. Our goals stand opposite. We wish for life, but it is at the cost of yours. That is how it is and how it will always be."

The hammer was dragged backwards, leaving a trail of white hot brick bubbling away. "A single ripe fruit on a rotten bushel does not salvage the crop. Your people would never accept us, even if you do."

Ritsuka slumped his shoulders, his expression turned blank. "So that's it then?"

A tilt of the head.

"You deny that your people would reject us?"

"...No." There was no point in doing something like that, he knew for a fact that on the whole, very few would be so accepting of the race of demons. Even without the bad blood between all of them, it had been drilled into his head that the world only tolerated a single prime life form.

It was why Kalameet had been an enemy to them as well, despite their nature.

"...I guess that's that then, huh?"

The demon stared for a moment, he saw the flicker of understanding pass through their eyes, straightening themselves out and nodding back to him.

"You do not hate us, but fight all the same. It is not because we are demons, it is because of what we do now. There is no shame in that…Aodh. That is my name. King of Demons."

"Ritsuka Fujimaru."

Nothing else was spoken.

He heard thundering steps, turning around and spotting the Director mounted on the shoulder of Stahl as their group sprinted towards them. He turned his eyes back towards the Demon, who similarly noticed the arrival of reinforcements.

The Demon King flung themselves forwards, hammer above their head, much faster than the previous encounter they had with them. Such was the burst of speed that he was left briefly stumped at the swift movement of them. But not that stumped.

"Mash!"

She was there like lightning, the hammer drummed against the shield, the earth cracked beneath the boots of the shielder, but she stood her ground as he expected. Because that was who she was.

Flames billowed from the maw of the Aodh, falling upon Mash's shield like a waterfall as they spun, sweeping her away and bringing the hammer about, this time slamming into the guard of Stahl as they blocked the blow, bracing themselves and shoving backwards.

They swung their axe, the blade buried itself into the forearm of the Demon, Aodh dragged it across, pulling Stahl with them and sweeping their tail around, whipping it into their chest and throwing them clear.

Their head angled itself, flashes of light ricocheted off their horned scalp and into the air, they pushed off the ground and flung themselves forwards, earth flew and embers sprinted, the impact of the hammer into the ground kicked up a blizzard of embers right into the thick of things, he heard the scratches and thumpings all around him.

Aodh burst through the smog like a runaway train, stampeding right towards him.

He stood his ground.

Light flashed through the air, a spear of gold caught the demon in the side of the head and stumbled them slightly. Soon followed by a small blur with a sword that glowed of sky blue light. Ritsuka blinked as Gawyn all but appeared before the demon and swung, their blade cleaved through the shin of the monster and staggered them, swiftly pressing off the ground and throwing themselves to the side before the Aodh could react.

They staggered as a comet of magenta slammed into the side of them faster that he could see, it image stilled as Medusa recoiled off their head and twisted through the air, slinging one of her spikes forwards, it buried itself to the hilt in the shoulder of the Aodh.

The moment her feet hit the ground, she pulled with enough strength to drag them in her direction, at least before they could catch their footing.

It proved more than enough time, Gareth launched herself into them from the same direction, battering her shield into their chin and face, driving their lance into hard skin and detonating it.

An explosion threw her clear, Aodh staggered from her and directly into the swinging shield of Mash, the impact knocked them reeling.

Boudica's axe kick caught them in the back of the head, they jerked it forwards and spun around, sweeping their hammer upwards and catching the chain in the process, pulling it from their shoulder while Medusa was jerked from her position and into the air.

The tail swept around like a whip, the crack of it striking steel was like a hammer on an anvil.

Gareth was thrown back into a roll before she caught herself.

Flames pooled in the offhand of the demon, it swung the limb up towards Mash, the torrent of flames emerged from the palm and struck the guard of the shielder, it obscured her vision long enough for the hammer to thrust itself into the flat of the aegis, shunting her backwards.

Aodh turned, directing the hammer to the air and parrying away Brynhildr as she attempted a dive towards them.

Their fingers glowed, he saw them twist out in a sweeping motion, then his eyes shot wide.

Symbols, so much like Caster Cu's own, hovered in the air in front of him before they raced off like fireworks, seeking out whatever targets were near them and crashing into the ground, at least until half of them were intercepted by a mirror match of burning symbols.

"Launching runes around me then, are you?" The voice of Cu echoed out, leaving no doubt which version had come forwards to fight. "Alright then! Let's have ourselves a little competition!"

Aodh stomped down, wood shattered the second it emerged from the floor, turned to charcoal and blown away with the shockwave of the stomp.

They swung about, another river of flames burst forth like a jet and towards them, Cu and Torin dove either side as the billowing flames scorched the land between them, the second the Casters hit the ground they were sweeping their attention onto the Servant.

Ritsuka kicked off the ground, breaking into a sprint as he moved around to get out of the line of sight of the Servant.

He heard the whistle of something heavy moving through the air, he slowed himself to a halt and skidded along the ground, just in the nick of time as well.

One of the goat demons slammed into the ground before him, its neck twisted at an odd angle and very much dead. His eyes lingered on it for a moment longer, then whipped his gaze to the direction it had come from, blinking as he saw a pair of knights in matching armour fighting with a purple haired woman in a rather risque outfit…who seemed to be wielding a person sized cross as a weapon.

The pair of knights, adorned in the armour that Ash had worn when he first appeared, worked in unison with one another. One wielding a greatsword and the other with an axe, making their way closer and closer to the fighting.

A shadow whipped through the air, a blue wyvern flew overhead, breathing golden lighting from its maw and frying demons from the sky, twisting around and slamming into the earth with a crunch, a roar escaped it as it beat its wings and lifted up rather powerful gusts of wind.

He turned his head from the display and moved on, stepping around the corpse of the Demon, and slipped down across the ground to cover, turning his eyes to the battle with Aodh once more and frowning at what he saw.

A heavy strike from the hammer sent Mash reeling through the air, the tail cracked like a whip in the same instant and swept Gareth's legs out from underneath her, they breathed fire and forced Medusa into the air to avoid being scorched with the blaze.

They stomped forwards, slamming a massive fist into the shield of Boudica and driving her flat into the ground, an effort to stamp on her was cut short when Medusa drove her nails into the shoulders of the demon, reeling herself in like a bullet and slamming a kick into the top of their head, enough force to send Aodh stumbling away.

More than enough time for Boudica to get on her feet and get some healthy distance.

"Ah, so this is where you were."

He blinked, turning to the voice and glancing up at the trio now stood before him.

Their complete and utter lack of concern, at least for the twins, was rather jarring for him as well as their casual approach to him, as if they weren't in the middle of a battle. Though from the burns and scratches that covered the body of the largest, as well as the splatters of blood across their skin, it seemed as though Asterios had been keeping the Gorgon sisters rather safe.

He turned back around to the fight, scanning the battle before he sent commands through his mind.

Mash twisted her body around on her heel, releasing her hold on the shield and spinning it through the air like a frisbee, crashing it into the cheek of Aodh in the neck second and knocking it up into the air.

Medusa was above the shield in a moment, slamming her own axe kick into the top of the shield and driving it down like a hammer to a nail.

The crunch of the shield striking the skull of the demon echoed, he felt the impact reverberate through his body and Aodh certainly felt it.

Their chin smashed into the ground.

Stahl pounced, coiling their shield arm back and thrusting it forwards like a punch, striking the demon in the face with the ridge of their own circular shield. A dry snapping sound and an echo of pain, the Berserker swung their leg up and kicked the demon back onto their feet, sweeping their axe across and burying the head of it into the chest of the demon.

Aodh struck them in the head, the blow flipped the Berserker in the air and onto their back, their shield was raised over their body as the Demon crashed their own hammer into the aegis.

"So that's the one, is it? I must say, they're quite the brute, aren't they?"

The comment came from either Euryale or Stheno, but he wasn't paying enough attention to either of them to really figure out which one it was. He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes meeting Asterios with a rather clear cut intention to them. The Berserker shot a look at the twins before coming back to him.

He nodded once, that was all he needed to do.

With a grunt of understanding, Asterios let out a bellowing warcry and charged past him like a wall of muscle, stampeding towards Aodh and earning the demons attention, just in time for the axes to be brought down into the hardened stone flesh of the demon, sparks flew and a scraping sound came next.

"I hope you're going to take responsibility for stealing our guard like that, first Medusa and now Asterios? I'm starting to wonder if you care all that much about our lives."

"No less than I care about my own." He responded back over his shoulder, ducking away as a scrap of debris chipped off the stones right in front of his face, he rolled backwards and pressed himself flat against the mount of stone and rubble, glancing to the twins for a quick second.

He offered a wry smile to their rather bland expressions. "So I'd stay close, if I were you. It's a bit hectic at the moment."

They opened their mouth to say something, but he didn't hear anything. Instead his eyes instantly focused on the shape which dropped to the ground behind them, he moved without thinking, grabbing the pair by their arms and yanking them forwards, earning him faint gasps of alarm and shock as they both hit the ground.

At the same time, he stepped backwards, narrowly managing to avoid losing his head to a large hooked machete wielded by another of the grey skinned demon monsters. It focused its four eyes onto him - two on each side of the bleached white skull - and bellowed out another roar, bringing the weapon up to swing again-

A golden clawed hand burst through the chest, holding the still beating heart in their grasp, then clenched their fingers tight. Ritsuka recoiled as warmth sprayed itself across his face, freezing up a moment later as the hand pulled backwards.

The corpse was haphazardly tossed behind the killer, a flash of purple light arced through the air, cleaving the body in half down the middle and dropping both sides either end of the new arrivals.

Sulyvahn swept the blood from his silver sword with a single swing of the weapon.

Chris didn't even make an effort to remove the blood dripping down from her arm, staring blankly down at him for a few moments, then towards those behind him before giving a single grunt. "Fast instincts, at least…As expected of a fly."

His hands flew up, wiping the warmth away from his face like it was boiling, then pausing as he stared down at his red tainted hands. He felt bile build up in the back of his throat, forcing it down and bringing his eyes back, meeting the gaze of the Saber who had moved to within a hair's breadth of him.

"Stay out of the way."

Chris vanished without a sound, he jerked his head around in a futile effort to track her movements, but it was as though she had teleported from one spot to the other.

"...Hmph. If she was going to try and copy Medusa, the least she could have done was try and mimic her manners as well. Honestly, it is as though there isn't an ounce of respect in that one."

Ritsuka slowly turned his head to the direction of the Goddesses, furrowing his brows at the pair of them as they watched the fight with an air of indifference about them. As though they were above the entire thing, making it hard to figure out which of the two had actually spoken.

He moved further back as Sulyvahn stepped around him, the Caster stopped moving for only a moment as they glanced down at him and spoke in a low tone.

"You see now why I have little patience for the divine."

Ritsuka was certain they didn't have much patience for anyone.

Her feet struck the ground, trenching through solid stone as she slowed to a halt, it lasted a fraction of a second before she pushed off the ground and propelled herself forwards through the air like a rocket once more.

Her eyes met those of the demon, mana channelled through them but earned a lacklustre response.

Their mana was clearly much stronger, she felt the interference breaking through her petrification and only succeeding in slowing the movements of the demon for a fraction of a second, her body twisted and rolled over.

The hammer passed right above her head, coming within a mere inch.

It was close enough, she swung her spikes up as she glided beneath, looping them around the pole of the hammer and pulling the chain taut, her momentum carried her as she felt their grip jerk her to a stop, but it only succeeded in shifting her aim across.

Slamming into the ground, she flipped herself around and pulled with all her might, diving into her monstrous strength, her skin cracked and peeled, she withheld a grimace as flakes of golden scale exposed themselves to the world from the force, yet even with her strength and the speed she had, it was not nearly enough to rip the hammer from the grip of the demon.

They held firm, pulling back and dragging her through the air, their right hand pulled itself free of the hammer and clenched into a fist, coiling itself backwards and hurtling forwards-

She froze for a fraction of a second as another shape crashed into their extended arm, a shuddering crack split through the air, the expression of the demon tightened as the shockwave rippled outwards from their limb, stumbling backwards as the attacking shape flipped through the air.

The flash of purple hit the ground, sliding back for several metres before they thrust and arm down, jerking themselves to a deadstop.

Chrysaor locked eyes with her for a brief instant.

Her fingers tightened their hold on the chain in her grasp, she pulled herself forwards in the instant the demon had been knocked off balance by the shoulder barge, Medusa threw herself forwards and slammed her heels into the side of their head, just beneath the leftmost antler.

A terrible crack split through the bone, the fracture ran clean across the circumference of the horn before jerking down and moving into the joint between the protrusion and the skull.

Springboarding herself away from the demon, she flipped herself through the air once more.

Asterios tackled the demon with a thunderclap, pushing their balance onto a single leg as they tried to throw themselves clear of the attackers. The distraction from the minotaur provided time enough for the Draconic Berserker to come flipping in from the sky, propelled by a burst of flames from their hands, they twisted their body faster and faster until they slammed a rocket fuelled punch into the back of the demon, crashing their body into the ground, skin cracked and split apart, chipped fragments were hurled through the air.

Yet the demon, despite all that, tossed Asterios clear of them in the next instant - before her feet even touched the ground - and slammed an elbow into the Berserker and flung their body away from them and back into the air.

They spewed forth rivers of fire, swinging their club left and right and sending Servants ducking for cover in an effort to avoid the bone shattering swipes of the weapon.

Their endurance was little joke, it seemed.

Or they were benefiting from something else.

This manner of endurance was far and above what they had displayed in their first battle, it was the sort of power she would expect if one were in their own domain. It would explain the way the castle had shifted auras, now reflecting the demon.

Some manner of territory, she would have something similar if she were in the bloodfort.

Her eyes narrowed, watching as the damage they had inflicted was slowly but surely healing over.

"Master. They are regenerating the damage."

She got a response a second later. "I can see. Do you believe your Noble Phantasm will be able to inflict enough damage to overpower it?"

It took her only a split second to answer. "Yes."

"I'll get everyone clear."

She kicked herself back through the air, swinging out a spike in her left hand and catching the nail by the head. Reversing her grip on the weapon and driving it into the side of her neck, dragging it across with barely a wince on her face, the blood swept out in front of her and splayed in the circle.

Her hands reached forwards, clasping the golden reins and dragging them forwards.

"Bellerophon!"

Light rolled underneath her, a brilliant white coalesced into the shape of the pegasus.

The mount expanded its wings either side, rearing up in the air and kicking upon nothing. She accelerated forwards with such speed that the air shattered around her, feeling only a light jolt as she moved faster and faster; she suspected that the demon would not react to her at this speed.

Her eyes swept left, watching the Servants move away from the battle and the demon standing tall, turning its head and snapping its focus onto her. She met eyes with them at the impossible distance between the two of them, she tugged at the reins and made an about turn.

But that was not all she saw.

Nor all she felt.

It rumbled through her very senses, the shift in the mana of the world and her eyes snapped to the location. Narrowing greatly as the familiar sensation wormed its way through her bones, it was a feeling that was nostalgic and yet tainted with change. Something similar but not quite.

It was little surprise where this sensation came from.

Chrysaor pierced their chest with their claws, raked across their body and splashed blood onto the ground.

The hand was thrust down into the puddle of blood, the scarlet river shifted and twisted, bubbling away before rolling back onto their arm. Chrysaor charged forwards, pulling their arm from the blood and unveiling it to the world.

It was no longer an arm.

It was as though the head of a dog had been grafted onto their body, a well muscled skull and large fangs in the maw. Except there was something more, it was joined by a second head, the twin heads of the hounds were far larger than any dog that existed in the modern world.

The cry that followed rang out, clear as day.

"Orthus!"

The jaws of the hounds clamped down into the leg of the demon and pulled, tearing with them a pound of flesh from the leg of the demon, more than enough for the Servant to drop down onto one leg, losing their footing and whatever guard they might have been able to assemble.

It was a chance that was a fraction of a second, if that, and then it would be lost.

Plenty of time for her.

The reins cracked.

She accelerated to the earth like a comet of light, within less time than it would take to blink. She had gone from a mile in the sky to right in front of the demon.

Then she struck it, the explosion tore through the air as she smashed into the body like battering ram, tugging at the reins and jerked the mount upwards, carrying the demon higher into the sky, mana lashed away at their body, shards of their skin and bone peeled away as they were mauled by a combination of speed and power.

The hammer was flung from their grasp, vanishing somewhere into the distance.

Without even enough time to scream, the demon was hurtled into the sky as the mount twisted around, with their body pulled along and then they went charging to the ground once more.

She pushed off the mount as it slammed down, light crackled for a split second, then flashed bright white as the shockwave struck her.

Her body ragdolled through the air, fire and rubble mushroomed out in a detonation that reached high into the sky.

The nails fit comfortably into her hands, spreading her arms wide and hurling them downwards into the ground and giving only a single tug. Her body propelled itself with the pull, crashing into the ground and bending her knees, spiderweb cracks rippled out from the impact as the ground bent down to accommodate her.

Her eyes fixed themselves upon the dust raining down, followed by chunks of rock and pieces of what she assumed was the demon itself.

But her thoughts turned elsewhere.

Namely the overwhelming presence of magical energy that was surging towards them right this moment.

The dust settled around them, he could barely make out the fizzle of light from the centre as the remnants of Medusa's attack faded away.

"Are you alright, Senpai?"

Mash had dove before him, activating her Noble Phantasm in the split second before the attack landed. Which was rather fortunate, he wasn't sure what would have happened to him if she hadn't done that. At the very least, he doubted he would have stayed on his feet.

He nodded his head, letting out the breath he didn't know he had been holding in.

Reaching up, he clapped her twice on the shoulder which earned a relieved smile from the girl.

"Thanks, Mash…" Gulping, he strode around her for a single step before bringing himself up short, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly, it was as though something shifted in the air, like it was stealing away his breath.

A weight exuded itself on his shoulders.

"Fujimaru-kun!" Romani's panicked voice stopped his heart. "The magical energy readings have skyrocketed! The Servant you encountered in the depths is-"

The roar of a pillar of fire bursting from the ground and into the air cut the man short, Ritsuka felt his shoulders drop as the storm of flames stretched higher and higher into the sky without end, the dust was banished right past him with the force of the fires, leaving only the tornado of flame.

The tornado of flames was snuffed in a single moment, a pulse of blue tinged light tore it apart from the inside, there remained only the burnt crater where the flames had escaped and then nothing.

"The mana reading is…gone?" Romani sounded dumbfounded, indeed Ritsuka felt that exact way. "The Spirit Origin of Berserker has been destroyed so…that other Servant defeated them all by themselves? But that was-wait…Hang on if the Spirit Origin is gone then that means-"

Ritsuka blanched. "The castle is going to-!"

"Initiating Emergency Rayshift! I'm getting all of you back here as quickly as I can."

He nodded his head at the words of the doctor, then paused and turned his head towards another individual.

Hanleth was dead, that meant her influence was gone and when they returned back to Chaldea it also meant that-

Gawyn looked at him, a faint understanding look on their face. "I know, Master Ritsuka. It was only in this Singularity that I was granted life but…" turning his head towards the sky, Gawyn let out a small sigh. "...I am…proud of what I did and what I accomplished. Tell me…did I fulfil my duty?"

Ritsuka watched them for a moment, then his lip pulled up. "Yeah, you were an amazing Servant, Gawyn. You completed your duty without fail."

"...I'm glad I did not fail this time around."

Gawyn stumbled for a short step, Ritsuka moved to catch them before he brought up a hand and stopped him short.

The blonde let out a harsh cough, flickers of orange cracked around his body, turning his eyes towards him and shaking his head several times. "It…It would be best if you didn't get so close right now…Ash is…He is coming back now that all is done."

Gawyn grimaced. "I am not comfortable leaving you in his company, Master Ritsuka…"

That was…

Ritsuka offered a faint shrug. "I'd say he's not so bad once you get to know him, but…He's trying to get better. I think that's what counts."

Silence for a few moments, then Gawyn pulled himself back up and stood straight. "...If you say so, Master Ritsuka."

Closing his eyes, Gawyn turned his head towards the sky and let out a breath.

Ritsuka jerked backwards as wisps of fire sprouted along the surface of Gawyn, yet there came not an ounce of noise from the flames. The armour peeled away and the body shifted, all while the face of Gawyn remained utterly tranquil, as if unaware of what was going on and merely falling asleep.

"...A shame…" A quiet mutterance from Gawyn. "Ash is the stronger of us, he will definitely see this through to the end and help you but…I…"

Gawyn cut himself short.

His mouth closed.

"...Nevermind."

Flames rolled off the body in a split second, a flare of light and then nothing.

The fires snuffed out within a heartbeat.

Ash stood where Gawyn had been, burnt plate armour atop ragged red scraps of cloth, a cape of matte black fluttering in the wind.

His head lowered down from gazing at the sky, eyes opened up and verdant green orbs stared back at him for a few seconds before they narrowed a touch. "...Ritsuka."

"...Ash…You're…back?"

"Yes." Ash nodded his head up and down, expression betraying nothing as he turned away from them all and looked out across the ruins of the theme park. "...It seems I am."

She came to a halt in front of them, so much like a mirror and yet hers was even more perfect than it.

As expected, they were the original.

But…

"...You were everything I hoped you would be."

It was something that needed saying, something that she wished to confess.

Her mother stared into her eyes, something flashed through them as they opened their mouth to respond, then closed it again.

"...I expect no answer from you. I wished only to say that one thing. You are indeed my mother, and this was…a shorter meeting than I would have liked. But fighting you and fighting at your side was…like a dream I have waited to come true for so long. If we do not meet again…Know this."

She felt her lips tug only a little.

"I am pleased I was the child of such a strong mother."

Mother flinched like they had been slapped, but she did not care for that.

"Though…" She glanced off to the side, the fly was still staring silently at the spot where the sudden arrival had vanished. Her distaste of them had barely shifted, but she did not find herself disliking them. She just didn't care, but at least they understood that mother was strong. "...I would prefer you had stronger company."

Her eyes flickered to them once more, noting the light circling around their bodies.

They vanished before her eyes, Mother hadn't spoken a single word.

But she didn't need to.

That was the privilege of the strong, they could pick and choose what they did.

It was not something that she was entitled to.

…She could not even keep Hanleth safe, what right did she have to stand by the side of her mother?

But, even with all that, it was…rewarding.

"...I felt it, Asclepius…I finally felt it."

Not-yet-summer resort: Epilogue

He stared at it, sitting upon the table.

The sword of Anri, the weapon Gawyn had summoned to themselves.

It just sat there.

There was nothing truly special about the blade, save for the slight differences in colour when compared to other Astoran blades.

That was it.

It had always felt like just a normal blade to him.

…So then where did that power come from?

Not from Gawyn, he would have sensed that.

It came from the sword.

Ash raised his hand, moving it to the hilt of the blade, resting his fingers upon it.

…Nothing.

It was cold.

Just a normal sword.

But when Gawyn swung it that final time…what was this blade? Why did it have such strength?

…And why had he never felt it?

Something tickled his senses.

He glanced up, finding himself presented with two different individuals.

One more apprehensive than the other.

Ritsuka was the first to speak. "Ash…I want to apologise for-"

"From the very beginning, I could have shattered Hanleth's influence over my body, even with the Holy Grail powering her-" He caught himself, then frowned. It was something he said, but even then he was not so certain of it. Rather, there was no denying that it might have been difficult, but that was not the point.

He did not even try to break the hold over him.

"What I mean to say is that it was my choice to leave Gawyn in place."

Ritsuka blinked, looking rather surprised, then it shifted into confusion. "Then-but I thought you-"

"At first, I debated it." Ash admitted with a shrug. "Then when Hanleth revealed her aim I was…I would not say I completely approved of her goal, turning me into Gawyn for any reason disgusted me, but when she spoke of undoing the influence of Mother on him, I was curious to see if she could manage it."

He shrugged. "It was not a feeling born of a desire to free Gawyn. I just wanted to break one of mothers tools."

Glancing between the two of them, the unease crept into their eyes as they looked away from him.

"...Then Gawyn was made slightly less unbearable to look at. While I remain displeased with what occurred, I shall not deny the results. At the very end…I would admit that the Gawyn I saw was one I would not be ashamed to be related to."

Such a tragedy it was that in the end, it changed nothing.

The Gawyn he saw there was little more than an old memory given voice.

The one he knew, the one who had existed, was the one that he was influenced by. The Gawyn who had driven his whole life from the very beginning, but he did not need to tell Ritsuka that. It was clear they were troubled over their lack of action in regards to Gawyn, but…

…Perhaps he was glad, in a small way.

For a single fleeting moment, he was not disgusted by Gawyn.

His eyes lowered from them and returned to the sword on the table, his fingers drummed along the blade for a second or two before they retreated from it. Clasping the handle and taking it into his hand, moving it towards his bottomless box.

The sword would remain a mystery for now, nothing was revealed to him regarding the nature of the blade.

Olga spoke next, her own voice tinged with a strain about it. "...There is talk about Chaldea as to who your parents truly are. It seems as though someone deduced your heritage. I am…sorry that you were-"

He frowned.

"Do not apologise for it." Cutting her short, he turned his eyes onto her. "It was something that would eventually happen. I do not care for it either way, I wish to be judged by who I am and what I have done, not by who my birth mother was. They may speak of it without…As long as it does not stretch beyond talk, I will be content."

Olga nodded. "Of course. That is all I came here for-"

Ash debated whether he should say something.

He watched the woman for a short moment, she was already turning around to walk away, a single image flickered through his mind as well as the feelings he saw through the eyes of Gawyn.

"Music is…For unkindled beings such as myself, and for undead, it holds power…perhaps more so than it would upon ordinary humans."

She froze up like a statue, her back to him.

"...I am unsure why, but it is as though it commands us. Brings comfort to our souls in times of distress. Puts us at peace with existence."

His eyes moved up from the table, noting how the tips of Olga's ears were now bright red. But he wasn't going to let this slip away from him, not when it was worth pointing out. It had reached him right in the depths of his very being.

Stepping up, he moved around behind her.

His right hand came up, then his palm dropped down on top of her head.

"There was a performance during that time which moved Gawyn's soul…If there is one thing that truly troubles me about that entire situation. It is that he was the one to experience that single music, and I was not."

Ruffling her hair, just as he had been told was a show of praise, he stepped around her and moved off.

Olga made a sputtering sound, he heard her footsteps come up behind him.

He turned.

She stopped short, mouth open and looking prepared to say something.

Ash was unsure of what sort of expression he was making, but it must have been a potent one for the irritation and embarrassment to flee the face of Olga within a single second.

"...It was beautiful." He said after a short moment. "He didn't get the chance to tell you…But he thought it was very beautiful."

She looked decidedly lost for words, a far cry from how she would normally have been.

Her expression shifted several times before she looked away from him. "...It was hardly as though I…Tch. Nevermind, just…I'm glad someone got something worthwhile out of it."

Ash remained silent for a second or two.

He watched her face for a few moments, then slid his eyes towards Ritsuka. The boy looked a bit off-put, clearly still coming to terms with what had happened to them as well, but Ash held no ill-will towards them.

Rather, it was what he deserved.

But that did not matter anymore.

"I hope that the next time…You do it without outside influence."

Olga gave a dry snort. "Next time…" a click of the tongue and a sharp turn of the head. "As if."

Was that so?

…A pity.

He would have liked to have been there himself.

She did not react when the doors to her room opened, she knew who it was who had entered, but she otherwise didn't react beyond turning her head in a show of affirmation.

Waiting for the remarks was perhaps the worst bit, the comments that she knew were coming.

She could already hear them-

The bed ruffled as the two weights dropped themselves either side of her.

Medusa blinked slowly, glancing left and right at her sisters as they assumed their spots, adjusting their posture until they were as comfortable as they were going to get.

Neither one of them said anything for a time.

Euryale spoke up first.

"Honestly. What an imprudent child they turned out to be. I always wondered what Chrysaor was like, but to think that they were just some manner of meat head."

Stheno spoke up next.

"Quite so. I'm rather insulted now, to think that they would be born of Medusa and see her as nothing more than some brutish animal. Really, it just goes to show that some people really do not take well after their parents."

"You shouldn't spend so much time brooding over someone like that, Medusa. The type who spend all their time obsessing over strength and instinct pride are the sort who live their life short and quick, hardly befitting of any who want a valuable existence."

Another nod of the head from Stheno.

"It is expected though, to think that the child of Medusa would be such a simple one. She's about as thick headed as you are tall."

Euryale reached across, patting a hand on her thigh twice. "The moment that boneheaded brute of a Servant shows up in Chaldea, just leave it to us. We'll get them straightened out in no time at all. Honestly, running around looking like you. Do they really have nothing else to define themselves with?"

Stheno let out a sigh. "I suppose not. Taking on Medusa's face and suddenly rushing off and doing all those silly things? They're trying too hard. There should only ever be one Medusa, having more than that is just pushing the limit really." their hand placed itself on her other thigh, patting it twice.

"I agree with me. If they show up, we'll have to teach them a proper lesson in respect when it comes to one's family. Especially when they're dredging up such things like that, they should stick to their own lane…Actually, I think they might have been taller than Medusa?"

Euryale hummed. "I believe you are right, me. Honestly, the cheek of them."

She stayed silent during the conversation, it was odd.

She knew what they were doing in their own way.

On the outside, she kept quiet.

Inside, she felt something blossom in her chest.

…Yes.

…She probably would need to speak with them if they ever showed up, wouldn't she?