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Chapter 352: Chapter 319

".....why is he....?" Ritsuka looked a little annoyed.

"He\'s trying to get her riled up, don\'t think too hard about it." I pat his shoulder. "He\'s not that crass. I think the general idea is to get Mash\'s emotions peaking, then she might activate her Noble Phantasm unconsciously."

".....alright." Ritsuka sighed. "Just seems kind of mean."

Well, it\'s good to be protective of your servant. Strengthens the Master-Servant bond.

"Regardless, don\'t look away. This is kind of friendly, so they\'re not going full throttle, but get used to the speed that they\'re going at."

"Roger."

"Also, focus on the draw of Magical Energy the link is siphoning. The more they go, the more that\'s going to increase. You can focus on it and amplify it as well, to give him a little boost they can then use strategically."

`Wouldn\'t be a bad time to teach them a little.

"Try giving them a little boost, get used to how it affects them and yourself." It would be good for when they need to use special abilities or activate Noble Phantasms.

Both Ritsuka and Samuel both followed my words.

It was funny watching both Cu and Mash perk up once they got hit by a burst of Magical Energy. They seemed to understand what was going on and got used to it rather quick. Surprisingly, Mash was getting better the longer they went on.

Instead of just holding her shield up as a large barrier, she started tilting it, deflect some strikes to reduce how much shock she took. She began stepping into some blows, and stepping back to others.

Is she just synchronizing with her Servant parts the longer she fights?

It really is a fascinating phenomenon, but it\'s clearly something she doesn\'t want to go into detail about, which left me at an awkward spot when I wanted to ask more questions.

I suppose I could ask Olga, but I\'ll just wait until she\'s under a little less stress.

Emotion support Rabbit is going at full throttle right now.

She was absentmindedly stroking his fur as she watched the two spar.

"Fou."

My attention immediately snapped towards Ritsuka, who\'s shoulder was now playing host to that thing.

"Oh hey, little guy. Where did you run off to?" The young man ran a finger down the things back.

No, it let him pet it.

It seemed to like the kid for some reason.

The small animal turned to look at me with its beady little eyes. I didn\'t flinch this time when it jumped off Ritsuka\'s shoulder and onto mine.

It continued to stare at me, raising its little paw up, as if it was bored and wanted some entertainment. But it paused when a small flash of lightning emerged, and I felt a familiar weight on top of my head.

"What the hell, Shimoda? Is your rabbit a Phantasmal Beast!?" Olga blurted out.

"Did you think I would have a normal rabbit as my familiar?" I replied, not breaking eye contact with the thing.

The creature used my head to push up, getting eye level with Sir Wiggles. It was about to swat its tiny little paw at him until my familiar let out a small jolt. The creature let out a surprised noise, bouncing off my shoulder and landing on the ground.

"Fou!?" It squeaked out.

Sir Wiggles jumped to my shoulder, staring at the creature.

Fou, looked offended. He quickly took back his perch on Ritsuka\'s shoulder as the two small animals stared menacingly at one another.

The others didn\'t really pay them any heed. But once I was sure that the creature wasn\'t going to harm Sir Wiggles, I also went back to watching the fight.

I blinked, seeing Mash actually counter attack.

"Nice one, little lady!" Cu laughed, spinning his spear as it lashed out, faster and faster each thrust. "Let me show you a trick I picked up in life." His hand glowed with low as he ran it down the shaft of his spear, runes appearing and coating his weapon. "Should make up for my Caster stats a little bit."

It was the only warning Mash got before his spear struck out at the center of her shield, and her feet were lifted up a small amount. She quickly planted them firmly, but it was clear that he was pressuring her more.

"Is that all you got? Maybe I should go after your master over there, huh?"

"N-no! Don\'t harm master!" Mash raised her voice a little in panic, slamming her shield forward, making Cu raise his spear up to block.

"Alright, I think this has gone on long enough. Frankly, if you can\'t use your Noble Phantasm, you\'re going to be dead weight. You won\'t even be able to protect your Master if you get forced by yourselves." Cu took a step back, stabbing his spear into the ground. "Bring everything you got, cause I aint gonna hold back. Come forth and burn them completely, giant of all trees! Wicker Man!." Cu\'s Magical energy burst out and Samuel staggered where he was sitting.

A massive abomination of wood rose up out of the ground, a raging tempest of fire surrounded it.

"Mash!" Ritsuka stood up.

I was a little nervous about Cu\'s methods, but I knew he wasn\'t as flippant as he was appearing. I was ready to step in if I needed, but I wanted to trust in the both of them. I couldn\'t hold their hands if things went even further sideways then they already were.

I glanced at Ritsuka as he held his hand up, apparently taking my previous lesson to heart as a large influx of Magical Energy enveloped Mash. The source was clear as Ritsuka almost fell over as a result.

"Master!" Mash\'s head snapped towards us with eyes widened, a look of resolve overcame her. She planted her feet firm as the massive giant of wood and fire slammed its hand down. "Manifest!" She declared, slamming her shield into the ground, a large white while rose up from the ground to meet the attack head on.

Pristine White walls shuddered ever so slightly, but the massive thing of druid magics staggered backwards at the collision, nearly falling over itself as Mash still held firm.

It regained its footing after a moment, ready to attack again, but it suddenly dispersed with a wave from Caster.

"Well done, little lady." Cu smiled warmly.

Ritsuka was the first to appear, running up to her. "Mash, are you okay?"

"Master, I did it!" She practically squealed with joy.

The wall itself finally dissipated, but it gave me a familiar feeling that I just couldn\'t place.

"That alleviates some amount of concern." Olga crossed her arms, walking towards them as well. "However, it didn\'t appear to be a proper activation."

"I.....you\'re right." Mash\'s shoulders slumped.

Olga looked at her, letting out a sigh. "But it\'s good progress, well done."

"T-thank you, director." Mash quickly perked up, beaming bright.

"She\'s right, it wasn\'t a proper activation. You lose a substantial amount of power and weight to it by not activating it with a name. It might be a good idea to give it a temporary name for now, something meaningful to you." Cu offered some advice.

"A name?" Mash tilt her head, and her eyes dilated slightly as if in a trance before blinking again. "Lord Chaldeas."

"That works." Cu shrugged, apparently not noticing.

"I didn\'t really get a chance to inspect your shield previously." I said, running a hand along its center. "But these characters on it aren\'t normal."

"The writing?" Mash asked. "Do you know where it\'s from?"

"Maybe?" I was more unsure myself. I couldn\'t read it, so that left a few options as to what it was. "It doesn\'t look Divine to me."

"Of course, if it was French, I would know." Pierre joked, earning a chuckle from the others around us.

"Definitely not Divine." Caster confirmed with a small grin at the comment.

"Any information might help us narrow down potential matches to her Servant." Olga stated looking a little humored herself.

"I think it\'s Fae writing." I decided just to voice my current thought. "Not something I\'m knowledgeable about, but I\'ve seen some Fae writing before, and it looks familiar. That\'s all I got right now."

"Hmm, it should narrow down some things." Olga hummed. "But shouldn\'t Fae writing designate it was something not human?"

"Not necessarily." Caster chimed in. "It could just be an acknowledgement from them. Or even something as mundane as bestowing a name. Honestly, it\'s hard to guess what they lot get up to. I never liked being around them, so I didn\'t really pick up much."

He was right, they\'re hard to understand at the best of times.

"With this, we\'re now prepared." Olga put her hand on her hip. "Let\'s prepare to finish this Singularity!"

".....after Ritsuka and Samuel rest and regain some Magical Energy." It\'s going to take a little bit for them to regain the Magical Energy used to activate those Noble Phantasms.

Olga blushed a little. "....right, after that."

[***]

"Be careful, now that we\'re all together, that bastard just has more targets." Cu warned as we approached the mountain path towards the temple caves.

"I\'ll protect everyone!" Mash declared, holding her shield up.

Cu cracked a smile. "I\'ll them to you then, lass."

It was unfortunate, but I really didn\'t feel comfortable leaving any of them behind. I felt I could protect them much better if they were nearby, even if that put then in sight of the other Servants.

Almost immediately, all three of us noticed something coming through the air.

An arrow-like projectile homing in on our group. Mash moved to intercept, her large shield held up, the projectile turned to scrap upon hitting it.

"And there\'s the bastard." Cu growled.

"Says the mutt." A voice returned. We all looked up to see the Archer he was talking about before, standing upon the cliffside, looking down at us and preventing anyone from ascending further. "Do yourselves a favor and turn around."

White hair, tanned skin, and black armor with a red cloth attire attached in some places. The most eye catching thing were the red vein-like marks wringing under his skin as they seemed to be taking over his body.

"Sorry, can\'t do that." I replied, the man\'s steel-like eyes focusing on me.

"There\'s nothing for you here, leave." He tried again.

".....are you unable to break free from what\'s controlling you?"

He twitched slightly. "Even if you know, it\'s pointless. You won\'t make it up this mountain."

"Emiya."

His eyes widened slightly. "How –"

"What happened to Artoria?"

Again his body shuddered. "....that\'s two names you really shouldn\'t know." His voice lowered and his body tensed up almost protectively.

"Rin is like a sister to me." I added a third that made him look even more uncomfortable than he was before. I could tell I was hitting him right in his soft spot. I wanted to see if there was any way I could bring him over to our side. I knew his history a little bit, and...he was someone worth respecting even if his ideals were misguided. "So, I do know a thing or two."

"....Leave." He commanded again, but it felt just a tad less hostile.

"Can\'t do that." I shook my head. "If something is wrong with Artoria, I\'ll do everything I can to save her."

"Stupid." He grunted. ".....Though I suppose I\'m not any different."

"You –"

His body tensed and his hands drew back the string of his bow, a sword was materialized and morphed into the form of an arrow at quick speeds. "Stop."

I was mid step, pausing at his command. I looked down, mentally counting the steps I took before. "Your commands are to stop anyone from approaching. I assume that this is set at a threshold, one which I was about to overstep."

The corruption he was suffering, he was still forced to follow any commands given presumedly by Saber.

"If you take one more step, I\'ll be forced to fight you." The hint was very obvious in his words. I suppose he couldn\'t say too much, this curse or whatever he was under was reeling him in.

"So even you can\'t break free. How much longer until you\'re completely subsumed by those curses? Your status as a Counter Guardian won\'t hold out for much longer."

"You really know a lot of things you shouldn\'t." Archer stared at me with a strange look. "And I\'ve never seen you before either. But you\'re right, I don\'t think I have much longer....not that it matters. Something tells me you all have even less time."

"Damn cocky bastard. He obviously won\'t be reasoned with, just let me handle it." Cu stepped forward, staff in hand. He intentionally stepped past the mark where Archer was forced to respond instead of doing it of his own will.

Cu twirled his staff in hand and slammed the butt of it onto the ground, manifesting a Rune that actualized a fire-based spell, slamming into a handful projectiles coming down.

"Hmph, the rabid dog keeps barking."

"Come down here, I\'ll show you a rabid dog." Cu snorted.

Archer glanced at me. "It seems my primary target has arrived. I\'ll now have to focus all my attention on eliminating Caster, per my orders."

I quirked an eyebrow at the obvious hint.

"Damn bastard, this is why I hate you. Don\'t sound so smug while trying to help out." Cu snorted.

"Thanks, Archer." I expressed my thanks. If need be, I didn\'t want to fight him. He was....pitiful and someone worth admiration. To see him in this state was disheartening and not something he deserved.

"Don\'t thank me. Once I\'m done with this mutt, I\'m coming for you." Archer smirked, staring at Cu. "So, do what you need to do."

He didn\'t move as we ran past. The Archer Servant, true to his words, focused entirely on Cu.

"Well, come on then Shirou." Cu mocked.

I paused a brief moment to look back at Archer. There was a very visible twitch on his face. "Actually, I think I\'m going to enjoy this." He said evenly before materializing two blades into his hands.

Yup, he really didn\'t like being referenced with his original name. Bit of a sore spot for him.

[***]

Running up the steep path, the they eventually disappeared from view, but the sounds of Magics being activated still rang out, shaking the mountainside.

I could feel the malevolent energy start to thicken as we got closer. And by the shivers and expressions of everyone else, they apparently felt it too. These people who weren\'t used to such things, they could pick up on it.

"Mash, stay alert, you\'re on defense." I eyed the Shielder Servant.

The entrance to the Cave wasn\'t decorated, nor was it particularly inviting. The stone walls offered no light beyond what came further from within.

Everyone took hesitant steps as I took point.

It didn\'t take long to finally reach the mouth of the cavern.

It opened up to a massive underground lair. Enough that it could fit a few blocks of street inside and not be overly cramp.

As much as I wanted to inspect the surroundings, there was something else that drew attention. The corrupted Grail, for one, and the energy it was letting out by just existing.

But it was....contained, focused at one spot.

Blonde hair that was oh so familiar.

However, there were so many things wrong. Those same cursed markings ran across her form, they highlighted her black armor adorned with rigid spikes. Not the normal heroic and clean steel and cloth that I could associate with her before.

Skin so pale that even Salem might lose out.

She stood there, protectively. Her famous sword, blackened, corrupted, as she held its pommel and its blade dug into the dirt.

Slowly, her eyes began to open.

They were not the vibrant green that I enjoyed oh so many times. No, they were a ghastly yellow which only held sorrow.

My poor Artoria, what happened to you?

"So you\'ve come." Her voice was a perfect match still, making it very hard to properly respond. "He said you would come."

"Are you the one responsible for this Singularity!?" Olga took the lead, accusing Artoria as I was having trouble even finding words.

"Hmm?" this Saber slowly moved her head to look at Olga. But her eyes caught something else of interest. "That Shield, I see." She muttered, staring at Mash. "You are correct. It is by my hand that this deplorable world exists."

"Why...?" I barely managed to eek out. "Why are you doing this?"

Her eyes then turned to me. Complete unfamiliarity shined in her gaze, making it hurt all the more.

She closed her eyes letting out a breath as she hefted her sword up. "My reasons are my own. You wish to stop me, and I will proceed with my own goals with pause. There will be no discourse."

"Wait – !?"

"The time for words is over. If you cannot defeat me, then your Grand Order is doomed to fail before it began."

"What!? How do you know that name!?" Olga exclaimed in shock.

Saber\'s only answer was a massive amount of Magical Energy swirling around her blade as she pulled it back.

"D-Director!" Mash stuttered, putting herself infront of her.

"Um, Boss! I\'m not very good at this magic thing, but I can damn well feel that!"

"Baise Moi!"

The all pretty much ran behind Mash.

"Shimoda, if you\'re going to do something, do it!" Olga shouted.

Her eyes looked so empty.

What happened to you, Artoria? Who did this to you?

I know the woman I\'ve come to care for wouldn\'t do this without a reason. So, for whatever reason, you think this is the best option.

"I\'ll save you." I whispered, holding my hand out. It was quickly filled, the grip of my own Holy Sword weighing it down.

One way or another, I\'ll end whatever kind of torment this is.

There was no accompanied words of activation from her. She didn\'t truly activate her Noble Phantasm, a half-assed variant accompanied the swing of her sword. The release of the built up power surged like a wave in our direction.

But even still, it threatened to completely devour us all. That dark and malevolent energy that was once a beautiful holy sword.

My sword erupted in its own holy power. Meridia told me she upgraded my sword, to make it comparable to a Noble Phantasm. I knew she was jealous of Artoria\'s blade and based it off of that, but lets put it to the test.

"Dawnbreaker." I swung down to meet hers head on, a clash of light and darkness filled the cave.

[***]

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