"Archer, you and Rider will command the homunculus troops together."
"Understood! But… if the Red Faction's Rider appears, I'll have to fight him."
Chiron accepted the Grand Prince's order but noted his own conditions. The opposing Rider, Achilles, had once been his student. Now that Achilles stood on the enemy side, only Chiron could face him—after all, he alone knew Achilles' weakness.
"It's fine. As long as you lead them at the start. Once the battle descends into chaos, the golems and homunculi will be consumed in the clash anyway."
Chiron nodded. The Grand Prince was right—once the initial armies collided, the fight would devolve into skirmishes between Servants.
"Next, Caster… when the battle begins, release the Red Faction's Berserker. Exploit him as much as possible. Regardless of the outcome, it's worth attempting."
"As you command."
Caster manifested from spirit form and bowed slightly. He intended to test whether Berserker could be swayed to their side. If not, then eliminating him would suffice.
"Berserker, fight as you wish."
"Urrraaagh!!"
Frankenstein let out a bestial roar. From the start she had been crouched at the wall's edge like a giant hound, baring her teeth and glaring eagerly at the distant skeletal army.
Before long, the imprisoned Rider, Astolfo, was also released and joined the others.
"Hm~? So even Lancer rides a horse? What use is a Rider like me then?"
As ever, his flippant tone made others shake their heads. It seemed he had learned little from his confinement. Chiron repeated the plan to him.
"Saber…"
The Grand Prince fixed his eyes on one of the Black Faction's greatest strengths—the ever-distracted deity before them.
The Shogun turned her head to meet his gaze.
"You call for me?"
"Indeed. You will fight freely, just as Berserker does. Aid whomever you wish. Of course… should the Red Saber appear, she will be your opponent."
The Shogun merely nodded silently. So it was to be guerilla warfare amidst the chaos, alongside Frankenstein.
"Excellent!"
Whoosh!
Satisfied, the Grand Prince mounted his steel warhorse and raised his gleaming silver twin-bladed lance high.
"We shall claim victory! The enemy are but savages—defiling our land with arrogant, base laughter. Fools who know only the road to death!"
"Comrades! Slay them with smiles upon your faces! Advance!!"
Eeeeehhhhh!!
With his rousing declaration, he tugged the reins. The warhorse neighed and leapt from the walls.
Whoosh!
The wind of his charge whipped across the others' faces, stirring battle fervor in all save the Shogun.
"Urrraaaaghhh!!"
Frankenstein bellowed and leapt down after him.
Rider summoned his mount and soared into the air.
Leading the army of golems and homunculi gathered before the fortress, they charged forward like beasts toward the forest at the edge of the plain!
"Well then… we'll take our leave, Saber."
With that farewell, Chiron and Caster vanished.
Only the Shogun and Fiore remained.
"Shogun… please be careful. I pray for your victorious return."
Unable to accompany her Servant further, Fiore offered her most heartfelt blessing.
"The time for my sortie has come. Take care of yourself as well."
"Mm…"
Crackle!Crackle!
Purple lightning surged around her body. In the next instant, the Shogun transformed into violet sparks, streaking across the sky like a meteor until she vanished from Fiore's sight.
"…"
Fiore lingered, gazing after the trail of thunder until it faded. Only then did she reluctantly wheel herself back to her room.
Shogun… please, be safe.
...
At that same time, the Red Faction's Berserker, Spartacus, was bound in the central courtyard of the fortress's ground floor—guarded by several homunculi and golems.
As the first Red Servant to be easily captured, Berserker had become Caster's test subject.
"Berserker, your Master is me. Do you understand?"
Caster approached the giant, his voice laced with hypnotic suggestion, reinforcing the magic already cast upon him.
"Oh! It seems that without your power, I cannot exist. A servitude hard to accept…"
Indeed, the effect of brainwashing began to take hold.
"Then, will you kill me?"
Caster asked as he released the restraints binding the giant's limbs, granting him freedom.
"But I cannot kill you, for my mission is not yet complete. I must strike down the oppressors and seize hope at despair's end!"
Spartacus shed his shackles, gripping his greatsword tightly. Though his eyes were blank white voids, his wide grin never wavered.
"I see… then your enemies are the Red Servants—the lapdogs of power. That should be reason enough to fight them."
"Urrraaaagh!!"
Boom!
With the final seal undone, Spartacus swung his greatsword skyward and roared. A surge of mana erupted outward with a shockwave, stirring great clouds of dust.
Crash! ×N
Without the slightest regard for Caster, Spartacus leapt high into the air, bounding from the fortress with thunderous strides like cannon blasts, charging toward the clash between Red and Black.
"Hahahahahaha!!!"
Like a man running to dinner, his joyous grin returned. His booming laughter echoed like weights clanging together, growing fainter as he vanished from sight.
Caster let out a weary sigh. The magical suggestion was only temporary. Perhaps it would serve some purpose, however small—but when it wore off, Spartacus would surely revert, lashing out indiscriminately. At that point, it would fall upon others to erase him.
...
Elsewhere—
The traces of battle lingered.
The Shogun, streaking through the forest as lightning, sensed signs of combat nearby. She veered toward them at once.
From above, she spotted the combatants: her own Berserker, Frankenstein, locked in fierce battle with a man whose identity was uncertain. A gray-haired youth in priestly garb.
He did not appear to be a Servant, yet he fought evenly against Berserker—at times even suppressing her. His weapons were peculiar: throwing-blade-like short swords, three in each hand, six in total. Even when depleted, he drew fresh ones from his robes.
It mattered little who he was. Fighting against her ally made him the enemy.
She raised her hand, gathering storm clouds overhead. A blinding bolt of lightning crashed down from the heavens!
"Lightning Falls On The Land Of Eternity."
BOOOOM!!!
The man—Shirou—felt danger crawl across every inch of his body. Abandoning his assault, he leapt back with all speed. Above, the once-clear night sky had swirled into a vortex, thunder-light gathering at its core like a black hole devouring the world.
Crack!!
A blade of lightning descended toward his head!
"!"
Gooseflesh prickled across his skin as he hurled himself backward again and again.
BOOM! BOOM! ×N
Each strike slammed into the earth, exploding violently. The bolts split apart, countless beams of lightning streaking down like searchlights, tracking his evasions.
The open ground around him lit up as sword-shaped sigils appeared, connecting in circuits of electricity to form a radiant field of lightning.
"Damn it!"
Shirou cursed under his breath, darting through the gaps in the barrage. The sigils spat paralyzing sparks, slowing his movements.
BOOM! ×N
Explosions erupted like a carpet-bombing run, the forest blazing white with thunder. For once, Shirou was driven to a rare state of disarray.
At last, a colossal bolt several kilometers wide fell without warning!
The surrounding sigils detonated as well.
BOOOOOOOM!!!!!
The entire lightning domain erupted into a fiery wasteland, searing flames and thunderclouds surging skyward to burn away the night.
From within the dust, Shirou staggered forth, his black suit caked with grime and torn apart.
"Kh… haah… haah…"
He panted raggedly. Every wound had been countered by Command Spells on his back. Without them, he would surely have perished beneath that Noble Phantasm.
"This kind of attack… the Black Faction's Saber, then!"
Such destructive thunder and lightning could only belong to her.