015 - Final Destination (Part 2)

Mashu Kyrielight

Her body was burning with the raw volume of prana flowing through her veins, still sore and sensitive after Haku-Senpai's forceful activation of her Noble Phantasm. Each and every single fiber of her body crying in pain from the additional exertion when she should be resting to recover from the previous one.

But she didn't have the luxury of rest.

Because her shield was the only thing standing between the Lady Director and the collapsing cave roof, like a metal umbrella holding back the rain of rocks threatening to crush them under its weight. Normally, holding back a cave-in like this to provide a safe spot for an indeterminate amount of time wouldn't be beyond her abilities. Failure of a Demi-Servant as she is, her dumb raw strength would at least be capable of that much.

Spent and bruised as she is right now, though…

"Ma– Kyrielight!? Why did you–?" The Lady Director's voice comes out in uneven gasps and starts, so very different from her usual firm resolve. Considering the fact she was nearly crushed by tons of rock, Mashu can't really hold it against her. "No, nevermind that. Can you hold it up?"

With a somewhat incredible timing, it's at that point that Mashu feels her knees buckle under the strain. She manages to recover… this time. But it's painfully obvious that the situation can't be maintained for much longer.

"I'm sorry, Lady Director." She apologizes, gritting her teeth as she tries -and mostly fails- to put more strength into holding her position. "I don't think I can keep this up for much longer."

"RIght, right… Considering what you just did, I guess that would be… Acceptable." Mashu takes the disappointed words with the ease coming from long practice. 'Acceptable' simply isn't enough when so many rely on her, but Mashu is at least accustomed to being a failure. "Just hold on for a moment longer, I think I can use some of the gems I got at Tohsaka-sensei's here."

Following these words the Lady Director starts working on something whose exact details fly way over Mashu's head. The most she can tell is that a thick black miasma is released to seep in-between the rocks trying to crush them and then the some glowing gems are carefully placed around the little free space they have to form a circle.

On the one hand, the systematic fastidiousness with which the Lady Director works even under pressure speaks well of her self-discipline. Stress is the enemy and trying to hurry things along while doing magecraft is a sure recipe for disaster. On the other hand, Mashu can't feel her arms anymore and she would really prefer it if whatever solution the Lady Director is working on would arrive before they both end up crushed under the rocks!

"And… Actualized." The Lady Director announces while clapping her hands together, relaxing at the same time that Mashu feels the overwhelming weight trying to crush her fading away. "You can relax now, Kyrielight. The ceiling should hold up for now."

Slowly, hesitantly, still half-expecting the rocks to start collapsing again the very moment she moves her shield away, Mashu slowly pulls away. It's only when ominous creaks or sudden shifts on the ceiling fail to manifest that she finally allows herself to relax.

And with that, she means falling on her knees with a breath of relief. That was a very close one.

"Thank you for your hard work, Lady Director." She says with a small nod, leaning back to rest against the rocky walls as she tries to even out her breathing. "Did you happen to see what happened to Haku-senpai?"

She's not that worried about her Master. If even a third-rate Servant like her could survive and make herself useful, there's no doubt her amazing Master who can even go toe-to-toe with Servants would manage the same with only a fraction of the effort.

"I think she dodged ahead of the collapse. Don't worry, Fujimaru is resourceful, so I doubt she'd die from something as pedestrian as falling rocks." The Lady Director answers in a confident voice, mimicking Mashu's own thoughts. "Still, I hope she didn't end up trapped with Saber of Black instead…"

Mashu's small hopeful smile suddenly freezes at these words, an ominous premonition gripping her heart like the cold grasp of death.

'Haku-senpai?' She telepathically calls out, suddenly feeling very worried. 'Are you alright?'

'Sorry, can't talk now.' The answer comes out in a strained voice, Haku-senpai's attention obviously focused on something else. 'Busy with Saber.'

"...I just jinxed it, didn't I?" The Lady Director asks all of a sudden, voice uncharacteristically sheepish.

Mashu doesn't consider herself a petty or vindictive person and she certainly wouldn't ever dream of blaming the Lady Director of the current situation, but… She still can't help but briefly think on how the Lady Director might've been learning a little too much from Tohsaka-san, in the privacy of her own mind.

Saber of Black.

The fight ended with the clash of Noble Phantasms. She could've seen it coming, she should've seen it coming. But she wasn't looking for it and even her sharp instincts have limits. As things often do in combat, the situation swiftly changed from 'Testing the Chaldeans' to 'At the mercy of the Chaldeans' in the blink of an eye.

Already knowing what the result would be, she tests her bindings holding her in place with all her strength. As expected, nothing is achieved beyond causing the humming energy field around her body to hum louder. She's fairly sure she could have broken free with a Mana Burst, but…

Her eyes narrow as she examines the eight levitating beam emitters positioned all around her form to create her current prison.

"Artifacts specially designed to contain spiritual existences… no, not just that. Artifacts specially designed to contain negatively charged spiritual existences. They can even cut me off from the tainted grail while they hold me in place." She analyzes coldly before turning her attention back towards the smiling redhead of achingly familiar features standing before her. "A trap that sprung when I emptied my reserves, right before the grail could refill them. You knew how the clash of our Noble Phantasms would play out, you set this up beforehand. Did you set up the cavern collapse too?"

She's still holding her Excalibur but, without prana to feed it, that's just an indestructible blade with an impossibly sharp edge. Ultimately useless in her current predicament, since can't even swing her arms around.

In the end, it wasn't her potential peer that took her down, but the one she had put out of her mind. Not the unknown Servant bearing a shield that shouldn't exist anymore, but the unknown Master bearing a face that shouldn't exist anymore. Some would feel outraged at this turn of events, at finding their overwhelming power rendered useless in the face of guile and deceit, at finding the weak rise in arms against strong and win.

Saber wasn't one of them. It stung her pride, yes. But that was because she had been outmatched, rather than due to how that circumstance came to be. Overwhelming power is hardly required to defeat an opponent. Oftentimes, a poisoned dagger through a chink in their armor is all it takes to fell the mighty.

Considering what lies waiting for the Chaldeans in the near future, the wit required to execute this sort of flawless ambush will prove far more valuable than the raw might to overwhelm a simple Servant, no matter how far the Grail was empowering her at the time.

"Sometimes I forget you're perfectly qualified as a Caster. Good eye there." The Master concedes with a sigh, indirectly admitting they know far more about Saber's background than what simple awareness of a True Name would allow for. "But I'm afraid that's for me to know and you to keep wondering. A girl needs to keep some secrets to herself, after all."

Saber doesn't doubt for a moment that this cunning woman has revealed exactly as much about herself as she intended to. Which means there was intent behind her words, the roundabout admission of deep knowledge about Saber's Legend wasn't something spilled on accident, but rather a clue intentionally left there for Saber to pick on.

… She has no doubt Merlin, or even Agravain, would've instantly picked on any hidden meanings, but Saber isn't suited for this sort of mind games, so it takes her longer to walk through the logic.

The Chaldean Master knows far more about King Arthur than your average magus would. But that's no mere coincidence, there is a reason why she does. A reason relevant to this situation. To Chaldea, to the Singularities, to the Grand Order. This Master didn't just happen to have an in-depth knowledge about King Arthur that allowed her to win this encounter, this Master gained an in-depth knowledge about King Arthur to win this encounter.

This Master knows.

Saber doesn't know how much this Master knows. Maybe she's aware of the real mastermind behind this threat to Human History itself, maybe she's only gained insight into some of the various layers of deceit and half-truths obscuring what's really going on, but she knows far more than she should. Another irregularity, another spanner on the works that shouldn't exist, like the interlopers.

Unless…

"You… Who are you?"

Saber glares at the girl with suspicion, but the redhead's smile doesn't even waver. Instead, she takes a couple of steps towards her bound form, arms carelessly held behind her back.

"Your boyfriend asked the same, you know?" The woman asks teasingly before giving her a relaxed shrug. "I'm just a simple human hoping to save humanity."

Saber finds herself snorting in incredulity at the outrageous statement. Anyone capable of remaining calm and relaxed under Saber's glare, anyone capable of getting the better of her in combat, could be called anything but 'a simple human'.

"A humble follower of our Lord and Savior." The Chaldean Master continues on, pulling out a familiar necklace from inside her clothes, a coin depicting a serpent. "The Demon Lord Re'em."

That's it, Saber realizes, that's the connecting factor. Who is this Demon Lord Re'em, what is the Demon Lord Re'em? A different name for a known quantity? A safety measure for this exact event? A Foreign God? Where did they come from and what are their intentions?

Saber simply knows nothing about them and, considering the current circumstances, she can only hope that's for the best.

Still smiling, the maybe-not-Chaldean-after-all Master steps right in front of Saber, raising her right hand until the Command Crest on her back lies right in front of Saber's face.

"By the power of my Command Spell…"

Tohsaka Rin

By the time they make their way inside the Greater Grail cavern, it's obvious the action is already over. The Greater Grail itself remains more or less intact, but the cavern looks like it has been through a couple rounds with a drunk Altera. Craters and scorch marks seem to litter every inch of the chamber and a big section of it has outright collapsed.

A clearly artificial tunnel carved out of the pile of rocks hints at someone getting caught into the collapse and needing to dig her way out and… Are those rocks secured with hardened tar? From the inside out? But how would it have soaked so efficiently into the– Oh!

That's the smoke-to-tar transmutation Olga had planned for crowd control, isn't it? Clever girl, adapting that idea to secure debris instead is a great display of improvisation skills. That's some nice quick thinking right there, the girl has potential.

Speaking of which… both the girl in question and the cute Demi-Servant are fussing around the kneeling figure of a panting and wheezing Haku who looks about ready to collapse out of sheer exhaustion. Taking these clues into consideration, Rin would venture a guess and assume Olga and Mashu got caught in the cave-in, leaving Haku to fend for herself against Saber of Black on her own.

And, judging by the perfectly circular, still sizzling, fist-size hole on the ground and the blatant absence of said Servant, winning before the other two could dig themselves out. Nothing new there, that's just Haku for you.

In any case, it seems like they've won the day. With the defeat of Saber of Black, the Black Faction is no more and this Holy Grail War is over. If things worked as they're supposed to, the Grail would now descend to fulfill a single wish from the winners. Which is, of course, when the sound of clapping echoes through the cavern and someone walks out from their hiding spot behind the Greater Grail.

Ah, yes. Lev Laniur Flauros.

How could she forget about the star of the show?

Well… There's a reason she took the Red Gem out of her Workshop today.

Status Window Update:

Proton Pack (Ghostbusters, Dr. Egon Spengler): A man-portable cyclotron system that functions by colliding high-energy positrons to generate a proton beam. The beam allows the user to contain and hold negatively charged spiritual entities. As a purely technological device, the Proton Pack is not affected by Magic Resistance.

AN: For the record, Haku wasn't leaving clues on purpose. Saber picked up on them anyway and somehow managed to arrive at the right conclusion. Instinct is a truly OP skill.

Singularity F being the prologue has implications that go beyond simple narrative convenience. There is a reason even an inexperienced Fujimaru with subpar Servants and lacking backup managed to come out on top. Every single enemy here is either weakened or pulling their punches.

It stands to reason that Haku would have a relatively easy time, though that might have consequences down the line…

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