This may just be my inner FREEDOM EAGLE speaking (which, of course, every American has. Yes, including that one.), but I feel like the inherent, near jingoistic patriotism of the average American would give a significant boost to an American servant's hometown advantage.
Like, have you seen Lincoln's grave? That thing is practically a religious site.
What give power to a Heroic Spirit is the age behind the legend. Sure, reverence is important and millions of people essentially worshiping Lincoln is going to empower him somewhat, but he ain't winning against an older Hero. Like, as far as I am aware, nobody actively reveres Fergus mac Léti but he will murderify Lincoln 15times out of 10; because he's so much older, because his Legend has accrued far more Mystery. There's a reason that Gil is the strongest, if you don't count Divine Spirits, Grand Servants, or stuff like that. Even then Gil can still hold his own.
What give power to a Heroic Spirit is the age behind the legend. Sure, reverence is important and millions of people essentially worshiping Lincoln is going to empower him somewhat, but he ain't winning against an older Hero. Like, as far as I am aware, nobody actively reveres Fergus mac Léti but he will murderify Lincoln 15times out of 10; because he's so much older, because his Legend has accrued far more Mystery. There's a reason that Gil is the strongest, if you don't count Divine Spirits, Grand Servants, or stuff like that. Even then Gil can still hold his own.
Broadly accurate, but an oversimplification, age doesn't equate directly to power so much as it does to a certain spiritual presence or weight.
Gil's age is an advantage yes, but the real reason he's so bullshit is because he has perfect clairvoyance (a function of his legend unrelated to his age) and because the Gate of Babylon has such a massive number of Noble Phantasms in it that he can pull out whatever he needs for a particular situation. (A function that is only half related to age and heavily limited outside of the Archer class container).
From what I can tell, and this could be completely wrong, but it's not that it's limited by the Class Container, it's that Caster Gil is a bit wiser and less prone to violence (a bit) than regular Gil. Caster Gil is him summoned in the form he had after his journey to obtain the Potion of Immortality, where he is very much humbled at the end of it. Regular Archer Gil is Gilgamesh before that journey. He's very much not been humbled by his experience, and while he knows about the rest of his history it's not as prominent in his mind.
Caster Gil doesn't see the need to rub his superiority in others faces quite as often as his younger version does, and has limited himself to using less destructive tools for the most part. And once again this is purely my understanding so I could be wrong, but I'm 90% certain I'm right in this, given how CCC treats Gil. Caster Gil could at any time choose to use the rest of the contents in his Gate of Babylon, but he's chosen not to do so because he doesn't need to for the most part. It's the Gate of Babylon, it's never going to be limited in any way, merely used in different ways.
That final battle in Babylonia? Using the rest of the Gate's contents would've been just as pointless as every other thing he had in the long term. Gil wasn't trying to prevent Tiamat from entering Uruk, he was baiting the trap that was the entire city. Or rather what was under it, the Underworld. He was luring her in with the biggest bait possible, himself. Remember it took Grand Assassin giving up his position as a Grand Servant to inflict the concept of Death onto Tiamat. Then Gil shows back up as a soul in the Underworld, with all his power. He's finally able to deal a crushing blow with his full might. Chaldea wins, but he was still given a fatal injury and died. But that's ok because he was alright with that outcome. It was inevitable anyways, he made the most out of it and chose how to die to gain the most advantage.
He didn't summon himself, he merely used the rules to really cut loose even after he dies to his injury. He rules lawyer-ed the entire fight to the maximum effect.
Caster Gil doesn't see the need to rub his superiority in others faces quite as often as his younger version does, and has limited himself to using less destructive tools for the most part. And once again this is purely my understanding so I could be wrong, but I'm 90% certain I'm right in this, given how CCC treats Gil. Caster Gil could at any time choose to use the rest of the contents in his Gate of Babylon, but he's chosen not to do so because he doesn't need to for the most part. It's the Gate of Babylon, it's never going to be limited in any way, merely used in different ways.
Right. My interpretation was that Caster Gil chose to be more efficient with his powers than Archer Gil. Sort of like going from Carpet Nuking to Tactical Nuking.
Right. My interpretation was that Caster Gil chose to be more efficient with his powers than Archer Gil. Sort of like going from Carpet Nuking to Tactical Nuking.
Yeah that works as well for an analogy. Still Gilgamesh is going to be ridiculous, regardless of which version you summon him as. All of them can switch between the various modes of attack. Which you get isn't dependent on the "Class" you summoned him under, that merely determines which Skills are brought to the forefront, no it depends on their mindset.
And I for one wouldn't want to assume that there isn't a potion of aging or something like that in the Gate of Babylon like there is for youth. It'd probably be much, much, harder to convince the Regular Archer Gil to use his older version's methods, but he certainly could if persuaded. Hell in the Extra games he doesn't even have a Class. He just is. And I'm not counting Extella/Link shoe horning him in to a certain Class, I think that was purely for gameplay purposes. It's just not how he works in the Moon Cell. There's a reason he's on the Far Side of the Moon after all.
Yoshiaki Yoshida: "Hitler, who? Nasu, are you making up fictional characters from wars that don't exist, now? This Hitler-chan sounds pretty cool now that I look at it. Still, though, I agree 100% with the decision to make the most famous American Confederate a selfless saint with no personal ambitions."
Sony: "Nasu, do you WANT Goetia and Archer David to reach out from the screen and strangle you fucking alive?"
Henrietta Lacks: "No, the fact that put you me on the Throne would not make up for such rank stupidity. And why am I the only Black Servant who even exists in canon, anyway? Where the fuck is Assassin Tubman or Archer Samouri Touré?"
there are several American legends/heroes that i could see being used, Hiawatha, Paul Bunyan as was mentioned, Johnny Appleseed, John Henry, Daniel Boone, and various Presidents, but ii also have to agree that they are new enough that they wouldn't have the weight that you get with various old world legends due to just shear age and spread.
Out of curiosity I am wonder if the new revelations about Caster Cu will be utilized at all in this story. Spoilers for LB 6
Apparently the Caster Cu = Odin Psuedo Servant theory was confirmed. Here is the scene translated.
With Caster Cu taking a shine to Taylor it seemed interesting to speculate if this would be come up at all in the future, not sure if you had plans for Caster Cu to remain in the story post Fuyuki Singularity.
"A magical energy reactor of that scale," the Director muttered, chewing on her thumbnail again. "I read about this in our records about Fuyuki, but… Seeing something capable of generating and processing that much raw magical power for your own eyes is a different thing entirely."
"I was expecting a golden cup," Ritsuka mumbled.
"This is such a ripoff," Rika agreed. "Why even call it a Holy Grail, then?"
The Director scoffed. "Ignorant neophytes, the both of you! The term Holy Grail is used for two primary purposes. Firstly, because it's convenient shorthand when talking about a device of this magnitude that can brute force wishes through its raw power. What else are you going to call an omnipotent wish-granting device? And secondly, because giving something a label like that defines it and reinforces its purpose. If you give something a name, you can give it shape."
"Which further reinforces the Holy Grail's power to grant wishes," Mash added.
"Exactly."
Powers weren't that different, were they? They were less precise, because I guess passengers didn't understand humans all that well, but why did Lung transform into a dragon? Why had my power limited my control to arthropods, to bugs, to creepy crawlies? Why had Sundancer's power shaped into a spheroid ball of fused plasma?
Why had Echidna's mishmash of parts all featured terrestrial animals?
Because passengers had based our powers on human concepts through human lenses.
Up on the ledge, Saber lifted her sword out of the dirt —
"She's coming!" I warned everyone, and Mash stepped further forward, hefting her shield defensively, as the Director and the twins huddled closer together.
— and with a single leap, she cleared almost half the distance between us. She landed roughly, more akin to the classic superhero "three-point" landing than something graceful. There was a reason that landing was so iconic, though, and Saber proved that in the way she didn't flinch, didn't wince, and didn't seem at all inconvenienced by it. No pain, no discomfort, just a smooth transition back to her feet.
Power. That landing was all about power.
"That Servant, too," the Director whispered, eyes locked on Saber. "That level of magical output is just unreal. It's on a completely different level from the other Servants so far. Can you even call her a mere Servant anymore?"
"In the legends, King Arthur is said to be the embodiment of the Red Dragon," I said. "The living representation of Britain."
Well, Wales, technically, but that had been lost as more and more of Europe adopted the mythos and added to it.
"A dragon in human form… No, maybe not that far, but something like it? She'd have one foot in humanity and one foot in the Phantasmals." The Director grimaced. "Her magic circuits… No, they'd really be more like a nuclear reactor than something as simple as circuits."
"It's like I told you before," said Caster, face solemn, "Saber is completely different from that Archer. She doesn't need complex tactics and convoluted strategy. If she can't overwhelm you with her raw strength, then she'll just blow you away with her Noble Phantasm."
Saber stepped towards us, casually, leisurely, except that really wasn't the right way to describe it. The absolute confidence, the almost predatory gleam in her yellow eyes, it was more like a lion stalking its prey.
And we were the poor gazelle, in that case.
"How interesting," Saber said as she came closer. She was looking at Mash and completely ignoring the rest of us. "That shield… I know the knight to whom it belongs, and you are most certainly not him, strange girl. And yet you most certainly wield it, and you are most certainly a Servant of some kind. Perhaps you are a distant descendent of his, borrowing his powers through possession?"
I couldn't see the look on Mash's face, but I could imagine the thoughts going through her head.
So, the Heroic Spirit who originally owned that shield was a knight — although, with that armor, that was kind of self-evident — and he was someone King Arthur had known in life, or at least known of, and seemed to respect. The only problem was, King Arthur's tale had been rife with knights of all sorts from all kinds of different places, so that didn't exactly narrow it down, and there was nothing to say that he was one of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table and not an enemy.
The possibilities had narrowed, but not by enough.
"…He passed his powers down to me at the last second to save my life, but he didn't tell me his name," Mash admitted quietly, and I had to grit my teeth to keep from scolding her for giving that away so readily.
"I see," said Saber, and there was something like fondness in her voice, but it was so faint that I wasn't sure I wasn't imagining it. "Yes, that sounds like him. Doubtlessly, he intends for you to come into his power through your own growth. Very well then, strange girl."
Saber hefted her sword and brandished it, gripping the hilt with both hands. "I will test the strength of your resolve and your worthiness to inherit his mantle! Prepare yourself!"
There was no time to react. I didn't blink, but Saber moved so fast that she appeared to teleport; in an instant, she'd crossed the distance and stood in front of Mash. I could only see her by the flutter of her dress and the ominous shape of her sword, Excalibur, from over the spoke of Mash's shield.
Not that fast, my ass, Caster!
She easily outpaced every other Servant we'd fought, so far.
CLANG
The sound of the impact was thunderous and felt like it rattled the bones in my body and shook the ground beneath my feet. If I'd had any fillings in my mouth, I was sure they would have been vibrated loose by that attack alone.
Mash gasped and had to thrust her left foot back to absorb the blow, and it seemed a miracle to me that her shield hadn't gone flying in the face of something that strong. The only Brute I'd ever known with that level of raw strength was Alexandria.
CLANG — CLANG — CLANG — CLANG — CLANG
Saber didn't give her the chance to recover or rest. She didn't attack with the blinding speed Archer, Medusa, and Caster had used in battle, but each swing seemed to shake the whole world with its power, and my ears rang with the screech of Mash's shield as her arms buckled beneath each blow. If I hadn't seen capes who had shrugged off attacks equally as powerful — if I hadn't fought Behemoth and watched him survive a blast that Phir Se had said could destroy the Indian subcontinent — just the fact that shield wasn't a ruined mess would have been impressive on its own.
Even still, Mash was obviously outclassed. Her shield would not break, but her body was a different story entirely.
"Come on!" Saber stopped long enough to goad her, and then delivered another bone-shaking strike.
CLANG
"Is that all you're capable of?"
Another swing of Excalibur. It streaked through the air like black lightning.
CLANG
Mash grunted, her knees trembling and her arms shaking, not with fear, but with effort. Each attack should have sent her flying, but somehow, she was not only staying on her feet, she was managing to block them all.
"Can you do nothing more than clutch to that shield?"
CLANG
"If you wish to claim the Grail, you must first go through me!"
CLANG
"That isn't possible if you can't even take one step forward!"
CLANG
Mash gasped and fell to one knee. One hand still held the handle of her shield, and the other was braced against the left spoke as though that was the only thing standing between her and annihilation — and in a very real sense, it was.
"Mash!" the twins both cried out.
It was only sheer luck that the Director and I managed to grab hold of them before they could rush to Mash's aid.
"What do you think you're doing?" the Director shrieked. "You two are just Masters! The only thing you'll accomplish by going to her side is to get yourselves killed!"
"But!" Ritsuka tried to protest.
"She needs us!" Rika shouted.
"Have faith in Mash," I told them, "and remember the plan."
The both of them scowled and looked towards Mash, fists clenched and shaking. I couldn't say I didn't understand how horrible it was to feel so helpless, so unable to do anything.
It was only the reminder that there was a plan and I couldn't have hoped to change anything in a fight against Saber with my own power that kept me from racing to get involved, myself.
Come on, Caster, I thought. I'm not sure how long Mash can take this.
"Stand up!" Saber barked at Mash. "Do you think the fight is over simply because you can't go on? Servants fight to the death!"
CLANG
Mercilessly, she delivered another harsh blow. Mash's shield held, but her arms nearly didn't.
"The knight who wielded that shield was invincible!"
CLANG
Mash gasped, elbows quivering.
"As long as his heart remained stalwart, so too did his shield!"
CLANG
Mash's hand slipped, and she scrambled to move it back into place as her shield threatened to collapse on top of her.
"If your heart is so feeble that you can't even withstand this much —"
CLANG
"— then you are not worthy to inherit his legacy!"
"Give the girl a break, Saber," Caster's voice echoed. "She's only been a Servant for a little over a day. We only managed to tease out what her Noble Phantasm even looked like a few hours ago."
Saber stopped cold and whipped around, looking off to the side, where Caster stood. The ground beneath him glowed with a series of runes, his second Noble Phantasm.
Caster grinned. "Besides. She's not the only one here, you know. You still have me to contend with, too. Our Grail War isn't over."
Now.
I palmed the runestone he'd carved in preparation for this moment, and I threw it over the edge of Mash's shield, right into Saber's face.
"What —"
My eyes squeezed shut. "Anfang!"
The flash of light was so bright, I could see it through my eyelids. Saber let out an agonized screech.
"Now, Mash!"
"Y-yes!"
I heard her pull herself to her feet, and I managed to get my eyes back open just in time to see her swing her massive shield at Saber and send her enemy flying backwards. It couldn't have been more than a superficial injury, because Saber easily rolled back to her feet, squinting her eerie yellow eyes at us as she snarled.
"You!"
Mash planted her shield in the dirt and braced herself.
Human Order Foundation
"Lord Chaldeas!"
Lines of blue light drew themselves in the air in front of her, forming an enormous magic circle, and a translucent barrier rippled into existence, large enough to cover an entire house, to encircle the Second Owner's mansion. It looked flimsy, if I had to admit to it, but this had blocked Caster's Wicker Man, so I had to hope this would be enough to protect us, now.
Not a moment too soon, because Caster's voice shouted soon after.
Great God Carved Seal
"Ochd Deug Odin!"
Another flash of light detonated, brighter and more intense than my flashbang, and I had to look away, shielding my eyes in the crook of my elbow as my retinas burned from the overload. An explosion ripped through the air, a low, loud, thunderous boom that shook the cavern around me more than Saber's strikes could have ever hoped to, and I felt every particle of my body vibrate from its passing.
But behind the barrier of Mash's Noble Phantasm, we were completely unaffected.
The moment came and went. It took a few seconds, but I pried my eyelids back open and blinked blearily over the spoke of Mash's shield as she gasped and her barrier vanished. A cloud of debris wafted through the cave, and we stood in the center of a clear spot, like the eye of a hurricane.
"Did we get her?" Ritsuka asked quietly.
"There's no way she survived that!" Rika said confidently.
"Quiet," I ordered them. "Don't relax, yet."
The dust and dirt kicked up by Caster's Noble Phantasm began to disperse, and despite my own words, I couldn't help the uncomfortable squirm in my gut as I saw what lay in the middle of it all.
"No way…"
Slowly, Saber pulled herself to her feet, using her sword as a crutch. A miasma of dark energy curled around her lovingly, and even as I watched, the dark burns on her skin healed over and the rips in her clothing mended themselves as though time itself were being rewound.
I gritted my teeth. Just what did it take to put her down?
"We did a lot of damage, Master," said Caster, suddenly right next to me. "Unfortunately, Saber won't go down so easily. She must have let loose a surge of magical energy right before my Noble Phantasm hit, and it was enough to absorb the brunt of the damage."
"Just what kind of monster is she?" the Director demanded, horrified.
Saber turned in our direction, and although her face hadn't really changed that much the entire time, there was something in her expression that I could only call furious.
"I see," she said lowly, coldly, like the deadly frost before a blizzard. "It seems I underestimated you Chaldeans and your talent for trickery. Very well. If you're going to resort to your Noble Phantasms, allow me to respond in kind."
She took hold of Excalibur with both hands, and the miasma swirling around her surged instead into her sword. It erupted into dark light, doubling, tripling, quadrupling in size, until she held a pillar of ominous black that dwarfed both her and us more than a dozen times over.
With my Master's Clairvoyance, I could see it for what it was, now. A++, Anti-Fortress. A weapon designed for blowing away enemy castles and fortifications, more than enough to destroy both us and the mountain we were standing inside of.
There was no way to survive it. No way to get out of the way in enough time. The instant that came down, we were all dead, the same as we would have been if it had been one of Scion's beams instead.
We only had one chance of making it through this. A slim one. But when had that ever stopped me?
"Shit!" Caster swore, recoiling. "Hey, Girlie, now would be a good time —"
"Mash!" I shouted over him. "Noble Phantasm! Now!"
Mash planted her feet and braced herself.
"EX —"
"Lord —"
"— CALIBUR!"
"CHALDEAS!"
The barrier drew itself into the air, just in time for the pillar of light to come down. I heard Rika scream next to me, and Ritsuka shouted something I didn't make out as the wind swept my hair back. A torrent of black light raced for us, large enough, massive enough that it would have scattered our composite atoms to the four winds — except Mash's shield was stopping it. The main mass of the beam held fast in the air, suspended by Mash's Noble Phantasm, and the spillover washed around us to the far edges of the barrier like water off an umbrella, leaving us untouched as it carved away at the mountain.
Even that would have been enough to kill us, if it had been close enough.
"We're… We're alive?" the Director whispered incredulously.
As though to prove her wrong, cracks began to form in the barrier, leaking that ominous light between them. Mash grunted and held her ground, digging her feet even further into the dirt beneath her, but it didn't seem to be doing any good. The cracks kept growing in size, spreading out like a spiderweb from the central point of the barrier.
"Shit," said Caster. "Girlie, this Noble Phantasm of yours is impressive if it's holding up this long, but I don't think this'll be enough."
I grimaced. There's nothing you can do?
He glanced at me, frowning. Sorry, Master. If I'd had a few seconds to prepare, I might've managed to give it a boost.
The stark, red ink of my Command Spells glared up at me. I didn't have too many options.
But, callous as it might have been, Servants were replaceable. Living people weren't.
Caster —
My thoughts were ripped away as the twins tore past us, racing to support Mash.
"What do you two think you're doing?" the Director screeched.
They ignored her, and they both each placed one hand on each of Mash's shoulders. She looked back at them. "M-Master! Senpai, no!"
"By the power of my Command Spell," Ritsuka shouted, and my eyes went wide as I realized he'd had a similar idea as me.
"Mash!" Rika said.
Together, they ordered, "Block Saber's Noble Phantasm no matter what!"
A flash of red light. A second. In an instant, two absolute orders were burned, angled towards a single purpose. The Director had always told me that a Command Spell properly used could turn the tide of the battle, but —
"Yes, Master!"
Before my eyes, the cracks sealed over, good as new. Mash screamed, but this wasn't a desperate scream or one of pain, this was more like a battle cry, and the barrier in front of her morphed, growing, as the vague pane of light evolved, gained definition. More lines drew themselves across it, forming rectangles, stacked one on top of the other.
Bricks, I realized. They were forming bricks.
More and more and more, they filled in, ghostly, phantasmal, but there, until at last, they formed a single castle wall. A rampart, with parapets at the top.
"…Incredible," the Director whispered.
It did not leak. The ominous light didn't crack it, didn't break it, didn't spill through. The rampart held strong, sturdy and unbreakable, bolstered by Mash's resolve and the bravery of her Masters, and some part of me knew, knew there could only be one castle that had earned such fame throughout all of history, one castle that could belong to an Arthurian knight, one castle so iconic that it became a Heroic Spirit's calling card.
But it escaped me. The name on the tip of my tongue refused to manifest.
The torrent of light petered out, weakening and dying away until there was nothing left, and across from us, Saber's face was wide-eyed and shocked. She was frozen at the end of her swing.
I didn't waste any time —
Caster —
And I instantly burned two of my own Command Spells.
"Kill Saber right now!"
"Roger that!" Caster grinned, slamming his hand against the dirt.
The mountain rumbled again as a figure made of wood burst up out of the ground fist first. Saber recovered just barely fast enough to avoid its first swipe and leapt out of the way, but the second caught her in midair, and a fist bigger than she was took hold of her, squeezing tightly until she yelled.
A flash of dark light, and Saber burst through the fingers gripping her, but the wooden effigy only brought its other hand around to hold her close as the door in its chest swung open to admit her.
"Wicker Man!"
The door swung shut, trapping Saber inside. The flames coating the Wicker Man's limbs grew brighter and more intense, white hot, and the effigy compacted down, throwing itself to the ground with a thunderous thud as its body exploded. The shattered remains of its branches cracked and tumbled across the cavern, and then disappeared.
And through it all, somehow, Saber remained.
"That didn't kill her?" the Director demanded hysterically.
"No, she's done," said Caster calmly. "Her body's healing, but that's just superficial. Her Spiritual Core is ripping itself apart as we speak."
"He's right," Saber said as she climbed slowly back to her feet. Particles of light slowly drifted away from her body, like she was disintegrating before our eyes. "That last attack of yours was enough. You've beaten me."
She sighed. "It seems my resolve simply wasn't enough. Yes, of course — as long as I stand alone, the end result will always be the same, won't it? Mere raw power wasn't enough to protect the Grail."
She took a deep breath, and then she pinned our entire group with her yellow eyes. "Be proud, warriors of Chaldea, for this is your victory. However, do not think your Grand Order ends with me. This Singularity is merely the first step on your journey. You will have much more to face before your quest reaches its conclusion."
She vanished. Between one blink and the next, she was just gone, and her ominous presence disappeared, too. Something clattered to the ground where she'd been, but I couldn't see it clearly enough from my position.
A glimmer of light caught my eye, and I turned to see Caster glowing and fading away, too. He blinked, looking down at himself, and turned to me with a rueful grin.
"Caster!" Rika said, panicking.
"Looks like this is my curtain call, too," said Caster. "Don't worry, Little Missy. It only makes sense, doesn't it?"
"The Grail War is over," the Director agreed. "There's nothing tying you to this world any longer."
"Sorry I can't stay around to help with the cleanup," he said. He looked at Ristuka. "Hey, Boyo."
Ritsuka jolted and straightened up. Caster pointed at him, grinning. "You're the only man around, so you need to toughen up and become reliable, got it? That Servant of yours is something else, but she's only as good as her Master, so you've gotta make sure you're the best." He turned to Rika. "Little Missy, you've got guts and spunk. Keep that heart of yours as pure as it is and everything else will follow. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!" Rika chirped. Was she…? She was actually crying. "I-I'll do my best!"
The Director, next. "Boss Lady, you've got one helluva team. Make sure you treat them right, and maybe ease up on them here and there, yeah?"
The Director huffed. "I'll give them exactly what they've earned and never anything more!"
"As I expected of you!" Caster laughed. And at last, he turned back to me. "Princess."
"Caster."
"I can tell, you're not used to being on the sidelines, are you?" He shook his head. "You were itching to throw yourself into the fight the entire time. Man, if only you'd been alive in my day, we would've torn it up like nobody's business."
"S-stop flirting with her!" the Director ordered him, face flushed.
Caster just laughed her off. "Well, our time together might've been short, but we won, huh? Just like I promised."
"We did."
He shook his head. "Man, you really are like her, aren't you? Do me a favor, Master. Next time you summon me, make sure it's as a Lancer, okay? Then I'll show you what I'm really made of!"
Like Saber, he vanished, leaving no trace behind except the handful of runestones we'd never gotten the chance to use.
To the spot he'd just occupied, I said quietly, "Thank you, Cúchulainn."
Beep-beep!
"Director!" Romani said. "Servant readings have disappeared! A-and the interference is clearing up, too! Did you beat her?"
"Like a drum!" Rika said cheerfully.
"Saber has been defeated, Doctor Roman," Mash reported. "Caster…has disappeared as well."
"Vital signs are good. There's some strain, but you all just got through the fight of your lives, so I'm not surprised." Romani faltered. "Ah, Director? Are you there? I-I still don't have a good read on you, so…"
"That Servant," the Director said slowly. "Saber. She mentioned us. Greeted us by name. Chaldea. Grand Order. How did she know those terms?"
My eyes went wide. "That's… That's a very good question."
I'd been too focused on the plan at the time to give it any thought, and maybe I was just too used to Thinkers who knew way more than they really should, but now that the rest of it was taken care of… How had Saber known who we were and what our mission was called?
"Director, now might not be the time," said Romani. "I'm still detecting a massive magical energy source in your vicinity."
"Another Servant?" I asked sharply.
Romani's head shook.
"No, nothing of that sort. I'm not detecting a Saint Graph or a Spirit Origin on that level outside of Mash, so you're probably looking for —"
"Master?" Mash walked cautiously forward to where Saber had stood, and she picked up —
The Director gasped. "Is that?"
"The Holy Grail," a new voice boomed.
My heart stopped.
No. No way. After everything that happened, for that person to appear at the end —
Up on the ridge where Saber had stood was another figure, a tall man with a top hat and long, shaggy hair. He looked down at us, his hands folded behind his back.
"That Saber… If only she'd done as she was supposed to, instead of desperately clinging to this era. I suppose you lot did me something of a favor in eliminating her, although I never expected this ragtag group to make it this far."
"Professor Lev?" Romani choked out.
"Lev?" the Director breathed, disbelieving, but it quickly changed to relieved affection. "Oh, Lev, thank goodness! You're alive! When I heard you'd died, I didn't know what —"
She rushed off towards him, but I threw my arm out, and the air left her mouth in a sudden huff as she ran straight into it.
"H-Hebert," she gasped, "what are you doing? That's Lev!"
"I'm not so sure about that," I told her, never taking my eyes off of him. I refused to even blink. "And even if it is…I don't think he's on our side."
"W-what?" the Director demanded furiously. "What are you even saying? Have you lost your mind!"
"Oh?" Lev grinned. It made Caster's most menacing seem downright friendly. "If you don't mind my asking, what gave me away?"
Fuck.
I swallowed, mind racing, because he'd just confirmed it, and the only one we had here who could defend us was a tired Mash. If Lev was anything other than what he looked like, that probably wouldn't be enough to save our lives.
The only thing I could do was buy time. Time for Romani to Rayshift the whole lot of us out of here.
Damn it, I missed having my powers. Siccing thousands of bugs on him might have wound up no more effective against him than they were against Scion, but at least it would have given me a better toolkit than my dinky little Gandr and a prosthetic arm that could grab stuff from far away.
"It's the fact that you're even here to begin with," I said. "One person surviving that bomb in the command room, I could buy. Under the right circumstances, one person in a million could survive something like that, just by the luck of their positioning. Maybe she was just far enough on the edge of the blast to be blown into the Rayshift chamber and fell unconscious when she landed. Maybe she was shielded by someone else's body and survived the brunt of it that way. They're long odds and I wouldn't bet on them, but I could believe it."
I'd been one of those long odds, before. The one-in-a-million. The girl who survived the things that should have killed her by simply being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. By all rights, I should have been dead long before that final offensive against Scion, and I'd only made it through some wild combination of being exactly where I needed to be to get rescued and just refusing to let myself die.
That was why I hadn't given it much thought, before, back when Romani said he'd thought the Director had died with Lev and the rest of the staff in the command room when the bomb detonated. She could have been that one in a million.
But two people hitting that jackpot simultaneously? Without a precog making sure things went a certain way, those odds were just too long.
"Yes, one in a million odds," Lev said. "Like Romani being waylaid by two washout Master candidates just long enough to avoid getting caught in the blast, or one of Team A's coffins cracking open in just the right way for its occupant to avoid injury. You can only imagine how furious I was to find out the both of you survived, Romani, Taylor Hebert."
"Lev?" the Director whispered. I could practically hear the desperate denials running through her head as she tried to find any excuse to make sense of what he'd just admitted to.
"You as well, Olga. How vexing it was to find you here. In spite of the fact that I planted the bomb right beneath your feet, somehow, you're still alive." He grinned again. "Well, for a certain value of that word. After all, although your spirit was transferred here to this Singularity, the only reason that was even possible is because there's no longer a body tying you down in the present. Olga Marie Animusphere had no aptitude for Rayshifting while she was alive."
The sound of Marie's heart breaking was almost audible.
"Y-you're lying," she breathed, barely a whisper. "Y-you…you can't be Lev. Lev would never — !"
"It's the truth," Lev told her cruelly and with relish. "The instant this Singularity collapses and Chaldea Rayshifts you all back, you will simply dissipate, Olga. Your consciousness will unravel and your spirit will return to nothingness. There is no body for you to return to. You have, quite literally, reached a dead end."
"Director…" Mash mumbled.
"Director Marie," Rika said worriedly.
"I'd suspected as much," Romani admitted quietly. "The shock of the blast, and even if she survived that, the fall out the observation window alone would be enough to kill a human being, especially if she landed head first. We… The bodies at the center of the detonation were too badly damaged to identify, but…"
"And you…didn't say anything?" the Director demanded, voice quivering.
"When you showed up in Singularity F, I just wanted to believe…"
That all of the evidence was wrong and she had miraculously survived. Yes, I understood that impulse well.
"Isn't it sad, Olga?" said Lev. "You wished with everything you were to have the chance to inherit your father's dream and Rayshift, but you only gained the ability to do so at the moment of your death, when your spirit was no longer weighed down by your flesh. How delightfully ironic. Poetic, even."
He thrust out a hand, and the Director's body glowed as her feet left the ground. The rest of us recoiled as though we might be caught up in it if we touched her.
"W-what are you doing, Lev?"
"But that's just too depressing an ending, don't you think? So I'll give you one, last parting gift, and let you touch the Chaldeas you've so coveted."
A snap of his fingers, and behind him, a rift opened up in the air, widening to an utterly enormous size until, on the other side, we could see —
"Is that —"
"Chaldea?"
The Director screamed as she was carried forward — but I wasn't going to stand there and watch Lev do whatever he was about to do to her. I broke out into a sprint, and with my stronger, prosthetic arm, I grabbed the Director around the waist and dug my feet into the dirt.
It didn't even seem to slow things down. The Director was still being carried towards the rift in space, and my shoes dug twin furrows as I fruitlessly tried to hold her back.
"Romani!" I shouted. "Get us out of here!"
"R-right! But if I do that —"
"Just do it!"
Lev laughed. "If you cherish your director so dearly, Hebert, I will gladly award you the same fate as her. You can go together, and side by side, experience an infinite living death as you're absorbed into Chaldeas! Such a gift! You will be the only two humans to ever live who get to experience falling into a black hole!"
"Romani!"
"G-give me a second, I'm trying!"
My feet left the ground.
"Miss Taylor!"
"Senpai!"
A hand grabbed my free arm, and another took hold of my hip, and together, they anchored me. I couldn't afford to look, but I heard the metallic thud as Mash's shield was planted into the ground behind us. I had no idea if it helped at all.
"This is fine!" Lev cackled. "Yes, all of you! If you can't let go of your comrades, then you will die as they do! Chaldea's last hope, the last remaining Masters it can field, and its only Servant, dead at the starting gate!"
"Romani!"
"H-hold on!"
And still, we moved forward. I couldn't tell if it was slower than before. I couldn't tell if we were accomplishing anything. All I knew was that my feet were back on solid land and still digging trails through the dirt.
As long as that was the case, it wasn't over, yet.
"I don't want to die!" the Director sobbed loudly. "I don't want to die! I haven't done anything yet! I haven't accomplished anything! N-no one has loved me or praised me, everyone hates me —"
"ROMANI!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"I-I'm going as fast as I can!" Romani shouted back, panicking. "I have your signatures locked on, but the instant I bring you back —"
"IF YOU DON'T DO IT NOW —"
"Step aside, Romani!" someone else on the other end ordered him urgently. I couldn't spare the concentration to put a name to a face. "I have an idea, but I only have a narrow window to make it work!"
"H-huh? Are you sure?"
"Of course not! But I don't see you coming up with any better ideas, and if we do nothing…!"
"Understood! I'll leave it to you!"
My heels dug in along the ground, dragged closer as the force tried to pull me in. My magic circuits strained, burning under the abuse I was putting them through. Mash was screaming with me, one of her arms wrapped around my waist, and in the corner of my vision I saw the whip of Rika's red hair flailing in the nonexistent wind.
The cavern rumbled. Great hunks of rock and dirt fell around us as the entire place destabilized. Chaldeas glowed ominously through the rift in space. Lev, unperturbed, watched us with a triumphant grin.
"Rayshift in three!"
I gritted my teeth. My muscles strained. My arm was starting to go numb from the effort of holding onto Marie, but sheer iron will kept me from letting her go.
"Two!"
My legs wobbled. My knees threatened to give out. My body was reaching its limit. At any moment, I would —
"One!"
The world opened up beneath us, and we fell through a canal of stars.
— o.0.O.O.0.o —
So long, Cu. Until we meet again.
What became of the Director? That, I'm afraid, will have to wait for 2 weeks. Next up is Interlude OMA, and the week after is Chapter X: Monolith. I didn't...plan for there to be a 2 week cliffhanger when I wrote those, but it seems that's how it turned out.
Ugh, not being able to roll for Summer 3 rerun. Dantes last solo banner for the foreseeable future, and he's stuck at NP1, so at NP1, he'll have to remain. Ditto Summer Jeanne. Ah, well.
Special thanks to everyone who has helped me out, and especially to all my Patrons who have stayed with me this far, through all the rocky moments and dry stretches. You guys are the best, and your continued support is invaluable. If you like what you're reading and want to support me as a writer so I can pay the bills, I have a Patreon. If Patreon is too long term, I have a Ko-fi page, too. If you want to commission something from me, check out either my Deviantart post or my artist registry page for my rates. Links in my sig. Every little bit helps keep me afloat, even if you can only afford a couple dollars.
I mean, at least give her a weapon, be it magical or whatnot to help out. This is Taylor Hebert. The Godkiller. The savior of more human lives then the whole of the Throne of Heroes combined.
She deserves to be able to fight. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.
Excellent chapter though. Looking forward to the future adventures here. I know next to nothing about Grand Order, but I'm looking forward to following the story.
I mean, at least give her a weapon, be it magical or whatnot to help out. This is Taylor Hebert. The Godkiller. The savior of more human lives then the whole of the Throne of Heroes combined.
She deserves to be able to fight. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.
Why? That defeats the whole point. Perhaps she could have tried to be more useful in terms of tactics or something but like Gordes learned it's hard in the face of superhumans like Servants who know their stuff better than you most of the time. Any sort of weapon useful enough against Servants should be wielded by something stronger than a baseline human. Besides, she did contribute to the fight.
From the sound of it, this is either Da Vinci putting her in the spare body (which means no mini-Vinci) like in one fic, or… AI? Geez, Olga as AI is like a more obviously high-strung Dragon. Not much use in a Singularity, but definitely better than dead.
Whatever the method, if this pans out then any potential Lostbelt arc would be radically different.
Which, Fawkes has said it's a no (for now at bare minimum) and I respect that - but the cause/effect butterflies just got cut loose.
Good chapter. Looks like Da Vinci just debuted. Kind of hoping you aren't using the LoliVinci body to save Olga if she even can be saved. Honestly her surviving is going to lessen Roman's influence quite a bit, he's only the medical staff, and not really supposed to be in charge. So I'm torn on whether she should survive or not. Ugh now I gotta wait two weeks! It's a sign how much I enjoy this that it annoys me this much. So good job on that, but ugh.
I mean, at least give her a weapon, be it magical or whatnot to help out. This is Taylor Hebert. The Godkiller. The savior of more human lives then the whole of the Throne of Heroes combined.
Taylor will definitely be bugging Da Vinci for one immediately after this. Then asking every Servant that can contribute to improving it to do so once they start to gather in Chaldea, which should start once they return, or more specifically once Mash returns and she can use her shield as the catalyst it is. After all, Cu will be showing up, albeit as a Servant tied to the Twins because they're Mash's Master. Probably not going to stop him from flirting with Taylor though. He is Cu, he's a horny dog.
Fuyuki is the hardest place for Taylor to do much of anything. Her boss that she actually respects is right there, she was dropped in without so much as a sidearm, and she hasn't been in an actual fight outside of controlled circumstances in 2 years.
Orleans feels a lot better, in that regard. Taylor still chafes under being pretty useless in a fight against Servants, but she has a lot more freedom to step up and do things her way.
Taylor will definitely be bugging Da Vinci for one immediately after this. Then asking every Servant that can contribute to improving it to do so once they start to gather in Chaldea, which should start once they return, or more specifically once Mash returns and she can use her shield as the catalyst it is. After all, Cu will be showing up, albeit as a Servant tied to the Twins because they're Mash's Master. Probably not going to stop him from flirting with Taylor though. He is Cu, he's a horny dog.
But we will have Smolga in exchange, so it's not a total loss.
"I am still the director. Now. Put. Me. Down!"
"No! You're tiny and adorable and I'm going to hug you forever."
"Careful there master, she probably bites."
That'll be good. I'm not wanting you to make her overpowered, which I agreed with and found neat. I just think she needed more agency rather than sitting back.
Looking forward to finding out why she doesn't have a Servant from the summoning though the most.
Fuyuki is the hardest place for Taylor to do much of anything. Her boss that she actually respects is right there, she was dropped in without so much as a sidearm, and she hasn't been in an actual fight outside of controlled circumstances in 2 years.
Orleans feels a lot better, in that regard. Taylor still chafes under being pretty useless in a fight against Servants, but she has a lot more freedom to step up and do things her way.
Taylor will have a weapon shortly. I'm not going to spoil any other part of it, but that, I can guarantee.
That was what I was thinking, and trying to get at though I might have failed at the last part. I am looking forward to her having a weapon though. Even if it is completely ineffectual against Servants and strong Phantasmals it can be extremely useful if used properly in the correct circumstances like we see Taylor pull off in the Medusa battle. Or against mooks.
Taylor's not actually all that compatible with either of those two, or any of the known Irish Heroes for that matter. She can work with them, but she wouldn't be able to summon them without a catalyst which she certainly won't be getting. Also she probably wasn't trying to summon herself, and @James D. Fawkes has said we won't be getting an EMIYA like situation, so again not happening.
We have only one instance of someone summoning a version of themselves and it was in Strange Fake and it probably wasn't due to them being the most compatible Servant possible. If anything it'd be highly unlikely that anyone could summon a version of themselves without a catalyst and very strange circumstances like we see in SF.
Contrary to what you might think, working with a clone of yourself, or especially with a different version, wouldn't be very productive. It's either you'd both argue who gets to lead, or you'd get in each other's way somehow, like messing up in battle by dodging both the same way and crashing into each other, which is a fatal error.
But we will have Smolga in exchange, so it's not a total loss.
"I am still the director. Now. Put. Me. Down!"
"No! You're tiny and adorable and I'm to hug you forever."
"Careful there master, she probably bites."
Ok that's adorable. Honestly it reminds me of this Snippet crossover with the Potterverse. Premise is that a very young Harry replaces Ritsuka because he Apparated across time and space to escape getting physically abused into Chaldea right as Ritsuka is waking up in the corridor and is therefore the one being treated by Roman instead of Ritsuka when the bombs go off. His compatible summon that he attempts in Fuyuki is Jack by the way, which is incredibly fitting in a very depressing way.
