Chapter 4 – Heroic Spirits Battle

The group headed up Mount Enzo, ready to fight. Mash walked ahead of Olga and Ritsuka, while Emyia and Cu were on their sides, ready in case of an attack. As they approached the hill, they saw another Archer standing at the entrance to the cave, looking a bit darker.

"So you finally made it." - Archer said.

"A certain demi-hound slowed us down." - Emyia replied.

Archer just nodded and replied - "Understandable."

Cu simply fired a barrage of fireballs, which Archer dodged by jumping down, and was then forced to block Cu's staff with his swords, the owner of that staff said - "You know what? They've been annoying me so much, I'm going to take it out on you."

Cu then threw a kick, which Archer blocked with his knee, and the two of them jumped away from each other and lined up for battle.

"Let's go." - Olga said, and the others ran to the entrance.

Then Archer suddenly jumped to the side, swords ready, and steel sparked.

"Assassin again, not Saber?" - Emyia asked, looking at his opponent - "I see Grail still doesn't like you, Kojiro."

Kojiro was in his purple robe with a long katana but without any traces of being as dark as this version of Emyia or Medusa.

Kojiro replied to Emyia - "What can I say? It doesn't bother me that much. And even though I don't know you, I feel like I've already crossed blades with you."

"Shiro!" - Ritsuka shouted.

"Keep going." - Emyia said, jumping away from his opponent and taking a fighting stance - "I'll take him out and join him soon. Just hold out for a while."

Ritsuka looked at him for a moment and said - "Good luck." – then she ran off with Mash and Olga.

"Looks like the odds are on our side again." – said Archer.

"And where did this guy come from anyway?" – asked Cu.

"Aritoria must have summoned him." – replied Emyia.

"She's right." – said Kojiro, preparing for the fight - "And while not ideal circumstances, the chance to fight against a Saber of your caliber is a real honor."

"Slow down your horses." – said Cu, catching his attention - "This guy is Archer-class."

"And you're a Caster." – said Archer.

"And an Assassin to boot." – finished Emyia.

"Looks like fighting style and classes can be a bit confusing." – said Kojiro.

Emyia quickly prepared for the fight as well and said - "Cu Chulainn."

"What's up?" – asked Cu.

"You'll get what you deserve for jinxing it earlier." - said Emyia and went to attack.

Cu just shook his shoulders and shot fireballs at his opponent.

Ritsuka, Olga, and Mash ran into a huge cave that was partly natural and partly made into a mage workshop. They slowed down just enough so that they wouldn't get too tired if they had to enter the fight. The journey was peaceful for now.

Meanwhile, Cu continued to fight his opponent, but it was Archer who was gaining the upper hand.

"What happened, Hound!?" - Archer shouted as he rushed at Cu, who was blocking with his staff.

After they struggled for a moment, Archer continued - "Where is that famous Gae Bolg who is supposed to take me down in one hit?"

Archer kicked Cu, who rolled on the ground for a moment, but quickly jumped into the air and released several fireballs. Archer just jumped back, switched blades to a bow, and fired a volley of arrows.

"Do you really hate me that much?" - Cu asked as he used runes to put up a wall in front of him that barely blocked the arrows. He then used another rune to send the pieces of wall that were left flying at Archer at high speed.

Archer quickly hid behind a nearby rock as the ground began to bounce off.

Cu was already planning his next move when Archer ran out from behind cover and threw his swords at Cu. Cu quickly deflected them with his staff, but Archer was already close with a new pair of swords and was pressing Cu again.

Meanwhile, Emyia continued to sword fight with Kojiro. Although there were a few cuts on Kojiro's robe, he was clearly starting to dominate this fight.

Kojiro disarmed Emyia again, but Emyia immediately created another sword and they didn't stop fighting for even a second.

Finally, Emyia jumped back and collided with Cu's back. Emyia quickly said - "So... we're not doing so well."

"That's an understatement." - Cu said. Kojiro and Archer began to flank them. Cu just said – "Any ideas that won't kill our master?"

"Just one." – Emyia said, then took a small pouch and handed it to Cu, saying – "If you're Caster, then you should know what these do."

Cu grabbed the pouch and smiled – "Well, well, well. Your friend must have been a very good mage in life."

"You have no idea." – Emyia smiled.

"Have you done chatting." – Archer shouted.

"Yes." – Emyia said, although he was slightly surprised that they hadn't been interrupted. Kojiro could understand, but his counterpart. This was the perfect opportunity. And why does Kojiro look exactly like it was in his timeline, while his counterpart didn't? There's something to it, but what?

But first, he had to focus on his opponent.

He threw his short swords at Kojiro, who immediately deflected them, causing them to fall next to him. Emyia continued his attack and hit Kojiro. He miscalculated the distance, as Emyia summoned a different sword than his usual one.

Still, the wound was only superficial and did not weaken Kojiro in any way.

Ritsuka, Olga, and Mash entered the cave, which was much larger than they had originally thought. As soon as they entered, they were all amazed by the sheer amount of mana coming out of the Holy Grail.

But their guesses were interrupted when they heard a voice of slight amazement.

They saw King Arthur himself, or rather Artoria, on a small hill, all in pitch-black armor and with a sword, emanating magical energy with every step.

"What an interesting Servant you have." - she said, her golden eyes glowing, while the red runes on her sword flashed.

Mash quickly pulled out her shield and prepared to fight.

"A shield, huh?" - Saber said, looking down at them - "You should prepare it, strange girl. With this sword, I will test if your defense is real!"

The last swing blew a gust of pure magical energy. Which everyone felt.

However, Rituska also felt something else. Her body was starting to get hot.

Meanwhile, Cu found himself in a small temple on a mountain with a hollowed-out cave. Falling to the middle of the field, he saw Archer pointing his sword at him, which he was putting on his bow.

"That's all you can do as Caster!" - Archer shouted, changing his sword into an arrow.

Cu saw the attack coming and quickly summoned a mass of huge vines that blocked most of the damage, but the explosion itself pushed him further back, and Cu clearly began to lose ground.

Archer landed on the roof of the temple and drew another sword that had turned into an arrow. Cu staggered for a second, clearly recognizing the weapon that the arrow was made of.

The arrow went and suddenly Cu smiled, put his hand on the ground, and shouted - "Let's begin, on a grand scale!"

A magic circle appeared, and then the arrow stopped, then disappeared. Then more magic circles began to appear on the floor.

Archer jumped trying to escape by jumping up, but a rune suddenly appeared in the air and bounced him back to the ground. Archer stood up, but the bow disappeared as Archer spoke - "You placed the runes in the air!"

As Archer stood up, Cu began to lecture calmly – "Yeah, my mentor had a spell that summoned the Underground Gate. I basically stole it. Shooting at you from a distance won't do anything, but exhaust me, and you'll exhaust me or use that Reality Marble of yours."

Suddenly, Cu got excited and started twirling his staff, although his face was still serious – "Here, we'll go all out and have our usual fight!"

Archer just nodded, summoned his two blades, and said – "You're a Caster class, so maybe you've actually become smarter than usual. Although, can your Master handle the mana for a spell of this scale?"

Cu just smiled and said – "Luckily, your counterpart on our side made sure to keep a small supply for both of us. Besides…"

Suddenly, Cu ignited his staff and then charged at Archer – "…smarts and taste are two different things."

Meanwhile, Kojiro was pressing on Emiya, who blocked the attack with a strange armored gauntlet with a shield, sword, spikes, and a few other things. Both of them had minor cuts on their bodies, and all around them were various types of swords. If you take that term liberally.

"That's a sword?" - Kojiro asked curiously as he pushed past Emyia.

Emyia smiled and replied - "Technically yes, but I don't know what kind. Something from Europe. I don't even remember what it was called."

Kojiro just smiled and broke the connection before striking with the blade again, which Emyia barely blocked with a piece of his sword. Kojiro jumped back, and Emyia tried to attack with that weapon, but it broke when the blades clashed again.

Not caring, Emyia summoned a Messer-type sword and redirected the weakened attack with the previous blade while he tried to strike Kojiro with the spikes sticking out of his iron fist.

Kojiro dodged, jumped back, and got back into his stance.

Before he could launch another attack, Emyia dropped his glove and charged with Messer, gaining much better leverage while summoning his epee, ready to finish it off with a quick strike to the heart.

However, Kojiro just bearly managed to get out of Emyia's leverage and counterattacked with his blade, which almost took Emyia down thanks to its better reach. Only a side roll at the last second saved him as he abandoned Messer.

Emyia then plunged his sword into the ground and readied two more blades, standing behind the embedded sword.

"I'm curious." - Kojiro began - "How many of these swords do you have and where did you get them from?"

"I made them myself." - Emyia said as the two prepared for battle once more.

"And if you want to know the number..." - Emyia continued, as Kojiro attacked first, moving at breakneck speed.

"Thousands!" - Emyia threw his swords and summoned more. Kojiro charged, deflecting the first one and dodging the second by running to the side.

Emyia quickly readied himself and their blades clashed again.

Meanwhile in the cave, Saber continued to pummel Masha's shield. The young girl stood bravely, but it was clear who was dominating here.

Chunks of earth flew in all directions from the blows, so Olga quickly threw her shield to protect herself and Ritsuka.

Saber continued to attack mercilessly while saying - "What's wrong? You're not functioning well?"

"Mash." - said Ritsuka worriedly, but the pain and heat all over her body were getting stronger.

Olga looked at Rituska for a second and saw that her veins were starting to turn red and she immediately understood that all the fighting was making Ritsuka's body start to give way.

"Hold on." - said Olga, casting a spell on Rituska that should have somewhat soothed the growing pain, and then she cursed silently - "What are those two doing to you?"

In the meantime, Saber's next attacks finally pushed Mash away, who fell on her back a few meters away, and her shield fell next to her.

"Mash!" - shouted Ritsuka and was about to help, but Olga and the pain held her back.

Olga quickly began - "You can barely stand. There, you would only be a nuisance to her, if not worse. You have to harden your heart and endure this."

Saber slowly walked over to the fallen Mash, who was trying to get up. As soon as she did, Saber swung her sword and created a shockwave that knocked Mash down again. Her body looked more and more beaten.

As the smoke cleared, Mash tried to get up again, and Ritsuka couldn't watch this one-sided fight anymore. At this point, Saber was almost having fun with it, although her expression remained neutral. If she wanted to, she could finish Mash off, or simply kill her and Olga on the spot.

"Don't look away." - The Chaldean Director stated firmly, which caught Ritsuka's attention, and Olga continued - "Look ahead! Hold your head high! What should you do now as Master?"

Ritsuka quietly obeyed and saw Mash stand up again, her large shield on her wobbly legs.

Saber was once again engulfed by the magical power around her body, preparing to attack.

Meanwhile, Cu and Archer continued their clash in the temple. The burning staff didn't hurt Cu, but the blasts of fire with each strike slowly made him become dominated. Until finally Cu knocked one of Archer's blades into the air.

Archer saw Cu's attack at the last moment and blocked the staff with his other sword.

The strike was so powerful that the staff lost fire, but Cu clearly didn't care, because he clearly caught Archer in a bad situation and said with complete confidence - "End of the show. You must have rusted somewhat."

Suddenly, the huge amount of mana building caught Cu's attention, so he turned around and saw light coming out of the cave.

"You're right." - Archer said suddenly, catching Cu's attention again - "You've come this far and you're worried about someone else."

Then Cu heard a strange sound. He saw Archer's second blade rushing towards him. He didn't knock it out, Archer was just pretending, and he caught himself.

Mash continued to stand, staring with determined eyes at Saber, who simply said - "I will respond to that gaze."

Magical energy continued to gather around her as she grabbed the sword with both hands and raised it above her head, continuing, "And the heart that wants to protect its Master."

The energy finally gathered around just the sword, making only a mass of massive, black magical energy visible, the sheer intensity of which crackled with lightning around them.

"Please hold on Mash!" - Olga shouted.

Ritsuka, unable to hold it in any longer, ran out of the barrier towards Mash. Olga shouted for her to come back, but Ritsuka didn't even budge.

Mash was as ready as she could be when Saber finally shouted - "Excalibur Morgan!"

A swing of her sword released pure magical energy that struck the shield, breaking it into many smaller beams. The shockwave slightly pushed Ritsuka back, but she was still on her feet, her magical veins already almost blood red and glowing through her skin.

Emyia continued to cross blades with Kojiro but faced the growing magical energy. More and more swords decorated the ground around their feet, but neither seemed to mind.

"You can't fight at full strength if you're so concerned about another battle." - Kojiro said.

"True." – said Emyia, then smiled – "So it's time to end this.

Emyia jumped back and threw both blades at Kojiro. He blocked both, but then noticed that there was a crystal behind the other one, which suddenly began to glow. Emyia continued to stare at Kojiro, so Kojiro responded with the same.

A moment later, a flash of light from a slightly exploding crystal blinded both Heroic Spirits.

But while Kojiro took a defensive stance and sharpened his other senses to sense Emyia, he noticed that he was moving away, and something around him began to hiss strangely.

Suddenly, all the swords on the ground glowed with blue light and exploded, engulfing Kojiro. Emyia just threw another crystal, which glowed with a slightly green light, and Emyia quickly moved, but not to the cave, but towards the temple, while saying – "I hope I'm not mistaken with this."

Meanwhile, at the temple, Cu was caught with Archer's blade at his neck, with Archer standing behind him and saying confidently - "Looks like it's over."

Cu just sighed and said - "Will this shield resist the sword? Or maybe this sword will pierce the shield?"

"I heard something similar a long time ago." - Archer replied.

"Yeah? And what was the answer?"

He replied with a paradox. - "It only creates a contradiction."

"Ha! I don't know. I always think the same about this story. If both things are equal, then doesn't everything depend on the skill of those who wield them? Or let me put it another way. If you lose because of the efficiency of the weapon, then humans compensate for it with wisdom, right?"

Suddenly, Cu shot the gem straight at Archer's face with a small flick and it exploded, freeing Cu.

However, Archer immediately counterattacked by driving both blades into Cu's back.

Archer thought for a moment that he had won, but instead, his arms and blades were covered in a bush, catching Archer in place.

Then Cu's entire body turned into a piece of wood, but out of it suddenly came Cu, albeit without a shirt or coat, confidently saying - "Do not underestimate the Sage of the Forest."

Archer barely managed to rip his arms away and jump back as the wooden statue exploded.

"Sorry." - Cu said, Archer already following him as he stood on the roof of the temple - "This is all new to me."

He then moved his staff and Archer was surrounded by flames. There was another rune on the ground.

But instead of a column of fire, a huge hand of plants appeared and grabbed Archer, crushing him hard, and then slammed him into the ground.

The shockwave made Cu's hair fly in the wind, but he didn't even blink.

When the hand of the plants disappeared, it revealed the body of his opponent.

However, despite the injuries, he was still breathing.

Cu was about to go for another attack when Emyia appeared and tapped him on the shoulder - "I'll finish him off. You help Master and the rest. After all, your MP requires less mana."

Cu looked into his eyes and replied - "Fine."

Cu quickly ran to the cave, and Emyia looked at his dark counterpart. Despite appearances, he could tell that he was barely standing. He himself had many cuts, but he was in much better condition.

"What do you really want?" Archer asked.

Emyia jumped in front of his counterpart and said - "The truth."

Meanwhile, Ritsuka and Olga continued to watch as the wave of dark magic pressed against Mash's shield. Fou cried out in worry, reminding her of his presence.

Despite Mash holding on with all her might, she eventually fell to her knees, barely holding onto the shield.

She was about to lose consciousness when she felt someone grab her hand as well and help her up. Turning her face, she saw the person and only said - "Senpai."

Ritsuka, with red veins still appearing all over her body, only smiled and said - "I believe in you."

Ritsuka then activated the Command Seal and gave Mash a boost, which caused Mash herself to glow with a soft light.

Mash, feeling her strength return and then surpassing all previous norms, stood up from her knees, grabbed the shield, and said - "Please watch me, Master."

Suddenly the shield began to glow and another shield projection appeared in front of it, surprising everyone with the appearance of the Noble Phantasm. A second later the shield turned into a wall, which instead of taking the beam of destruction, deflected it back at Saber, who barely tried to speak before being hit by her own power.

Meanwhile, on top of the temple, Archer and Emyia continued their conversation, with Archer merely smiling as he replied - "What truth?"

If he wanted to say anything else, he was interrupted by Emyia - "The fact that you fought half-heartedly. Kojiro didn't even try to use his NP against me. And speaking of Kojiro, why did you allow him to be summoned and not Berserker? If it was Hercules again, he would have taken us out himself."

"And? What do you think?"

"You tried to separate us so that Ritsuka, Olga, and Mash could face Artoria alone. In a way, it felt more like a test than an actual fight, even if our lives were at stake."

In the cave, when the smoke cleared, Saber was still on her feet and already preparing for another attack.

In comparison, Mash finally fell to her knees, barely conscious. Ritsuka wasn't much better and was barely holding Mash up, herself down on one knee. Her magic circuits still glowed red crimson against her skin, and the tuft of hair in front of her was starting to turn gray. The wall itself was starting to disintegrate into particles of blue light.

"I'm fine." - Mash said, trying to stand up - "This isn't over yet..."

Saber gathered magic around her sword again and was already preparing to attack when suddenly a voice echoed throughout the cave, drawing everyone's attention immediately.

"My magic is the Flame Cage. A burning, yet lush giant. Revenge. A temple that purifies the evil of human affairs."

Suddenly, Cu appeared next to Rituska and Mash, only slowing down to say - "I am proud that you have endured this long."

Then Cu jumped in front of them and finished - "The one who destroys... Wicker Man!"

Saber suddenly noticed that runes began to glow beneath her. Her sword, still glowing with dark power, did not stop even as a huge doll began to appear under her feet.

Standing on its head, Artoria tried to run down but was hit by the doll and then thrown inside it, where instead of a torso she had a cage in which Artoria was locked.

She didn't even have time to try to get out before the giant fell and spontaneously combusted. The act caused a huge amount of heat, which fortunately was directed upwards, causing only a large column of fire to break through the ceiling and fly into the sky, piercing the clouds.

When the dust settled, Saber was still standing, as if unaffected by the attack, although her magic power had waned. She looked at Mash and Ritsuka, then said - "Victory for the power that protects? I see... Such as this innocent one..."

Then Artoria smiled slightly, closed her eyes, and said - "In the end, no matter how fate changes, the same end always awaits me when I'm alone."

A golden light began to surround Artoria as she began to disappear.

"What does that mean?" - Cu asked seriously - "You know something?"

Artoria, whose legs had already disappeared, looked serious and said - "You'll find out eventually, Irish Child of Light. Grand Order..." - Olga immediately reacted to the name.

Arotria, when only her head was left in the air, continued - "The Battle for the Holy Grail has only just begun."

Cu immediately shouted - "Hey, wait, what do you mean by that."

Saber then disappeared.

"I guess this is our victory or something." - Mash said, slightly unsure of the situation.

"I hope so." - Rituska said, thinking about the very disturbing sentence at the end that the King of Knights had said.