Under the golden glow of the receding light, Shirou watched as Arthur solemnly sheathed his sword in the prolonged silence.
Julius Caesar slowed to a halt upon his chariot nearby, his body gradually fading away into motes of light.
With the Holy Grail acquired, the source of energy that was sustaining Julius and even Arthur's existence in this Singularity was gone. It was inevitable that they would soon fade away back to the throne, or to whatever journey Arthur found himself upon.
It was even more so for Boudica and Spartacus as they watched the lingering flames still burning over Rome.
"Friends, the battle is to Rome," Julius acclaimed while dismounting and giving his final Farewells. "That is to say, victory is ours."
All around, the damage to Rome was extensive, but not outside of what the Romans could rebuild in the present era.
"Not quite," Saber Alter interjected, her eyes narrowing sharply through the film of dust that had been kicked up from Arthur's attack.
The tension in Saber Alter's voice caused everyone to raise their guards, but in the end, what they saw when the dust settled was not what they were expecting.
"She's alive," Ritsuka shuddered.
There in a puddle of tainted mud was Nero Beast in a comatose state. Strips of fabric and the dark and viscous density of the mud were all that were covering her modesty. Bruises and cuts were spread over her skin, but what was important was the steady rise and fall of her chest.
Martha and Jeanne stared warily at the unconscious figure bleeding and prone within the lingering puddle of tainted mud.
"It's best not to let sleeping beasts lie," Julius said. "Soon, the world will correct itself to its proper human course. There will be no place for her there."
It wasn't said explicitly, but the intent behind the words and the expressions of those present hinted at what needed to be done. Even Jeanne and Martha weren't opposed, but Shirou saw it differently.
If not for instigation of another party, his Servant Nero would not have fallen to such a state. Besides, when he looked at Saber Alter, and even Jeanne Alter, neither of them would have been with him if he didn't believe in them.
And for what it was worth, he was the one who summoned her.
"Stop." Shirou said, shaking his head when many stared at him in confusion. "That's enough."
"There's no telling what could happen if we leave her alone." Martha broached the issue. "She is the Beast of Revelation. Only harm exists in her presence-"
"Dr. Romani, beam us up," Shirou said, cutting Martha off before giving her a long look. "Would you have thought the same with Jeanne Alter, and her misguided actions in France?"
"…" Martha opened and closed her mouth.
"She is my Servant." Shirou stressed, staring at everyone else. "I will handle it."
Neither Saber or Jeanne Alter would be able to protest because it was the same as stabbing themselves in the back. Their situations had been no different, and look where they were now?
The group could only nod, picturing how Olga was going to react to all this when they returned.
["…Alright, transferring you all back, just hold still for a moment."]
Romani's voice sounded before Shirou and everyone else was covered in a blue film of magic energy. This included Nero Beast's unconscious form.
"This is farewell," Arthur said. "If my travels lead me to you again, I hope my counterpart becomes a better person, or if my judgement of her vile nature was correct, she will see the edge of my blade."
"Tch," Saber Alter clicked her tongue, unable to rise to the challenge when Shirou gave her a look.
The Singularity was over, and the original Nero of this timeline will awaken in her palace and assume everything had been a dream. Sad as it may be.
Still, Shirou could only feel like he was forgetting something as the scenery vanished around him from the transfer back to Chaldea.
/-/
"…And so, the troop of heroes return valiant, and the actors exit the stage, but what yet doth the future bring?"
A man scrambled to write down materials for his newest manuscript.
"Beasts of Humanity's Evil, budding romances, purposes and ambitions, and finally, growing mysteries and intrigues, there is much to write. Hm. Hmmm. Though…"
The man looked around bereft of companionship and still in ancient Rome.
It appears as if there was a miscalculation somewhere.
"This is quite a predicament, isn't it?"
Shakespeare stared blankly at the boundless ringed sky.
The concept of Spiritron Transfers hinged on the ability to convert mass into magic particles to dive into time-space before reorganizing and condensing back into a solid state.
Conceptualizing the process and formulating the correct sequence of mathematical formulas and spells was key to utilizing the magecraft.
For Shirou, the exact terminology and know-hows were best left to DaVinci and Romani to figure out. All that mattered to him was the safe process of getting from point A to point B.
And usually, this process was both quick and efficient, but something felt off from the moment he was being transferred back to Chaldea with Ritsuka and the others.
Call it intuition, but Shirou didn't think he was going to be in for a simple return back to Chaldea to touch-base with the other Master Team's situation on the Third Singularity just yet.
Instead, it was like Shirou could hear the voice of a woman speaking out through the void.
"-Much apologies young hero, I bid thee your service."
A woman, young, fair, and with lavender hair tied into a pony tail flashed through his mind.
If it wasn't for the innocence of her face, the brightness of her eyes, and the earnest sensation of her demeanor, Shirou would have said she resembled Caster in the Fifth Holy Grail War: Medea of Colchis.
"With proper time and space in chaos, it's only now that the wish he lay buried in his heart may be granted. And to you, a grail for your troubled allies struggling in another turbulent sea."
It was difficult for Shirou to wrap his mind around what was happening, but a sudden attractive force of energy was pulling his spiritron particles towards a different destination.
"-Trouble befalls a foreign land with Allaya's weakened influence. But it's there that I bid thee aid for an unwarranted miscalculation. A grail lost to a divergent world."
Shirou would frown if he was able to, but his senses felt as if they were growing dull.
"Please, aid him and do not be quick to judge. He means well and soon he will reveal his true glory."
He closed his eyes and blacked out, pulled towards an unexpected Singularity.
.
.
.
He hoped his Alters didn't kill the good doctor.
It really wasn't his fault this time.
The first thing Shirou felt as he opened his eyes, was the piercing cold of a strong wind blowing over his face. Then came the scent of leaves and shrubs followed by the echo of snapping twigs and rustling wildlife.
A forest?
It was the quickest assumption, and a single glance around him all but confirmed the conjecture.
Lifting up his arm, he glanced down at his skin and stared at the Command Seals still on his person. The connection itself hadn't been severed, but he couldn't feel the link between him and his Servants.
"Doctor?" Shirou called out to the air, but he received no response even through the communicator Chaldea provided him.
Brushing dirt off of the Mystic Code Battle-Suit Chaldea provided him, Shirou began to take stock of his predicament.
He was in an unknown location and was unable to contact Chaldea's network. The devices and magic engrained in them still appeared useable, but there was no feedback.
By now, it was likely that the others would be back in Chaldea and notice his absence, ringing alarm bells and putting heat on Romani to locate him.
All Shirou had to do was sit tight, but an equally likely outcome was that time might flow differently for him. What could be days or months here, could potentially be seconds there. It was one of the principles of Parallel World Theory Rin had told him when she had been studying under Zelretch.
Regardless, Shirou hummed in thought as he felt his magic circuits come alive.
The air was rife with magic energy at a level that wouldn't be dissimilar to the Age of the Gods.
Was this place some time in the past then? Back when the Gods and their progeny still roamed the lands?
But it couldn't be.
Shirou reinforced his eyes and stared beyond the horizon. It was the evening which explained the cold wind and bustling activity of the forest, but the stars were not there. Instead, all Shirou could see were faint glimmers due to light pollution.
The only time such circumstances were possible was if there was a modern city nearby.
Reinforcing his ears, the sound of car tires over paved roads a distance out gave credence to the assumption that this wasn't the past.
So then, what was going on here?
Shirou shook his head and began moving.
Standing in place and thinking wasn't going to solve anything, rather, he needed to get to the bottom of things.
Moving in the direction where he could hear the sound of civilization, it didn't take him long to reach what appeared to be a city after he reinforced his legs. What threw Shirou for a loop was the appearance of a recognizable flag and structures that he was sure he'd seen before.
Was that the Empire State Building?
Even Shirou had once seen pictures of iconic places from abroad, especially after he'd gone to England.
Which meant to say that he was in the United States of America?
There was a lot to consider here, but there was something else that drew Shirou's attention far more than just the location.
His nose twitched incessantly, filling with the scent of ash, earth, and metal.
Different scents weren't anything too alarming, but when one considered that Shirou's sense of smell was attuned to different sources of magic energy, then that meant this version of New York was teaming with magic.
Spurred onward by a sense of curiosity, Shirou entered the city and quietly leapt up to a high vantage point over the city line. His reinforced eyes were quick to note the source of the smells entering his nose.
…Monsters were walking among humans.
Moreover, there appeared to be some sort of veil obscuring people's vision because an ordinary person doesn't just brush past a minotaur and walk off as if there was no problem. There were even Satyrs and harpies in the guise of beautiful women that acted as if everything were normal.
Rather than a veil, it was better to describe it as a mist that appeared to obscure mortals from the supernatural?
It was hard to say, but Shirou's expression was grim. He could already imagine the type of damage that could occur if monsters grew rampant. However, instigating them in a crowded area of civilians would not help things.
Whatever the mist obscuring the supernatural was, at least it was preventing mass panic.
Shirou decided not to escalate anything, leave New York, and return back to where he'd started.
He still needed answers, but his movements weren't without notice by a lady peering through the mist.
/-/
By the time Shirou returned to the location he'd initially arrived at, it was nearing the late hours of the evening.
Checking his wrist, Shirou tried to contact Chaldea again, but was still unable to send a connection through. It was by this point that an idea to try reinforcing the communication device's parameters came to mind.
Perhaps he was unable to reach Chaldea because the connection was not strong enough?
It was while gathering his energy and activating his magic circuits that a voice suddenly called out to him.
"-I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice spoke.
Quickly shifting into a ready stance, Shirou met face to face with the hulking figure of a man wearing traditional hunter's garments. Well, at least he tried to. The man's upper frame was packed with dense muscle, most of the surface bare of any fabric except a strap tied over his shoulder to hold a brown fur mantle. Held in the man's hands was a bow that appeared too small for the man to use.
"Magic affects Iris's mist." The man raised his hands in a show of peace and continued explaining. "It makes you visible and draws undue attention, something fatal for the best of hunters."
Shirou stared at the man before relaxing his posture as he felt the man's good will. That and the fact that it was clear to Shirou that he was facing a Servant. An Archer by the looks of it. If the Servant had meant Shirou harm, the Servant would not have shown himself.
"Iris's mist?" Shirou asked, trying to probe for information.
"The Authority of the Greek Goddess of Rainbows," the hunter said before getting to the point. "You're a Master, aren't you?"
Even without Shirou answering, he could tell that the hunter had already noted the Command Spells on the back of Shirou's hand.
"Yes," Shirou admitted.
"That makes things easier." The hunter smiled candidly before pointing to himself. "Servant Archer, but you can call me Orion. It doesn't seem as if this is a standard Grail War anyway, and Independent Action can only last so long-"
Orion's expression shifted mid-speech, his eyes hardening as his sense as a hunter kicked in.
"Follow me, quickly." Orion beckoned. "There's much to speak about, but it seems as if you'd caught the attention of someone troublesome. We'll lose them in the forest. No hunter knows the wild and forests better than I."
Indeed, Shirou found himself swayed.
If the bow Orion was carrying was anything to go by, then Archer was one of, if not Greece's best hunter in Human History.
/-/
Navigating through the forest, the two progressed with such speed that they were practically a blur to any mortal that laid eyes on them.
"Oh, you can keep up?" Orion was pleasantly surprised.
"I've been in far worse situations," Shirou said while moving through the trees. "Do you know anything about this one?"
"Hmm," Orion hummed before changing his tone. "You may not feel it, but the divine blood in me soars. The Age of Gods has yet to end in this world, and there's something about our summoning here that feels off."
"Our?" Shirou said, focusing on that word alone. He had a feeling Orion wasn't simply talking about him.
"We're here," Orion said, reaching a clearing in the woods where three other figures were sitting around a camp.
All of them glanced up at Shirou and Orion's arrival.
"This is Rider, Lancer, and Saber," Orion introduced. "They were summoned into this place with me, and we've been keeping a low profile while gathering information."
"Yo," Rider raised a hand in greeting upon Orion's return before giving Shirou a once over. "Oh, a Master? Makes things easier then."
Hopping up onto his feet, Rider appeared beside Shirou in the blink of an eye. "Servant Rider, Achilles. Yup, you just hit the Servant jackpot! And yeah, I'm that Achilles, the one with the weakness on his heel."
After Rider, Lancer stood up next with just as much vigor. "Lancer, Leonidas. King of Sparta at your service."
The only one who didn't show much enthusiasm was Saber who Orion elbowed. The man clicked his tongue in irritation and crossed his arms. "Saber, Jason. And that's Lord Jason to you."
"Great company, right?" Rider joked much to Saber's chagrin as he scoffed and put more tinder to the fire.
"Right," Shirou said, taking every Servant in. He couldn't help but notice something peculiar.
"We're all Greek," Saber was the one to point out. "I can already see what you're thinking on that stupid face."
Hmm, pleasant company, but Shirou was hardly phased. If this level of antagonism could get to him, then he wouldn't have been able to handle Saber and Jeanne Alter.
"How long have you all been summoned here?" Shirou asked.
"A week," Orion answered.
"In that time, I used my speed to scout around and heard a couple things from passing monsters and humans who carried divinity. It's almost like they're modern demi-gods, but that's not the point. The monsters spoke of someone known as 'the General,' who got his hands on an object of immense power." Rider joked before clenching his fist and cracking his neck. "Sounds to me like our summoning is rather straight forward, right? I was thinking of getting a workout done until you showed up with Orion."
"Did you forget to mention the army of monsters this 'General' commands?" Jason said. "It's one of the reasons why we'd been laying low. The other to piece an idea of what was going on."
"Did you forget? I was the mightiest of the Myrmidons!" Rider boasted, pointing a thumb at himself.
"And the one killed by the shrimp with no arm muscles and the gold sheep on his head. Ah, I miss Heracles." Jason lamented while biting the nail of his thumb. "No other warrior can bring such ease to my mind."
"There he goes again," Rider scoffed, more in disagreement with the statement than anything else. "You know I was the one said to rival Heracles, right?"
Jason stared at Rider with narrowed eyes and then deflated. "…It's just not the same."
"It sounds to me like our best bet is to find this 'General?'" Shirou mused. At the very least, if the guy did have the Holy Grail, it could foster a strong enough connection to help Shirou contact Chaldea.
The plan was better than nothing.
Orion moved to sit by the fire, but started to frown before he could even sit.
"Friends, do you hear that?" Lancer said. "It's the sound of combat."
"It's east of us," Orion accurately estimated.
"Oi Rider, what did you say was in the east again?" Jason grumbled.
"Some sort of bounded field protecting what looked like a camp." Rider said offhandedly. "I didn't get too close though. Faint as it was, I think there was a God or Divine Spirit in there that might have been able to notice me."
"Should we check?" Orion asked, looking to Shirou as a temporary Master much as the rest did.
Well, minus one.
"Do we have to?" Jason frowned. Far as he was concerned, avoiding a battle was just as good as fighting a battle.
The others stood up and began walking, spurring Jason to follow.
For as much bravado as Jason put forward, he knew his capability was the weakest among the Heroic Spirits.
So much for Jason's glory.
"What are you looking at?" Jason huffed as he passed Shirou by, but his mood soured further when it became clear that Shirou could keep up with everyone despite being mortal.
It was perhaps due to Jason's own pride to not be upstaged by Shirou that he grudgingly followed along without anymore complaints.
/-/
The scene at the east was worse than anyone could have thought as a wave of hellhounds, lamias, and even a minotaur were charging towards a bounded field that started from a pine tree. The sheer numbers were staggering as if they were spurred by a source of great power.
Worse than anything else were those desperately trying to hold the monsters back.
"…They're just kids? Teenagers at best." Saber said with wide eyes.
Cowardly or not, even Jason could tell that to suggest not doing anything was not a hero's way.
Shirou hardened his expression at the sight.
And then a nod to Lancer as the man boldly stepped forward.
Information or no information, the fear and panic in the eyes of those defending the bounded field- children not even of age, made it apparent which side they should join.
"Be cool. Stay calm." Leonidas placed on his golden helm, the plume lighting up in flames above his head. "We know what we are doing."
A spartan shield appeared on Leonidas's left arm, while a spear appeared in his right.
"Defend them, King of Sparta." Shirou beckoned.
The flames flickered heavily above Lancer's head before he leapt through the sky and straight to the battlefield.
"That is our specialty."
This was bad.
No, more than bad. It was terrible!
A young man fought desperately with a magic sword made of celestial bronze as monster after monster blurred in his field of view.
Everyone had gathered in a desperate attempt to defend the camp, but the enemy's numbers were far more than they could have ever imagined.
They were all going to die, and even the young man was starting to tire like everyone else.
"Thalia!" the young man cried.
"Shut up Seaweed brain, I know!" a young woman replied before conjuring a bolt of lightning and hurling it at the oncoming monsters.
Dozens perished in the crackling lightning, fading back into gold dust, but even more appeared to take their place.
"D-Dammit," Thalia panted for breath.
Behind Thalia a wave of arrows flew past as a troop of huntresses with tense expressions fired relentlessly.
"Tch," Thalia clicked her tongue, unwilling to look at the group. "Percy, we need to regroup!"
The young man, Percy hardly registered Thalia's words in the chaos of battle. Blood was rushing to his head, and his vision was swimming from fatigue.
"Where are the people from the Ares Cabin?!" Percy yelled as he drew closer to Thalia, the two watching other's backs.
"They're protecting Selena and the others from the Aphrodite and Hephaestus Cabins." Thalia gritted her teeth. "T-There's not enough of us."
"Shut up and keep fighting!" Another girl spoke up, bleeding and bruised from various injuries.
Clarisse La Rue, a member of the Ares Cabin.
Spitting out blood, Clarisse urged her fellow brothers and sisters to stand strong and-
"A valiant spirit. Ares would be proud!"
What?
The strength and sound of the voice shocked everyone as a cloud of dust and debris suddenly detonated on the battlefield. The ground cracked and quaked, rumbling underfoot as something or someone had plummeted from the sky.
The light of flames flickered momentarily before a billowing red cape and a release of magic energy then blew away all the dust.
"STAND FIRM WARRIORS!"
A towering man of rippling muscles appeared while braced behind a shield and holding a spear aloft.
The shield was as large as the man was tall. Fiery red tattoos were smeared over skin, and on his shield the sigil of lambda; a symbol for Lacedaemon, the ancient Hellenic word for the city state of Sparta was proudly donned.
"Come hither, to Ares we lay tribute!"
The sky rumbled, flickering with flames as if the God of War himself was shocked by such developments.
This feeling, this distant memory brought back to life.
"Though the enemy may number many…"
The man sparked a light over his lance by butting it against his shield, creating a violent storm of wind and energy that lifted his cape behind him.
Percy blinked, much did Thalia and the others, and in the next moment, the roar of hundreds of men sounded in the night.
"THIS IS…THE MIGHT OF SPARTA!"
The clanking of shields, spears and swords were echoed by a billowing shout.
"Thermopylae Enomotia!"
Guardian of the Hot Gates.
One by one, phantoms of the past appeared. Draped in ethereal blue but proudly flying the colors of their glorious city, the Gods above bore witness to their spectacle once more.
Although the enemy numbered many, something surged in the hearts and bodies of those that could never forget the mark these warriors had left in history.
"WE NUMBER THREE HUNDRED!"
Thanks for reading! This is going to be a shorter event quest I've been thinking of for a while that crosses with Percy Jackson instead of just using an event quest that everyone's already seen from the mobile game. I wanted to do something that seemed fresher for events kind of like fgo does by putting events between Singularities.
Let me know what you think, Cheers!
Free web novel :[The Apostate in Grim Fantasy] (For those that asked, the web novel is available on webnovel and the patron main page, leave a review if you'd like! New goal is 20 reviews)
Next update: To be announced
P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious
Book links:
Fatedlegacydark
New Book: Out on Amazon (Remove dash on link)
Survivor's Log Reflection: Amazon.c-om/dp/B08VDDGN7Z?