Chapter Thirty-Two

The Big Picture

Within a matter of two hours or so, Lily along with the remaining students of class 1-A made their way to the abandoned school. The truck they were riding/driving in was covered in purple color blood, burn marks, and a couple of dents as Lily parked the truck at the front entrance of the school. The moment it was parked, the doors to the truck opened up and everyone except Lily and Jack exited the truck in a hurry before falling to the ground. The moment Lily saw them on the ground, she in turn exited the truck along with Jack in a casual fashion.

"Not gonna lie, I think I did a pretty good job in getting us here in one piece," Lily said as everyone glared at her which in turn caused her to flinch. "What? It wasn't that bad…right?"

"Wasn't that bad? What made you think it was a good idea to head into that pack of Chimeras!? Kama yelled as she appeared in front of Lily. "I've seen other rider servants with better skills than what you just did!"

"In my defense. Lancelot was hot on our trail, it's not like we have much of a choice. Plus it kept him distracted while we made our escape. So I think it turned out well." She answered while giving her an innocent smile, only for Mina and Kaminari to appear behind her and knock her upside her head.

"You are no longer allowed to drive!" Mina yelled which caused Lily to gasp in sarcasm.

"You can't do that! I'm the only one who knows how to drive!"

"Getting your driving skills from a video game called Crazy Taxi, is not a valid reason for you to be a driver!" Midoriya said, which caused Lily to huff in annoyance while rubbing the back of her head from the slight pain she felt.

"Well, I don't see anyone else here who has an A+ skill in riding. Plus we don't have a rider servant with us, so you'll take what you get."

"...How were you able to last this long without getting caught by any of the pro heroes?" Tsuyu asked as the bunny girl shrugged.

"Keep in mind that a lot of the so-called heroes are currently out of practice and out of shape due to riding the high life off of All Might's success. Sure you have a few heroes that could keep up with me, but they mostly end up getting knocked the fuck out."

"Yet you got caught by All Might?" Bakugo said while raising an eyebrow at her.

"You saw what I can do during the training session with the whole bomb thing. If I were to go all out on All Might in my attempts to escape him…well let's just say I prefer not to have half of the city being blown up." She said, which took them all by surprise.

"So when we were fighting, were you holding back?" Todoroki asked as Lily nodded.

"Of course, I held back. I know how powerful my noble phantasm is and just how much damage it can cause. If I were to unleash the full might of Excalibur, then you and Bakugo would've been killed." She said while thinking for a moment. "Then again I would've been able to patch you guys back to normal with the gems I have. But hey, maybe an experience with death might change you guys for the better. Especially given what happened to Uraraka and the others."

"How long are you going to keep bringing that up?" Bakugo asked.

"For as long as it takes for you two to get it through your thick heads about what happened," Lily said before walking over towards the truck to get Ojiro and Shoji. "Now help me carry our classmates back inside if you care about them." She said before stopping due to the sound of footsteps heading towards them. She slowly turned around to see Aizawa walking over to them. "Surprise to see that you're alive, what with this being an unfamiliar environment."

"You can thank your servant friends for saving most of us." He said before looking over at Uraraka for a moment before turning his gaze back on Lily. "They also informed us about what you are. Grand Servant."

"...well…shit." She said as Artoria appeared on Lily's shoulder. "And here I thought I could get away with just lying about being able to mutate others with my quirk just a bit longer. I'm going to assume they told you almost everything?"

"A lot of it is a bit confusing, to say the least. Though given how my quirk doesn't work on Surtr seeing how it's…magic? I'm going to have to believe that what she said is real." He said before noticing Jack exiting the truck while carrying Ojiro and Shoji with ease. He soon looked over at the others before noticing Mineta was being carried by Artemis, and Uraraka's sudden change in appearance and clothing. "Care to explain what happened?"

"Mineta is currently knocked out due to saving Midoriya and the others from a servant who serves the corpse king. Kirishima, Ojiro, and Shoji are injured, but were patched up by Jack the Ripper." Lily jerked a thumb at Jack who was carrying Ojiro and Shoji towards the school but did give Aizawa a child-like smile. "Hard to believe a London serial killer is an expert in the medical fields for the most part."

"Wait, that's Jack the Ripper!? As in the legendary serial killer, no one knows who or what they look like!?" Midoriya asked as it took Aizawa by surprise as he looked over at Lily with a raised eyebrow.

"Pretty much…though I think this version might be either a servant from pan history or a lostbelt."

"...We have much to talk about, but continue."

"Of course…So far the only casualty on my end is that Kota's dead." She said which took Aizawa, Uraraka, Midoriya, Tsuyu, Todoroki, and Bakugo by surprise.

"Kota's dead!?" Uraraka yelled. "Which caused Lily, Kirishima, Mina, and Kaminari to flinch.

"Yeah…death by mad knight Lancelot."

"And you couldn't save him, why?" Aizawa asked as Lily deadpans at him.

"There was nothing left of him to save. I may have a bunch of gems that can heal people, but if it's past a certain time and there's nobody, then there's no chance of me bringing them back from the dead anytime soon."

"What about what Artemis and the others did to Uraraka to bring her back to life?" Todoroki asked as Artemis spoke.

"Summoning a servant into the body of a human requires a human vessel to do it. It doesn't work like bringing back the dead like from an anime or video game character." She said before hugging Mineta close to her like a doll. "Tragic as it is to lose a comrade, we're limited to the person we're host to."

"Tsh, what good are you idiots if you can't even save someone," Bakugo said as Aphrodite spoke up.

"Oh, this coming from the boy who got Uraraka killed because he thought he could take down a servant?" She said as Aizawa looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. A smirk appeared on Aphrodite's face from seeing Bakugo glaring at her. "Well not just Bakugo, but also Todoroki attacked as well~," The machine god said before noticing another glare coming from Todoroki. "You can glare at me all you want, but you were allowed to run away from Saber. But instead, you choose to fight, and end up getting one of your classmates killed."

"...Is that true?" Aizawa asked as Todoroki and Bakugo looked away from his gaze. The pro hero took a deep breath for a moment before glaring at them both. "We're going to have a long talk about this tomorrow. Mainly because you all have been through a lot and right now I need to take attendance of the remaining class members of class 1A."

"Remaining class members?" Tsuyu asked as Aizawa ruffled his hair.

"Momo, Jirou, Iida, and Toru are alive…Tokoyami, Sero, Sato, and Aoyama are dead." He said which took the others by surprise. "From what Momo's…friend, Musashi informed us, they were killed by a samurai and a knight clad in black armor with a spear covered in crystal. From what Surtr mentions, the man in black armor is called the Corpse King. The person who's controlling the other surviving servants…Still hard to get my mind wrapped around all this crap, but that's pretty much what I can say now."

"Hm, I kind of figured as much," Lily said as Aizawa stared at her. "Here are the facts. Kota quirk might've been useful against the chimera…depending, but skeletons are a different story. Not to mention he isn't so much of a guy that fights with his fist. As for the others when fighting against an assassin…well it could go either way, but given how the corpse king appeared to assist him…yeah, no chance in hell they would've survived on their own sadly."

"...You are taking this way too casually. You know that five of your classmates have died, right?"

"Yes, but it's not like I knew them on a personal level compared to the others. Tragic that they're dead, but I'm not going to cry over them. They're dead and we're alive, not much we can do but remember them, and figure out a way to get the hell out of here before we're dead as well." She said before trying to walk past him, only for Aizawa to stop her by placing a hand in front of her.

"Can you not be an ass for once and take this seriously?"

"Well sorry if I'm not that in tune with my emotions like everyone else here. Unlike you lot who lived a peaceful life in hero society, not everyone had the option."

"Just because you had a rough upbringing, doesn't mean you can't show some consideration towards others."

"That's rich coming from the guy who hasn't shown any towards me." She said before walking past Aizawa.

"Where are you going?"

"To piss in the chamber pot of secrets, where do you think I'm going? I'm going to see the sixth grand servant, Momo."

"How did you-"

"Bit of a heads up, I can sense when another grand servant is near, and seeing how you mentioned Momo and her friend Musashi, I can assume she's the sixth grand servant." She said before heading inside. The moment she headed inside, Aizawa shook his head in disappointment before turning his attention to the others.

"Everyone head inside. We'll talk more about what's going on and come up with a plan or something."

"Are…we going to get back home?" Tsuyu asked, causing Aizawa to pause and look back at her. He noticed the sad expression on some of his students' faces. What could he say at a time like this? With five of his students dead, three injured, Sixteen dead, and being stuck in a singularity cut off from the world…there wasn't much he could say to try and cheer them up. Yet the only hope that they have were the grand servants, and one of them happens to have a grudge against him. The pro hero took a deep breath before turning around to look at the remaining classmates before speaking.

"We'll get home. We just need some time to plan things out." He said before continuing to walk inside the school. "We'll talk more once we're inside. Follow me and I'll lead you to the others. As the students were making their way inside the school, Goetia was currently watching them from the abandoned hideout where All For One used to own via the demon god pillar but was now owned by the king of demons himself. He soon cropped the faces of Mineta, Mina, Momo, Kaminari, Lily, and Uraraka as he stared at them individually.

"So, these are the grand servants that were chosen to kill me?" Goetia asked as he let out a small chuckle of amusement. "I'm a bit disappointed, to say the least."

"Could it be that you'll be fighting against a bunch of children?" Barbatos asked. "While I understand your disappointment my king, you shouldn't underestimate your opponent. Less we have a repeat of what happened when you underestimated the last master of Chaldea."

"If they prove to be a threat, then I'll take them seriously. Hence the reason why they're in the singularity."

"Which cost us 1/3rd of the magic supply that we had collected over the years. Something that I suggested against my King. Why would you give Halphas that much magic to create that pocket dimension in that location?"

"Because that's where the first seal is located," Goetia said as it caused Barbatos to mentally stare at the demon king. "I want to test out a hypothesis that I have cooked up in my mind."

"If you don't mind me asking, what is this hypothesis you're planning on doing?"

"Solomon placed four seals around the planet to keep the magic locked away. Preventing us from gaining the magic that we need to incinerate the human race. Now I can't remove seals without the four of the ten rings of Solomon, but what would happen if we place the singularity on top of the seals where magic can flow into it?"

"...Oh….Oh, hehehehe."

"Seeing how the singularity hasn't vanished, then my hypothesis holds. Once they manage to kill the human you placed the mystic code on, then Halphas will collect the magic from the singularity and bring it back to me."

"Thus increasing the time you have in your adult form. A brilliant idea! I expected nothing less from my King!"

"And the grand servants will be the ones that will bring me closer to my goal without them knowing~," He said before leaning back on his throne. "Do try not to disappoint me in failing my dear children of man, for you will be the tool I need to obtain my plan to reach the origin and surpass death itself~"