Chapter 348
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Chapter 348:
It happened so quickly that I barely registered the sea of flames that filled the room. My Aura flared on instinct covering me protectively, but for some reason I felt something scathing brush across my body for a brief moment.
Hinako, who reeled in my hands let out a pain filled cry as I tried my best to protect her from the explosion. It only lasted for a fraction of a second, however, it already decimated our surroundings, with the ensuing flames devouring everything else in the way.
The ceiling of this industrial and fortified complex caved in at the sheer might of the eruption, to the point where snow began falling as if the outside weather managed to get inside. That brief weather change didn't last long enough for me to even gather a second thought about it before the ceiling caved completely, toppling to cover us.
Without another moment of contemplation, I cast a Greater Ward around us to hold up the falling debris. I was about to anchor it to a proper Bounded Field to keep physical items outside, when the whole facility shook violently.
Explosions rang out from every direction, causing the lights to flicker and sirens start to wail/scream/sound. I instantly started to panic for the people I deemed under my protection, but I had to force those feelings down and deal with the individual currently squirming in my arms.
"Hinako..." I gently whispered as I took a look at her face. Her eyes shot up, a very bright red sheen in them as she gasped and wheezed. I was stunned at the state she was in.
She was an Elemental that I confused for a True Ancestor on our first meeting! How could a mere explosion cause this kind of damage!?
Out of the corner of my eye, I swiped my hand, catching a piece of something. I opened my fingers to see the scraps of parchment, an uneasy feeling overcame me as it tried to burn through my Aura.
"Holy Sacraments?" I whispered again, clutching my hand tight, destroying the piece of paper.
It was no wonder that I felt something scalding touch me. Even if I experienced no actual damage due to my nature as a Campione at this point, just the feeling of it brushing against me was painful due to my Devil heritage.
The bomb contained fragments of Holy Sacraments that scattered upon the explosion. This was not some random occurrence, or some haphazard terrorism. This was targeted and probably specifically tailored for Hinako.
...If I hadn't become a Campione, if I didn't have my Aura, that may have caused me an exceedingly high amount of pain and harmed me in a way that was unrecoverable.
My hands erupted in a bright and warm light as I began casting a Healing Spell on Hinako. I pulled her in a little closer so her body could lean against me as I began focusing on the more damaged part of her. Pressing my hands against her back, I could feel the blood oozing out, and I could vaguely feel that her flesh was nearly stripped away completely.
With Holy Sacraments, I could understand how she was wounded but still, this was too much. I could feel her flesh knitting back together, but the errant Holy Power that had invaded her body was wreaking havoc by the convulsions she was exhibiting.
The Holy Sacraments of the Church, it despised existences like her. She was an Elemental, but she could take in power through blood, making her no different than a Vampire in their eyes.
"Hinako, stay focused, you're going to be okay." I gently called out to her as her eyes refocused slightly. However, her body was still trembling and shaking from the pain and the attack.
She mumbled something incoherently, and I could see tears slowly drifting down her face. The pain she must be experiencing.....
"How long have you isolated yourself that you've become so weak?" I couldn't help but blurt out in a hushed tone. She was a damn Nature Spirit – an Elemental that lived in the Human World before the Age of Gods, she was not an existence that could be brought so low by something like this.
The only explanation would be that she had been slowly degrading over the years and never sought to rectify that.
It wouldn't have taken much, just feeding on some blood every few decades would have substantially helped her in this situation. But she had been running on the equivalent of fumes for how long now? Her vitality was completely running dry. nôvel binz was the first platform to present this chapter.
Like a human who hadn't eaten in weeks. Except, it was over the course of centuries for her.
I pulled my Aura back, and gently guided her head down to my wrist.
It didn't take much, perhaps instinct took over, but I felt a tinge of pain as something sunk into my skin and blood began flowing out.
The blood flowed out continuously for a few moments, the sounds from far away continued to give me anxiety at each passing second. The building continued to shake at the very foundations with the sirens blaring from down the hall.
"W-what?" The Elemental finally regained her wits as she raised her head, noticing what happened. She looked down at my wrist, then ran a finger across her lips where some blood speared across her skin. "...you fed me your blood."
"You good now? My blood should be potent enough with just that small amount."
"What happened? We were talking then all of the sudden...." She paused, reaching a hand behind her to feel her naked back. "And you healed me too."
"Holy Sacraments." I held back a snarl. "Someone tried to assassinate you, but you're not the only one." As if to prove my point, another massive explosion rang out not far away, shaking all the hanging debris once more.
A look of shock mixed with anxiety filled her own features. She quickly tried to stand up, but staggered as I caught her again. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" She gritted out. "I'm fine." She iterated again, a little gentler. "...I don't like drinking blood. I've only done so a couple times in the past. It's going to take me a few minutes to digest it, especially since yours is Divine....mixed with some other things apparently." She shot me a look of confusion, but it wasn't the time or place.
"I need to check on everyone." I quickly helped her steady herself.
She regained her wits fast, realizing the situation. "Go, go. I'll be right behind you."
I nodded , pushing my way towards the exit to the room. My bounded field would hold for a while, so I wasn't too worried about her. Her latent abilities would kick in quick enough and she would heal completely in a matter of minutes with a lot more energy to her than before.
As I kicked down the bent metal door, I could vaguely hear a call of thanks from behind me. I gave her one last look, before heading off to check on the situation.
I practically slid to a stop as I kicked down another door, using far more force than a human could normally bring. It crumpled enough that I could pull it off its hinges and tossed it to the side.
"T-thanks!" I saw someone wearing the Chaldean uniform cough as he scurried over and dived through the opening as black smoke filled the room nearly to the brim.
"Are you a Magus?" I quickly brought him to his feet.
"No –" His voice was interrupted with more coughs. "Normal human." He wheezed some more. "The hell is going on!?"
I took out some Talismans, and pushed them into his hands. "I don't know, but it's bad. If you find a Magus, give him those and tell him they're healing Mystic Codes, they'll understand. Otherwise, get to safety or help anyone you see." I patted his shoulder, not giving him a chance to respond as I kept moving.
I'm going to kiss Scáthach so hard for forcing me to make so many Talismans. I had plenty to keep doing this for as many people as I ran into. They aren't the best methods of healing, but they're invaluable when someone's teetering on the edge. It can at least save some lives if it's as bad as I'm imagining around the remainder of the facility.
"Water, get some water!"
I immediately ran towards the shout, vaguely recognizing it.
"Friederike le Drachenkönige." I blurted out his name on instinct, as it was kind of seared into my mind by the absurdity of our first meeting.
The man turned around as he was leading several – what looked like technicians, out of a room.
And he did not look to be in good shape.
"You, Takao Shimoda." He turned his head only for me to see a good portion of it burned pretty badly, to the point where his left eye was shut and he had no hair on a good portion of that side of his head with some nasty burns.
As he was about to say something else, another explosion erupted from the room they were just in, flinging the magus backwards into the wall. The flames looked to consume him, only for a cry to ring out and a red light spring around the fire, dispersing it with relative ease and the Magus coughing out a little bit of blood.
I quickly knelt at his side, hands alight with a Healing Spell. "Another Explosion?"
"A side effect..." He breathed out, holding up a shaking hand. "Sub Generators E through H were housed within that room and provided power to this part of the facility. I was unable –" He winced in pain.
"Are you okay?" I quickly asked as his complexion got a little better.
"Rubbish such as this will not keep a Drachenkönige down." He took a deep breath, forcing himself to his feet. "Fire is our domain." He said proudly, despite his current state. "Thank you, Sir Takao Shimoda." His eyes shone with gratitude. "You have proven yourself a great man. However, I have a duty I shall not sit idle."
Despite his haughty tone, I held a smidgen of respect for him. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"
"No, I'm afraid I do not. I was meeting with the Maintenance staff to access the Generators to prepare for the Rayshifting as per protocol. The next thing I know, everything was engulfed in a sea of fire. If not for my family's legacy, I would have been burnt to ash."
"A clear case of sabotage. I barely was able to save Hinako further back."
A fury quickly appeared on his face. "Let us dally no longer. I fear for the worse, I shall search for the maintenance staff and the more critical parts of the Facility. If I find who did this, I shall let them know the fury of a Drachenkönige!"
"How's your Healing?" I asked.
He scowled briefly but relented to my question. "My Crest allows for a form of self-healing, thus I never bothered with learning the arts beyond the bare minimum."
I took out some Talismans again, pushing a stack into his hands. "One time use Mystic codes, just inject Magical Energy. They work best if they're closer to the part that needs healing, but just slapping it on someone's body will also do the trick."
He didn't say thanks, even if I knew he wanted to. Instead, he nodded resolutely and put them away. "Sub Generators in the western wing are most likely in critical condition. They support both the greenhouses and medical facilities. I will be heading there next." He looked a little hesitant. "Can I leave you to look into the Eastern Generators? I don't know who to trust right now, but I know that you are not responsible."
Man, how much did he have to swallow his pride to ask a favor of a 'lowly' person like me. An amusing thought that I quickly pushed aside because we had much bigger problems. "Leave it to me."
Neither of us said anymore, pleasantries and real thanks could be given another time. Right now, we both started running down the hall and split at the next turn, the blaring sirens picking up as his figure disappeared down a corridor.
As I turned a few more corners, I noticed the emergency lights weren't on, but the normal lights were flickering constantly. However, there was snow and ice that started covering the hallways, the temperature dropped considerably as I looked up and saw a massive hole in the ceiling.
I had to come to a stop because what once filled the hole now blocked my path.
"...help...."
My head snapped to the side, a weak cry coming from nearby.
It was faint, which made it all the harder to hear with the sirens still blaring out in different parts of the building.
I moved to the wall, putting my ear against it. I heard some running water and I knocked a few times. I did this several more times, moving further down the wall until I heard a weak whine from the other side.
Without considering the consequences, it took out Mirage from within my Ring and pushed it through the wall, dragging it to the side, then downward before leveraging it and peeling off the outermost layer.
Immediately, I saw the source of the cries. A woman was stuck on the ground with pips having burst from above as they filled the room. My new hole let it all flood out, but it was close to submerging the woman. And by being stuck on the ground, a pipe had impaled her through her lower abdomen, and she couldn't get up.
Stepping through the threshold, I took a moment to eye my surroundings.
"Roman?" I called out to see the Medical specialist apparently standing at the head assuming control as a few dozen other people were working at monitors and collecting data.
"Takao!" His eyes lit up at seeing me. "I'm happy to see you made it, I was scared the worst happened."
"What happened? Where is everyone?"
He winced, ducking his head a little bit. "Someone set up bombs everywhere, I don't know who. I was...preoccupied and not in my office at the time, so I got lucky since it's now a big crater. I came running over here as fast as I could and it wasn't pretty."
"Roman, just tell me plainly."
He let out a tired sigh. "I had to shove who I could into the coffins to put them in stasis, otherwise they would have died. Nearly all of A-Team is out of commission or dead, and everyone of B-Team present I could find I also put in the coffins. The Emergency protocols went off after CHALDEAS sustained damage and designated anyone viable it could in the vicinity as a Master Candidate and initiated an emergency Rayshift."
"Who all was Rayshifted!?" I felt myself grabbing his shoulder unconsciously.
"A few people, um, I don't know exactly everyone. But some members of your team." He scratched his cheek.
"Rayshift me over, I'll go help."
"...we can't." Roman whispered. "There's a cool down time after every Rayshift, and we'll probably need to extract some people as soon as possible."
"What about –"
"Roman, can you hear us!? Roman!?" A very familiar voice sounded across the speakers set up in the command room, cutting me off.
"Director, I can hear you!" Roman shouted in response as the large screens down below began broadcasting an image of Olga.
"Good, we stabilized the connection again. I don't know how long it'll last this time, so quickly give a status report!"
"A status report is hard right now, Director. I had to step in because.....I'm the most senior one that is conscious or alive at the moment. 13 out of 17 Generators were destroyed, and out of the remainder, only two are operable at a viable level." Roman explained. "I don't have a body count yet, Director, we're still trying to recover all the wounded."
The Director scowled before looking up. "Shimoda?"
"I'm here, Director." I replied to her and I think I saw a hint of relief flash across her face. "Who else Rayshifted with you, Director? I haven't seen my team."
"We're here, Boss." I perked up hearing Samuel's voice as he could barely be seen behind Olga. Whatever method they were using to connect and get visual must have been rather small, because Olga basically covered the entire screen. "Erm....some of us are. I don't know where everyone else is."
"What happened?"
Olga looked at me and stepped to the side for Samuel to take over. "We were giving some of the new guys a tour. Lev came over and suggested it would be a good way to preoccupy their time."
I felt rage as the words left his mouth.
Lev.
I had to forcibly push my anger down as I formulated a plan. "Who else is there?"
"Uh it's me, Pierre, and Benjamin." He answered and I winced at a few names missing from there. He moved slightly to the side to show everyone else. ".....some others didn't make it, boss."
They were not in good shape. But mainly, my eyes focused on Benjamin, and the lack of a right arm.
"Their Uniforms probably saved them." Roman muttered.
Right, I'll have to really thank Da Vinci later.
"Right, now that's sorted. We managed to make contact with one of the Servants participating in the war that wasn't hostile. Caster agreed to a partnership and Samuel of B-Team managed to form a contract with him. With Caster, we technically have two Servants now."
"Two servants?" I furrowed my brow. "Who's the second?"
"Um, hello again, Senpai." The girl who treated that terrifying creature like a pet poked her head over. "I'm Mash Kyrielight, the only one to succeed in the Demi-Servant project." She hefted up a very large shield next to herself. I think I saw someone else standing next to her? But I couldn't recognize them immediately, maybe one of the wayward members of the new recruits?
.,..that's a curveball I didn't see coming. I didn't sense anything off about her before....
"So we have two Servants. And from what Caster told us so far, every other Servant in this Grail War is still active, but the one responsible is apparently King Arthur. And King Arthur is a girl...." Olga grunted as she explained the situation.
"Wait, really? Are you sure?" Roman looked shocked while I just froze.
"Surprised me too, but you can't fake that Sword. Anyone who sees it would be able to recognize her.....even if it was corrupted." A rather lazy voice followed up, as a blue-haired red-eyed man poked his face over. "Huh, interestin piece of Magecraft this things is." He poked at the transmission, making it blur for a moment.
"Stop it you brute! It's already too delicate, what if you break it!" Olga huffed, pushing him away.
"Hey, I'm more of a spearman than a spellcaster, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doin, sheesh."
"Cu Chulainn." I called out unconciously.
The Caster Servant turned to look back at the screen. But it was Olga who shoved her face in front of it. "What!? How did you know that, I haven't even told Roman yet!"
....If I didn't recognize him on sight after spending so much time with Scáthach, she would kick my ass later.
"Oh, I got recognized that easily, huh? Guess I'm more popular than I thought. You a fan, kid?" The Student of Scáthach chuckled.
"It was a lucky guess." I breathed out. "But I have a question for him."
"What's up?" He lazily asked.
"You said that the one responsible is King Arthur. Is she a short, young woman, blonde hair done up in a bun?" Just speaking the words made my hands tremble as I clutched them tight.
"...yeah. Wondering how you know that now." The Caster's expression turned a little more serious.
"Takao." Roman turned to look at me.
"Shimoda! How do you know that!?" Even the Director shouted from behind the Caster Servant.
"You said her sword is corrupted, what do you mean?"
"Hey, don't ignore me!" Olga huffed, but Caster took up the entire screen.
"Don't really know what happened. All the other Servants got this black mud-like stuff all over them, then became this weird version of themselves. Not much of a spellcaster like I said, but I recognize a curse when I see one, and it's powerful enough to get through a Saber's Magic Resistance, and Servants in general." Caster gave a brief explanation. "Seems like Saber is the ring leader though. She has the Grail, that's for sure. And the others are listening to her commands, or at least that damn Red Archer is." He added with an annoyed grumble.
Red Archer.
No.....
If there were a group of Servants I was familiar with, it would be the group that Rin had to face during her Grail War. So many iterations of her had to fight that same line up, and those memories were seared into my mind from what I inherited from Zelretch.
But he's saying that Saber was responsible. That she's a part of whatever was going on.....
My Artoria was corrupted through some means.
And now even my team was going to have to face her.
I took a deep breath and turned to walk out the room.
"Takao!?" Roman blurted out as I pushed past him, but I already knew what path I had to take.
I needed a quiet place, away from prying eyes. I don't know where I went exactly, only that there was no one nearby after a few seconds of running.
I took Mirage out once again as I stabbed it into the ground and placed my hands upon the Eye of Magnus. "Begin Calculations." I whispered as a three dimensional representation of the Planet appeared.
Rayshifting was a method of 'time travel' that skirted outside the 'rules'. It wasn't technically time travel in the normal sense. True Time Travel was....taboo. It wasn't something one could do lightly, and not something even the old man dabbled in unless the circumstances were exceedingly dire. Even the World-line getting destroyed by the Spider wouldn't have him resort to using true Time Travel.
There were consequences to making your past the future. It was entirely plausible that the laws of the world – that the Counter Force rejected me after this. But....I had to do this. My team were in trouble, and something happened to Artoria.
She wasn't my Artoria, but how could I stand by when a woman I cared so deeply for is in such a situation?
"Sorry Gramps, I'm going to break the rules." I quietly apologized to him.
I grabbed my sword out of the ground as my calculations were completed. They locked onto the Singularity taking place in Fuyuki.
With a swipe, I tore a hole through the fabric of reality, and walked right through.
[***]
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Chapter 348:
It happened so quickly that I barely registered the sea of flames that filled the room. My Aura flared on instinct covering me protectively, but for some reason I felt something scathing brush across my body for a brief moment.
Hinako, who reeled in my hands let out a pain filled cry as I tried my best to protect her from the explosion. It only lasted for a fraction of a second, however, it already decimated our surroundings, with the ensuing flames devouring everything else in the way.
The ceiling of this industrial and fortified complex caved in at the sheer might of the eruption, to the point where snow began falling as if the outside weather managed to get inside. That brief weather change didn't last long enough for me to even gather a second thought about it before the ceiling caved completely, toppling to cover us.
Without another moment of contemplation, I cast a Greater Ward around us to hold up the falling debris. I was about to anchor it to a proper Bounded Field to keep physical items outside, when the whole facility shook violently.
Explosions rang out from every direction, causing the lights to flicker and sirens start to wail/scream/sound. I instantly started to panic for the people I deemed under my protection, but I had to force those feelings down and deal with the individual currently squirming in my arms.
"Hinako..." I gently whispered as I took a look at her face. Her eyes shot up, a very bright red sheen in them as she gasped and wheezed. I was stunned at the state she was in.
She was an Elemental that I confused for a True Ancestor on our first meeting! How could a mere explosion cause this kind of damage!?
Out of the corner of my eye, I swiped my hand, catching a piece of something. I opened my fingers to see the scraps of parchment, an uneasy feeling overcame me as it tried to burn through my Aura.
"Holy Sacraments?" I whispered again, clutching my hand tight, destroying the piece of paper.
It was no wonder that I felt something scalding touch me. Even if I experienced no actual damage due to my nature as a Campione at this point, just the feeling of it brushing against me was painful due to my Devil heritage.
The bomb contained fragments of Holy Sacraments that scattered upon the explosion. This was not some random occurrence, or some haphazard terrorism. This was targeted and probably specifically tailored for Hinako.
...If I hadn't become a Campione, if I didn't have my Aura, that may have caused me an exceedingly high amount of pain and harmed me in a way that was unrecoverable.
My hands erupted in a bright and warm light as I began casting a Healing Spell on Hinako. I pulled her in a little closer so her body could lean against me as I began focusing on the more damaged part of her. Pressing my hands against her back, I could feel the blood oozing out, and I could vaguely feel that her flesh was nearly stripped away completely.
With Holy Sacraments, I could understand how she was wounded but still, this was too much. I could feel her flesh knitting back together, but the errant Holy Power that had invaded her body was wreaking havoc by the convulsions she was exhibiting.
The Holy Sacraments of the Church, it despised existences like her. She was an Elemental, but she could take in power through blood, making her no different than a Vampire in their eyes.
"Hinako, stay focused, you're going to be okay." I gently called out to her as her eyes refocused slightly. However, her body was still trembling and shaking from the pain and the attack.
She mumbled something incoherently, and I could see tears slowly drifting down her face. The pain she must be experiencing.....
"How long have you isolated yourself that you've become so weak?" I couldn't help but blurt out in a hushed tone. She was a damn Nature Spirit – an Elemental that lived in the Human World before the Age of Gods, she was not an existence that could be brought so low by something like this.
The only explanation would be that she had been slowly degrading over the years and never sought to rectify that.
It wouldn't have taken much, just feeding on some blood every few decades would have substantially helped her in this situation. But she had been running on the equivalent of fumes for how long now? Her vitality was completely running dry. nôvel binz was the first platform to present this chapter.
Like a human who hadn't eaten in weeks. Except, it was over the course of centuries for her.
I pulled my Aura back, and gently guided her head down to my wrist.
It didn't take much, perhaps instinct took over, but I felt a tinge of pain as something sunk into my skin and blood began flowing out.
The blood flowed out continuously for a few moments, the sounds from far away continued to give me anxiety at each passing second. The building continued to shake at the very foundations with the sirens blaring from down the hall.
"W-what?" The Elemental finally regained her wits as she raised her head, noticing what happened. She looked down at my wrist, then ran a finger across her lips where some blood speared across her skin. "...you fed me your blood."
"You good now? My blood should be potent enough with just that small amount."
"What happened? We were talking then all of the sudden...." She paused, reaching a hand behind her to feel her naked back. "And you healed me too."
"Holy Sacraments." I held back a snarl. "Someone tried to assassinate you, but you're not the only one." As if to prove my point, another massive explosion rang out not far away, shaking all the hanging debris once more.
A look of shock mixed with anxiety filled her own features. She quickly tried to stand up, but staggered as I caught her again. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" She gritted out. "I'm fine." She iterated again, a little gentler. "...I don't like drinking blood. I've only done so a couple times in the past. It's going to take me a few minutes to digest it, especially since yours is Divine....mixed with some other things apparently." She shot me a look of confusion, but it wasn't the time or place.
"I need to check on everyone." I quickly helped her steady herself.
She regained her wits fast, realizing the situation. "Go, go. I'll be right behind you."
I nodded , pushing my way towards the exit to the room. My bounded field would hold for a while, so I wasn't too worried about her. Her latent abilities would kick in quick enough and she would heal completely in a matter of minutes with a lot more energy to her than before.
As I kicked down the bent metal door, I could vaguely hear a call of thanks from behind me. I gave her one last look, before heading off to check on the situation.
I practically slid to a stop as I kicked down another door, using far more force than a human could normally bring. It crumpled enough that I could pull it off its hinges and tossed it to the side.
"T-thanks!" I saw someone wearing the Chaldean uniform cough as he scurried over and dived through the opening as black smoke filled the room nearly to the brim.
"Are you a Magus?" I quickly brought him to his feet.
"No –" His voice was interrupted with more coughs. "Normal human." He wheezed some more. "The hell is going on!?"
I took out some Talismans, and pushed them into his hands. "I don't know, but it's bad. If you find a Magus, give him those and tell him they're healing Mystic Codes, they'll understand. Otherwise, get to safety or help anyone you see." I patted his shoulder, not giving him a chance to respond as I kept moving.
I'm going to kiss Scáthach so hard for forcing me to make so many Talismans. I had plenty to keep doing this for as many people as I ran into. They aren't the best methods of healing, but they're invaluable when someone's teetering on the edge. It can at least save some lives if it's as bad as I'm imagining around the remainder of the facility.
"Water, get some water!"
I immediately ran towards the shout, vaguely recognizing it.
"Friederike le Drachenkönige." I blurted out his name on instinct, as it was kind of seared into my mind by the absurdity of our first meeting.
The man turned around as he was leading several – what looked like technicians, out of a room.
And he did not look to be in good shape.
"You, Takao Shimoda." He turned his head only for me to see a good portion of it burned pretty badly, to the point where his left eye was shut and he had no hair on a good portion of that side of his head with some nasty burns.
As he was about to say something else, another explosion erupted from the room they were just in, flinging the magus backwards into the wall. The flames looked to consume him, only for a cry to ring out and a red light spring around the fire, dispersing it with relative ease and the Magus coughing out a little bit of blood.
I quickly knelt at his side, hands alight with a Healing Spell. "Another Explosion?"
"A side effect..." He breathed out, holding up a shaking hand. "Sub Generators E through H were housed within that room and provided power to this part of the facility. I was unable –" He winced in pain.
"Are you okay?" I quickly asked as his complexion got a little better.
"Rubbish such as this will not keep a Drachenkönige down." He took a deep breath, forcing himself to his feet. "Fire is our domain." He said proudly, despite his current state. "Thank you, Sir Takao Shimoda." His eyes shone with gratitude. "You have proven yourself a great man. However, I have a duty I shall not sit idle."
Despite his haughty tone, I held a smidgen of respect for him. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"
"No, I'm afraid I do not. I was meeting with the Maintenance staff to access the Generators to prepare for the Rayshifting as per protocol. The next thing I know, everything was engulfed in a sea of fire. If not for my family's legacy, I would have been burnt to ash."
"A clear case of sabotage. I barely was able to save Hinako further back."
A fury quickly appeared on his face. "Let us dally no longer. I fear for the worse, I shall search for the maintenance staff and the more critical parts of the Facility. If I find who did this, I shall let them know the fury of a Drachenkönige!"
"How's your Healing?" I asked.
He scowled briefly but relented to my question. "My Crest allows for a form of self-healing, thus I never bothered with learning the arts beyond the bare minimum."
I took out some Talismans again, pushing a stack into his hands. "One time use Mystic codes, just inject Magical Energy. They work best if they're closer to the part that needs healing, but just slapping it on someone's body will also do the trick."
He didn't say thanks, even if I knew he wanted to. Instead, he nodded resolutely and put them away. "Sub Generators in the western wing are most likely in critical condition. They support both the greenhouses and medical facilities. I will be heading there next." He looked a little hesitant. "Can I leave you to look into the Eastern Generators? I don't know who to trust right now, but I know that you are not responsible."
Man, how much did he have to swallow his pride to ask a favor of a 'lowly' person like me. An amusing thought that I quickly pushed aside because we had much bigger problems. "Leave it to me."
Neither of us said anymore, pleasantries and real thanks could be given another time. Right now, we both started running down the hall and split at the next turn, the blaring sirens picking up as his figure disappeared down a corridor.
As I turned a few more corners, I noticed the emergency lights weren't on, but the normal lights were flickering constantly. However, there was snow and ice that started covering the hallways, the temperature dropped considerably as I looked up and saw a massive hole in the ceiling.
I had to come to a stop because what once filled the hole now blocked my path.
"...help...."
My head snapped to the side, a weak cry coming from nearby.
It was faint, which made it all the harder to hear with the sirens still blaring out in different parts of the building.
I moved to the wall, putting my ear against it. I heard some running water and I knocked a few times. I did this several more times, moving further down the wall until I heard a weak whine from the other side.
Without considering the consequences, it took out Mirage from within my Ring and pushed it through the wall, dragging it to the side, then downward before leveraging it and peeling off the outermost layer.
Immediately, I saw the source of the cries. A woman was stuck on the ground with pips having burst from above as they filled the room. My new hole let it all flood out, but it was close to submerging the woman. And by being stuck on the ground, a pipe had impaled her through her lower abdomen, and she couldn't get up.
Stepping through the threshold, I took a moment to eye my surroundings.
"Roman?" I called out to see the Medical specialist apparently standing at the head assuming control as a few dozen other people were working at monitors and collecting data.
"Takao!" His eyes lit up at seeing me. "I'm happy to see you made it, I was scared the worst happened."
"What happened? Where is everyone?"
He winced, ducking his head a little bit. "Someone set up bombs everywhere, I don't know who. I was...preoccupied and not in my office at the time, so I got lucky since it's now a big crater. I came running over here as fast as I could and it wasn't pretty."
"Roman, just tell me plainly."
He let out a tired sigh. "I had to shove who I could into the coffins to put them in stasis, otherwise they would have died. Nearly all of A-Team is out of commission or dead, and everyone of B-Team present I could find I also put in the coffins. The Emergency protocols went off after CHALDEAS sustained damage and designated anyone viable it could in the vicinity as a Master Candidate and initiated an emergency Rayshift."
"Who all was Rayshifted!?" I felt myself grabbing his shoulder unconsciously.
"A few people, um, I don't know exactly everyone. But some members of your team." He scratched his cheek.
"Rayshift me over, I'll go help."
"...we can't." Roman whispered. "There's a cool down time after every Rayshift, and we'll probably need to extract some people as soon as possible."
"What about –"
"Roman, can you hear us!? Roman!?" A very familiar voice sounded across the speakers set up in the command room, cutting me off.
"Director, I can hear you!" Roman shouted in response as the large screens down below began broadcasting an image of Olga.
"Good, we stabilized the connection again. I don't know how long it'll last this time, so quickly give a status report!"
"A status report is hard right now, Director. I had to step in because.....I'm the most senior one that is conscious or alive at the moment. 13 out of 17 Generators were destroyed, and out of the remainder, only two are operable at a viable level." Roman explained. "I don't have a body count yet, Director, we're still trying to recover all the wounded."
The Director scowled before looking up. "Shimoda?"
"I'm here, Director." I replied to her and I think I saw a hint of relief flash across her face. "Who else Rayshifted with you, Director? I haven't seen my team."
"We're here, Boss." I perked up hearing Samuel's voice as he could barely be seen behind Olga. Whatever method they were using to connect and get visual must have been rather small, because Olga basically covered the entire screen. "Erm....some of us are. I don't know where everyone else is."
"What happened?"
Olga looked at me and stepped to the side for Samuel to take over. "We were giving some of the new guys a tour. Lev came over and suggested it would be a good way to preoccupy their time."
I felt rage as the words left his mouth.
Lev.
I had to forcibly push my anger down as I formulated a plan. "Who else is there?"
"Uh it's me, Pierre, and Benjamin." He answered and I winced at a few names missing from there. He moved slightly to the side to show everyone else. ".....some others didn't make it, boss."
They were not in good shape. But mainly, my eyes focused on Benjamin, and the lack of a right arm.
"Their Uniforms probably saved them." Roman muttered.
Right, I'll have to really thank Da Vinci later.
"Right, now that's sorted. We managed to make contact with one of the Servants participating in the war that wasn't hostile. Caster agreed to a partnership and Samuel of B-Team managed to form a contract with him. With Caster, we technically have two Servants now."
"Two servants?" I furrowed my brow. "Who's the second?"
"Um, hello again, Senpai." The girl who treated that terrifying creature like a pet poked her head over. "I'm Mash Kyrielight, the only one to succeed in the Demi-Servant project." She hefted up a very large shield next to herself. I think I saw someone else standing next to her? But I couldn't recognize them immediately, maybe one of the wayward members of the new recruits?
.,..that's a curveball I didn't see coming. I didn't sense anything off about her before....
"So we have two Servants. And from what Caster told us so far, every other Servant in this Grail War is still active, but the one responsible is apparently King Arthur. And King Arthur is a girl...." Olga grunted as she explained the situation.
"Wait, really? Are you sure?" Roman looked shocked while I just froze.
"Surprised me too, but you can't fake that Sword. Anyone who sees it would be able to recognize her.....even if it was corrupted." A rather lazy voice followed up, as a blue-haired red-eyed man poked his face over. "Huh, interestin piece of Magecraft this things is." He poked at the transmission, making it blur for a moment.
"Stop it you brute! It's already too delicate, what if you break it!" Olga huffed, pushing him away.
"Hey, I'm more of a spearman than a spellcaster, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doin, sheesh."
"Cu Chulainn." I called out unconciously.
The Caster Servant turned to look back at the screen. But it was Olga who shoved her face in front of it. "What!? How did you know that, I haven't even told Roman yet!"
....If I didn't recognize him on sight after spending so much time with Scáthach, she would kick my ass later.
"Oh, I got recognized that easily, huh? Guess I'm more popular than I thought. You a fan, kid?" The Student of Scáthach chuckled.
"It was a lucky guess." I breathed out. "But I have a question for him."
"What's up?" He lazily asked.
"You said that the one responsible is King Arthur. Is she a short, young woman, blonde hair done up in a bun?" Just speaking the words made my hands tremble as I clutched them tight.
"...yeah. Wondering how you know that now." The Caster's expression turned a little more serious.
"Takao." Roman turned to look at me.
"Shimoda! How do you know that!?" Even the Director shouted from behind the Caster Servant.
"You said her sword is corrupted, what do you mean?"
"Hey, don't ignore me!" Olga huffed, but Caster took up the entire screen.
"Don't really know what happened. All the other Servants got this black mud-like stuff all over them, then became this weird version of themselves. Not much of a spellcaster like I said, but I recognize a curse when I see one, and it's powerful enough to get through a Saber's Magic Resistance, and Servants in general." Caster gave a brief explanation. "Seems like Saber is the ring leader though. She has the Grail, that's for sure. And the others are listening to her commands, or at least that damn Red Archer is." He added with an annoyed grumble.
Red Archer.
No.....
If there were a group of Servants I was familiar with, it would be the group that Rin had to face during her Grail War. So many iterations of her had to fight that same line up, and those memories were seared into my mind from what I inherited from Zelretch.
But he's saying that Saber was responsible. That she's a part of whatever was going on.....
My Artoria was corrupted through some means.
And now even my team was going to have to face her.
I took a deep breath and turned to walk out the room.
"Takao!?" Roman blurted out as I pushed past him, but I already knew what path I had to take.
I needed a quiet place, away from prying eyes. I don't know where I went exactly, only that there was no one nearby after a few seconds of running.
I took Mirage out once again as I stabbed it into the ground and placed my hands upon the Eye of Magnus. "Begin Calculations." I whispered as a three dimensional representation of the Planet appeared.
Rayshifting was a method of 'time travel' that skirted outside the 'rules'. It wasn't technically time travel in the normal sense. True Time Travel was....taboo. It wasn't something one could do lightly, and not something even the old man dabbled in unless the circumstances were exceedingly dire. Even the World-line getting destroyed by the Spider wouldn't have him resort to using true Time Travel.
There were consequences to making your past the future. It was entirely plausible that the laws of the world – that the Counter Force rejected me after this. But....I had to do this. My team were in trouble, and something happened to Artoria.
She wasn't my Artoria, but how could I stand by when a woman I cared so deeply for is in such a situation?
"Sorry Gramps, I'm going to break the rules." I quietly apologized to him.
I grabbed my sword out of the ground as my calculations were completed. They locked onto the Singularity taking place in Fuyuki.
With a swipe, I tore a hole through the fabric of reality, and walked right through.
[***]
The butterflies aren't going to be huge right away, but they will start to show as the FGO arcs progress.
If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
Chapter 348:It happened so quickly that I barely registered the sea of flames that filled the room. My Aura flared on instinct covering me protectively, but for some reason I felt something scathing brush across my body for a brief moment. Hinako, who reeled in my hands let out a pain filled cry as I tried my best to protect her from the explosion. It only lasted for a fraction of a second, however, it already decimated our surroundings, with the ensuing flames devouring everything else in the way. The ceiling of this industrial and fortified complex caved in at the sheer might of the eruption, to the point where snow began falling as if the outside weather managed to get inside. That brief weather change didn't last long enough for me to even gather a second thought about it before the ceiling caved completely, toppling to cover us. Without another moment of contemplation, I cast a Greater Ward around us to hold up the falling debris. I was about to anchor it to a proper Bounded Field to keep physical items outside, when the whole facility shook violently. Explosions rang out from every direction, causing the lights to flicker and sirens start to wail/scream/sound. I instantly started to panic for the people I deemed under my protection, but I had to force those feelings down and deal with the individual currently squirming in my arms. "Hinako..." I gently whispered as I took a look at her face. Her eyes shot up, a very bright red sheen in them as she gasped and wheezed. I was stunned at the state she was in. She was an Elemental that I confused for a True Ancestor on our first meeting! How could a mere explosion cause this kind of damage!? Out of the corner of my eye, I swiped my hand, catching a piece of something. I opened my fingers to see the scraps of parchment, an uneasy feeling overcame me as it tried to burn through my Aura. "Holy Sacraments?" I whispered again, clutching my hand tight, destroying the piece of paper. It was no wonder that I felt something scalding touch me. Even if I experienced no actual damage due to my nature as a Campione at this point, just the feeling of it brushing against me was painful due to my Devil heritage. The bomb contained fragments of Holy Sacraments that scattered upon the explosion. This was not some random occurrence, or some haphazard terrorism. This was targeted and probably specifically tailored for Hinako. ...If I hadn't become a Campione, if I didn't have my Aura, that may have caused me an exceedingly high amount of pain and harmed me in a way that was unrecoverable. My hands erupted in a bright and warm light as I began casting a Healing Spell on Hinako. I pulled her in a little closer so her body could lean against me as I began focusing on the more damaged part of her. Pressing my hands against her back, I could feel the blood oozing out, and I could vaguely feel that her flesh was nearly stripped away completely. With Holy Sacraments, I could understand how she was wounded but still, this was too much. I could feel her flesh knitting back together, but the errant Holy Power that had invaded her body was wreaking havoc by the convulsions she was exhibiting. The Holy Sacraments of the Church, it despised existences like her. She was an Elemental, but she could take in power through blood, making her no different than a Vampire in their eyes. "Hinako, stay focused, you're going to be okay." I gently called out to her as her eyes refocused slightly. However, her body was still trembling and shaking from the pain and the attack. She mumbled something incoherently, and I could see tears slowly drifting down her face. The pain she must be experiencing..... "How long have you isolated yourself that you've become so weak?" I couldn't help but blurt out in a hushed tone. She was a damn Nature Spirit an Elemental that lived in the Human World before the Age of Gods, she was not an existence that could be brought so low by something like this. The only explanation would be that she had been slowly degrading over the years and never sought to rectify that. It wouldn't have taken much, just feeding on some blood every few decades would have substantially helped her in this situation. But she had been running on the equivalent of fumes for how long now? Her vitality was completely running dry. novel binz was the first platform to present this chapter.Like a human who hadn't eaten in weeks. Except, it was over the course of centuries for her. I pulled my Aura back, and gently guided her head down to my wrist. It didn't take much, perhaps instinct took over, but I felt a tinge of pain as something sunk into my skin and blood began flowing out. The blood flowed out continuously for a few moments, the sounds from far away continued to give me anxiety at each passing second. The building continued to shake at the very foundations with the sirens blaring from down the hall. "W-what?" The Elemental finally regained her wits as she raised her head, noticing what happened. She looked down at my wrist, then ran a finger across her lips where some blood speared across her skin. "...you fed me your blood." "You good now? My blood should be potent enough with just that small amount." "What happened? We were talking then all of the sudden...." She paused, reaching a hand behind her to feel her naked back. "And you healed me too." "Holy Sacraments." I held back a snarl. "Someone tried to assassinate you, but you're not the only one." As if to prove my point, another massive explosion rang out not far away, shaking all the hanging debris once more. A look of shock mixed with anxiety filled her own features. She quickly tried to stand up, but staggered as I caught her again. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine!" She gritted out. "I'm fine." She iterated again, a little gentler. "...I don't like drinking blood. I've only done so a couple times in the past. It's going to take me a few minutes to digest it, especially since yours is Divine....mixed with some other things apparently." She shot me a look of confusion, but it wasn't the time or place. "I need to check on everyone." I quickly helped her steady herself. She regained her wits fast, realizing the situation. "Go, go. I'll be right behind you." I nodded , pushing my way towards the exit to the room. My bounded field would hold for a while, so I wasn't too worried about her. Her latent abilities would kick in quick enough and she would heal completely in a matter of minutes with a lot more energy to her than before. As I kicked down the bent metal door, I could vaguely hear a call of thanks from behind me. I gave her one last look, before heading off to check on the situation. I practically slid to a stop as I kicked down another door, using far more force than a human could normally bring. It crumpled enough that I could pull it off its hinges and tossed it to the side. "T-thanks!" I saw someone wearing the Chaldean uniform cough as he scurried over and dived through the opening as black smoke filled the room nearly to the brim. "Are you a Magus?" I quickly brought him to his feet. "No " His voice was interrupted with more coughs. "Normal human." He wheezed some more. "The hell is going on!?" I took out some Talismans, and pushed them into his hands. "I don't know, but it's bad. If you find a Magus, give him those and tell him they're healing Mystic Codes, they'll understand. Otherwise, get to safety or help anyone you see." I patted his shoulder, not giving him a chance to respond as I kept moving. I'm going to kiss Scathach so hard for forcing me to make so many Talismans. I had plenty to keep doing this for as many people as I ran into. They aren't the best methods of healing, but they're invaluable when someone's teetering on the edge. It can at least save some lives if it's as bad as I'm imagining around the remainder of the facility. "Water, get some water!" I immediately ran towards the shout, vaguely recognizing it. "Friederike le Drachenkonige." I blurted out his name on instinct, as it was kind of seared into my mind by the absurdity of our first meeting. The man turned around as he was leading several what looked like technicians, out of a room. And he did not look to be in good shape. "You, Takao Shimoda." He turned his head only for me to see a good portion of it burned pretty badly, to the point where his left eye was shut and he had no hair on a good portion of that side of his head with some nasty burns. As he was about to say something else, another explosion erupted from the room they were just in, flinging the magus backwards into the wall. The flames looked to consume him, only for a cry to ring out and a red light spring around the fire, dispersing it with relative ease and the Magus coughing out a little bit of blood. I quickly knelt at his side, hands alight with a Healing Spell. "Another Explosion?" "A side effect..." He breathed out, holding up a shaking hand. "Sub Generators E through H were housed within that room and provided power to this part of the facility. I was unable " He winced in pain. "Are you okay?" I quickly asked as his complexion got a little better. "Rubbish such as this will not keep a Drachenkonige down." He took a deep breath, forcing himself to his feet. "Fire is our domain." He said proudly, despite his current state. "Thank you, Sir Takao Shimoda." His eyes shone with gratitude. "You have proven yourself a great man. However, I have a duty I shall not sit idle." Despite his haughty tone, I held a smidgen of respect for him. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" "No, I'm afraid I do not. I was meeting with the Maintenance staff to access the Generators to prepare for the Rayshifting as per protocol. The next thing I know, everything was engulfed in a sea of fire. If not for my family's legacy, I would have been burnt to ash." "A clear case of sabotage. I barely was able to save Hinako further back." A fury quickly appeared on his face. "Let us dally no longer. I fear for the worse, I shall search for the maintenance staff and the more critical parts of the Facility. If I find who did this, I shall let them know the fury of a Drachenkonige!" "How's your Healing?" I asked. He scowled briefly but relented to my question. "My Crest allows for a form of self-healing, thus I never bothered with learning the arts beyond the bare minimum." I took out some Talismans again, pushing a stack into his hands. "One time use Mystic codes, just inject Magical Energy. They work best if they're closer to the part that needs healing, but just slapping it on someone's body will also do the trick." He didn't say thanks, even if I knew he wanted to. Instead, he nodded resolutely and put them away. "Sub Generators in the western wing are most likely in critical condition. They support both the greenhouses and medical facilities. I will be heading there next." He looked a little hesitant. "Can I leave you to look into the Eastern Generators? I don't know who to trust right now, but I know that you are not responsible." Man, how much did he have to swallow his pride to ask a favor of a 'lowly' person like me. An amusing thought that I quickly pushed aside because we had much bigger problems. "Leave it to me." Neither of us said anymore, pleasantries and real thanks could be given another time. Right now, we both started running down the hall and split at the next turn, the blaring sirens picking up as his figure disappeared down a corridor. As I turned a few more corners, I noticed the emergency lights weren't on, but the normal lights were flickering constantly. However, there was snow and ice that started covering the hallways, the temperature dropped considerably as I looked up and saw a massive hole in the ceiling. I had to come to a stop because what once filled the hole now blocked my path. "...help...." My head snapped to the side, a weak cry coming from nearby. It was faint, which made it all the harder to hear with the sirens still blaring out in different parts of the building. I moved to the wall, putting my ear against it. I heard some running water and I knocked a few times. I did this several more times, moving further down the wall until I heard a weak whine from the other side. Without considering the consequences, it took out Mirage from within my Ring and pushed it through the wall, dragging it to the side, then downward before leveraging it and peeling off the outermost layer. Immediately, I saw the source of the cries. A woman was stuck on the ground with pips having burst from above as they filled the room. My new hole let it all flood out, but it was close to submerging the woman. And by being stuck on the ground, a pipe had impaled her through her lower abdomen, and she couldn't get up. Stepping through the threshold, I took a moment to eye my surroundings. "Roman?" I called out to see the Medical specialist apparently standing at the head assuming control as a few dozen other people were working at monitors and collecting data. "Takao!" His eyes lit up at seeing me. "I'm happy to see you made it, I was scared the worst happened." "What happened? Where is everyone?" He winced, ducking his head a little bit. "Someone set up bombs everywhere, I don't know who. I was...preoccupied and not in my office at the time, so I got lucky since it's now a big crater. I came running over here as fast as I could and it wasn't pretty." "Roman, just tell me plainly." He let out a tired sigh. "I had to shove who I could into the coffins to put them in stasis, otherwise they would have died. Nearly all of A-Team is out of commission or dead, and everyone of B-Team present I could find I also put in the coffins. The Emergency protocols went off after CHALDEAS sustained damage and designated anyone viable it could in the vicinity as a Master Candidate and initiated an emergency Rayshift." "Who all was Rayshifted!?" I felt myself grabbing his shoulder unconsciously. "A few people, um, I don't know exactly everyone. But some members of your team." He scratched his cheek. "Rayshift me over, I'll go help." "...we can't." Roman whispered. "There's a cool down time after every Rayshift, and we'll probably need to extract some people as soon as possible." "What about " "Roman, can you hear us!? Roman!?" A very familiar voice sounded across the speakers set up in the command room, cutting me off. "Director, I can hear you!" Roman shouted in response as the large screens down below began broadcasting an image of Olga. "Good, we stabilized the connection again. I don't know how long it'll last this time, so quickly give a status report!" "A status report is hard right now, Director. I had to step in because.....I'm the most senior one that is conscious or alive at the moment. 13 out of 17 Generators were destroyed, and out of the remainder, only two are operable at a viable level." Roman explained. "I don't have a body count yet, Director, we're still trying to recover all the wounded." The Director scowled before looking up. "Shimoda?" "I'm here, Director." I replied to her and I think I saw a hint of relief flash across her face. "Who else Rayshifted with you, Director? I haven't seen my team." "We're here, Boss." I perked up hearing Samuel's voice as he could barely be seen behind Olga. Whatever method they were using to connect and get visual must have been rather small, because Olga basically covered the entire screen. "Erm....some of us are. I don't know where everyone else is." "What happened?" Olga looked at me and stepped to the side for Samuel to take over. "We were giving some of the new guys a tour. Lev came over and suggested it would be a good way to preoccupy their time." I felt rage as the words left his mouth. Lev. I had to forcibly push my anger down as I formulated a plan. "Who else is there?" "Uh it's me, Pierre, and Benjamin." He answered and I winced at a few names missing from there. He moved slightly to the side to show everyone else. ".....some others didn't make it, boss." They were not in good shape. But mainly, my eyes focused on Benjamin, and the lack of a right arm. "Their Uniforms probably saved them." Roman muttered. Right, I'll have to really thank Da Vinci later. "Right, now that's sorted. We managed to make contact with one of the Servants participating in the war that wasn't hostile. Caster agreed to a partnership and Samuel of B-Team managed to form a contract with him. With Caster, we technically have two Servants now." "Two servants?" I furrowed my brow. "Who's the second?" "Um, hello again, Senpai." The girl who treated that terrifying creature like a pet poked her head over. "I'm Mash Kyrielight, the only one to succeed in the Demi-Servant project." She hefted up a very large shield next to herself. I think I saw someone else standing next to her? But I couldn't recognize them immediately, maybe one of the wayward members of the new recruits? .,..that's a curveball I didn't see coming. I didn't sense anything off about her before.... "So we have two Servants. And from what Caster told us so far, every other Servant in this Grail War is still active, but the one responsible is apparently King Arthur. And King Arthur is a girl...." Olga grunted as she explained the situation. "Wait, really? Are you sure?" Roman looked shocked while I just froze. "Surprised me too, but you can't fake that Sword. Anyone who sees it would be able to recognize her.....even if it was corrupted." A rather lazy voice followed up, as a blue-haired red-eyed man poked his face over. "Huh, interestin piece of Magecraft this things is." He poked at the transmission, making it blur for a moment. "Stop it you brute! It's already too delicate, what if you break it!" Olga huffed, pushing him away. "Hey, I'm more of a spearman than a spellcaster, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doin, sheesh." "Cu Chulainn." I called out unconciously. The Caster Servant turned to look back at the screen. But it was Olga who shoved her face in front of it. "What!? How did you know that, I haven't even told Roman yet!" ....If I didn't recognize him on sight after spending so much time with Scathach, she would kick my ass later. "Oh, I got recognized that easily, huh? Guess I'm more popular than I thought. You a fan, kid?" The Student of Scathach chuckled. "It was a lucky guess." I breathed out. "But I have a question for him." "What's up?" He lazily asked. "You said that the one responsible is King Arthur. Is she a short, young woman, blonde hair done up in a bun?" Just speaking the words made my hands tremble as I clutched them tight. "...yeah. Wondering how you know that now." The Caster's expression turned a little more serious. "Takao." Roman turned to look at me. "Shimoda! How do you know that!?" Even the Director shouted from behind the Caster Servant. "You said her sword is corrupted, what do you mean?" "Hey, don't ignore me!" Olga huffed, but Caster took up the entire screen. "Don't really know what happened. All the other Servants got this black mud-like stuff all over them, then became this weird version of themselves. Not much of a spellcaster like I said, but I recognize a curse when I see one, and it's powerful enough to get through a Saber's Magic Resistance, and Servants in general." Caster gave a brief explanation. "Seems like Saber is the ring leader though. She has the Grail, that's for sure. And the others are listening to her commands, or at least that damn Red Archer is." He added with an annoyed grumble. Red Archer. No..... If there were a group of Servants I was familiar with, it would be the group that Rin had to face during her Grail War. So many iterations of her had to fight that same line up, and those memories were seared into my mind from what I inherited from Zelretch. But he's saying that Saber was responsible. That she's a part of whatever was going on..... My Artoria was corrupted through some means. And now even my team was going to have to face her. I took a deep breath and turned to walk out the room. "Takao!?" Roman blurted out as I pushed past him, but I already knew what path I had to take. I needed a quiet place, away from prying eyes. I don't know where I went exactly, only that there was no one nearby after a few seconds of running. I took Mirage out once again as I stabbed it into the ground and placed my hands upon the Eye of Magnus. "Begin Calculations." I whispered as a three dimensional representation of the Planet appeared. Rayshifting was a method of 'time travel' that skirted outside the 'rules'. It wasn't technically time travel in the normal sense. True Time Travel was....taboo. It wasn't something one could do lightly, and not something even the old man dabbled in unless the circumstances were exceedingly dire. Even the World-line getting destroyed by the Spider wouldn't have him resort to using true Time Travel. There were consequences to making your past the future. It was entirely plausible that the laws of the world that the Counter Force rejected me after this. But....I had to do this. My team were in trouble, and something happened to Artoria. She wasn't my Artoria, but how could I stand by when a woman I cared so deeply for is in such a situation? "Sorry Gramps, I'm going to break the rules." I quietly apologized to him. I grabbed my sword out of the ground as my calculations were completed. They locked onto the Singularity taking place in Fuyuki. With a swipe, I tore a hole through the fabric of reality, and walked right through. *** The butterflies aren't going to be huge right away, but they will start to show as the FGO arcs progress. If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
