Fate/Blackened Sugar

[] The two of you will enter the bounded field together. You won't stay outside of Caster's field since you might need to bail Assassin out or help her yourself.

"We'll be going together," you said as you looked at the hospital, "Staying here is dangerous and I don't want to get in Manaka's way or be in her line of fire. Don't worry. I won't stick with you the entire way."

"Is that wise? Won't you be in more danger?" Assassin asked you with a frown.

"I can't just sit idly by while you work. Especially with that wound. Don't worry, the plan is simply," you said as you leaned on your cane, "You infiltrate the hospital while Berserker raised some hell. Hopefully Caster won't be able to pinpoint your location with the chaos Manaka will raise."

"And if you encounter Servants?" Assassin asked as she crossed her arms.

"I still have my command seals. You need not worry," you replied with a nod.

Assassin stared at you before looking down at her wound. You smiled as you walked towards her side and tapped her shoulder with your cane.

"It's fine. I'll be there this time," you said with a confident tone, "Let's go get that Grail."

Assassin raised her head and nodded, "Understood, Master."

.....
....
...

The two of you departed the rooftop you were both on and entered the bounded field. However the second you did, you experienced a drastic change from the cold winter evening to the chilly desert night.

That's right, a desert.

Snow was replaced by sand and the few meters between you and the hospital before expanded to at least a kilometer and half as an entire city stretched before you. Your eyes widened as you beheld a grand nightless city as you stood.

Stars twinkled in the sky and you couldn't help but be surprised. This wasn't just a bounded field but some manner of Noble Phantasm. One which Caster used as a stronghold for their operations.

A magic carpet, djinns, and now this desert.

You're slowly starting to understand what sort of enemy you may just be facing. To think you'd be caught up in this sort of Servant's clutches was funny.

You wondered if they had a good story to tell.

"A city..." Assassin whispered as she had her eyes widen.

"The Grail is at the hospital, no doubt about it. I'll be staying somewhere safe in the mean time," you told her as you glanced her way, "Care to escort me for a bit?"

"Yes, Master," Assassin said as she slipped into her presence concealment.

"This is Caster's workshop or Territory. But it feels more like a Reality Marble, don't you think? It's easy to get confused about these things but Caster is certainly powerful enough to provide this sort of stage," you told her as you walked through the sand, "There's no telling what sort of things they have in store. Just by being here, I doubt Presence Concealment could work but that would depend on her Master's competency."

"Assassin's are disadvantaged against her wiles," Assassin said with a grim tone.

"True, but you're not the run of the mill Assassin," you said as you climbed up a sand dune.

You looked far ahead and an explosion burst in the distance. An inferno began to erupt from the front gates.

You looked to see Berserker moving to cut open a path through the city and crushing the city guards that got in his way. You looked some more and saw that Manaka was staring right at you with a smile.

You shouldn't be surprised.

She then followed Berserker and broke into the city. They'll be gathering attention for a bit.

"Let's go Assassin," you said as you reinforced your bum leg and slid down the dune.

You began running towards the city as fast as you could.

.....
....
...

Collapsing a wall, you entered through a hole and stepped into the nearby houses by the city walls. The guards seemed to be busy with Berserker and Manaka slaughtering their way in and you could hear the sounds of battle in the distance.

You half expected them to be overwhelmed but they seemed to be doing well enough. That was until silence came as soon as you thought that. The absence of explosions somehow made things more ominous for you as you entered an empty house.

You tapped your cane and tried detecting any forms of life within the vicinity, finding none. You ended up constructing familiars from crushed wood and stone debris and had them erect a barrier.

You turned to where Assassin was and said, "This'll be your safehouse. Manaka and Berserker became quiet but let's not think about them first. I want you to find a route to the hospital and get in. Now that we're here, we can take our time unless it turns into a slugfest with the other Servants jumping in at some point."

"Will this place be truly safe?" Assassin asked you with a worried tone.

"It sure will," you assured her. You then sat on a chair and said, "I'll be monitoring things from here. Don't push yourself or your wound will get worse. Return here if you sustain injury or require mana, got it?"

"Understood," Assassin said with a bow.

"Go," you told her as she vanished.

You waited for a few more seconds before you started thinking. No sign of Manaka yet, you'll have to be wary of whatever silenced her and Berserker... Or did they hide away as well?

They might just have the same plan as you did.

Now you better get to work.

[] Use the Scrap Bird and monitor the city through its eyes. Survey the area and try getting close to the hospital yourself.
[] Go find Manaka and Berserker. You're wondering what happened to them and they may need assistance. Especially in this place.
[] Find this World's anchor points throughout the city. If you loosen it, dispelling it should be much easier later on. You can't do it yourself but you could destabilize it.
[] Sit tight and reinforce your safe spot's defenses. You didn't want anything crashing through the wall and killing you.

[] Find this World's anchor points throughout the city. If you loosen it, dispelling it should be much easier later on. You can't do it yourself but you could destabilize it

Leaving the safehouse, you marked it so you wouldn't end up losing it in the event you needed to run. Being in Caster's domain, you're not sure what you would find so it's best to have an escape route. You weren't going to stray far from the house you were in especially now...

Now that you looked at the houses, they were pretty similar weren't they?

There was a mark on the door of your safehouse, something that looked like blood. It made your house stand out from the others. You thought little of this and decided to look for large pools of magical energy in the vicinity.

You cast a concealing charm over yourself if only to keep eyes off you. You're uncertain if it'll work against whatever constructs Caster would create but it certainly better than nothing.

Sneaking through the alleys, you were able to see a bustling city... Or at least a recreation of it. It was only normal you supposed and but you couldn't help but wonder if all of these people were real or not. Were they similar to videogame NPCs?

That was the closet explanation you could get. Getting seen by one of them could be bad. They could be a form of tool for Caster to look through their eyes. Slipping by the alleys, you kept moving until you reached what looked like a well.

There were a few people around but they didn't take notice of you. Merchants did business and donkeys pulled carts. They didn't act like it was the evening at all, everyone was lively and busy even at this late hour.

Following the pool of magical energy, you reached what looked like an abandoned home. It was broken down and weathered but there were signs of people coming and going in it. No one seemed to be there at the moment...

You hoped that Chiyome was having a better time than you were.

Entering the abandoned house, you took care to scan for traps. Once you were in the clear, the pool of magical energy became palpable. It was... Right beneath your feet.

"Strange," you whispered as you knelt down the ground. You could detect an illusion nearby, it was like a different frequency signal melding with the ambient magical energy you were detecting.

Even to a second rate Mage like you it stood out.

"Reveal yourself," you whispered and you noticed a hatch appear.

Standing up, you limped close to it and read the inscription. Arabic...

It was a phrase.

Magic carpets, Djinns and this whole town... This should be one way of confirming your suspicions.

"It was a rock barring a cave mouth once upon a time, not a hatch. Were they trying to be clever?" You wondered before you tapped the etched letters and spoke them out loud, "Open sesame."

The hatch loosened and soon levitated to reveal a passage down and a ladder. You climbed in and began your descent, taking careful steps before reaching the bottom and being in the presence of the Anchor of this world.

"I'm sure Ali Baba had the same feeling getting here," you murmured as you limped to the pool of magical energy, "Now it's just a matter of me being Ali Baba or Cassim in this case."

The swirl of magical energy held this world together, anchoring it upon the surface of the world as part of Caster's territory. Just how many tales has Caster brought to life? Being against all 1001 Tales would be harrowing indeed.

Can Chiyome take the Grail from such a foe? Depending on what you do to this anchor, it will affect your future battles.

[] Destroy the Anchor. It will take longer to do so by yourself but it will no doubt help Assassin in the long run. The looser this world is, the better.
[] Destabilise the Anchor. A temporary hindrance but it should stifle the normal flow of magical energy anchoring this world. It will only take you a few moments to throw your metaphorical wrench in.
[] Look around the Thieve's cave for any mystic code you can use. There must be treasure you could use hidden here that could help in a pinch.