A yawn, long and hearty bounced around the white walls of Chaldea.
Relaxed steps, easy-going smile, hands in pockets. That was Chaldea's resident librarian going for a stroll to one inventor's place of residence.
Putting hands behind his head, Roland thought about what even brought this on.
It was a simple thing really - necessity.
Back in America, when they were on their way to take the palace by storm, he realized one thing - he lacked any kind of crowd control. Nothing to keep the pesky roaring midgets at bay. That didn't really cost them anything, but as they returned, and after all the ball craze had settled down, he buckled down and thought about things to improve.
It wasn't actually that unusual, really (even though Olivier and... A bunch of others would disagree). Actually, it was Olivier's influence that he had got the habit of just thinking things through once in a while and jotting down what he could improve in his combat or tactics. Or maybe it took almost fucking up when Charles trusted him with a mission, or that time or that one...
His brows creased a little. Yeah, maybe he fucked up too-many-times too many, but hey, it did stick with him, in the end.
Water under the bridge and all that…
Point is - Roland really couldn't tell his friend to shove it, when he had a very valid point.
Since then, this little thing he did was born and carried on even into the Library. Receiving guests was fairly simple, but Abnormalities gave him a run for his money and needed some strategizing done. Not to mention, the many different combinations of traits that could make the fights easier.
His eyes zeroed in on one spot on the ceiling as thoughts left his head for a split second.
What was this thing about, again?
Then, he snapped his fingers and continued on. Right, lack of crowd control.
After analyzing what could've gone better, he came to two realizations.
One: He lacked crowd control.
Two (and arguably more important): There was no Head to stand over his shoulder and control what guns he could and could not use. (Also - nobody to tax them.)
Meaning: big guns were a go. And when Roland meant big guns? He meant REALLY big guns. Which would all go boom and bam and leave very little of his enemy.
Honestly, when his mind came to that, he grew kinda excited. Don't get him wrong, killing had grown rather old for him, not to mention - unpleasant, but he wouldn't say no to something this new. Especially on a mission this high-stakes.
When it came to the guns themselves it was a bit tricky - he wanted to try out a silencer, at least once, but considering the kind of guns you put a silencer on... He had very little need for them. They wouldn't be able to match a Servant, meaning they'd just be deadweight in his gloves.
And putting it on his rifle/shotgun was out of the question because it was never intended to have anything on the barrel.
So, he lapsed back into the crowd control idea and after hashing it out with Da Vinci...
Well, won't be long till the results speak for themselves.
And so he strolled on, the unrelenting blizzard outside being the only one to accompany him. It didn't take long to reach Da Vinci's workshop and when he did, something unexpected happened.
"Thanks Da Vinci!" came a shout from behind the door as it was flung open and a familiar red head jumped outside right into the fixer.
He caught her gently, chuckling:
"The welcome is warmer than I expected, not that I mind," he smirked, "Hey Master."
"Roland! Fancy meeting you here," Ritsuka beamed, "Check this out, a new mystic code!"
She spun around, showing off. He gave her a once over and noted some changes to the uniform. Like how there was a black belt with a few pouches attached on it and how the overall color scheme became more dualistic.
Black and white. He wasn't about to lie – he liked those colors.
"Suits you real well, Ritsuka," he said honestly, putting on a small smile.
"Uh-uh, I know," she untangled herself from his grasp and smiled proudly, "Anyway, what are you…"
"Oh-oh, Roland! You are finally here!" – came from the overly excited Da Vinci as she peeked out the door frame, "Just in time too, come in, come in!" she snatched his hand before he could do anything.
Ritsuka could only frown at the audacity, as her servant was snatched from right under her nose.
Not that she didn't share Da Vinci's enthusiasm. She did get a new, improved mystic code after all. And with Roland (probably) getting something for himself as well, her other plans would have to wait. Because entertainment was clearly right in front of her.
So as the two walked into the room, she quietly followed in and closed the door behind her, making herself scarce and as little as possible.
Da Vinci leaned onto her working desk while Roland took a seat on the opposite end of it.
"Well, see no need to prolong this," the inventor said and leaned under the table. A small noise of the wheels spinning came from underneath and a second later, she lifted a very heavy-looking wooden crate.
On it read 'Da Vinci munitions'.
'Huh, why mark things like that when you are the only one making things here anyway?' Ritsuka pondered, but thought of it as just another eccentricity.
Roland etched closer, visibly excited.
'Like a kid about to unwrap a present,' Ritsuka smiled to herself.
And then the lid opened and the smile fell off, replaced with bewilderment.
A motherfucking minigun was looking back at her.
An honest to god, real fucking minigun.
"Holy Jesus," she mouthed but was ignored.
Roland only gave away his amazement with the slight widening of eyes but that was enough for Da Vinci to start cackling with pride.
Well, the fixer could admit, he was impressed.
"I took a look at the currently used M134 minigun and made some improvements to the already existing design. Like making it so that it never overheated, increased the rotation speeds and… " she took a look at him, "…You are not listening."
In fact, Roland was not.
He picked up the weapon, took a hold of it. Adjusted his stance. Twirled it around him, almost knocking some things over to the chagrin of the inventor. Lifted it above his head. Inspected it and came to the conclusion.
This might have been the only gun that he could confidently say would not suck in the City. Granted, the overall tax on it would put anyone but a corp into crippling debt, but that was fucking worth it.
"The knock back was supposed to be a pretty big issue, but I adjusted that as well. Magecraft is truly a gift to a skilled artisan such as I."
The Inventor was smiling contentedly. There was no occasion more joyful than realizing that a customer was left satisfied and happy.
"As for the ammunition, I believe we've discussed this, yes?"
"Yeah," Roland nodded, his eyes landing on her for the first time, "When you first voiced the estimated numbers, I was tempted to call bullshit. But now? I have a feeling you weren't exaggerating."
"What do you mean?" Ritsuka butted in.
"Well," Da Vinci cupped her chin, "While Chaldea has everything necessary to provide Roland with ammunition, it would be too… Costly."
"You don't say," Roland snorted, "'Ten thousand rounds a minute', you said back then. I honestly still have trouble wrapping my head around that number."
"And exactly because of that, we've arranged it so that Roland was to create the rounds in the Library instead of here."
"…And it took a lot of Light to make them, I tell ya. Like, around two books worth of Light. And that's a lot," he said, looking at Ritsuka. And then added, "And I only made enough to fire this thing for three minutes."
"It's unfortunate, but I have faith that after three minutes of such intensive fire… There will be nothing left of the general direction that you were firing at," Da Vinci said with surety and took a sip out of the mug.
That little detail made shivers run down Ritsuka's spine. Along with excitement. Sure, most servants wouldn't even feel that, better yet – evade the bullet storm – but others? Fodder?
It would be a slaughter. And was it wrong of her to feel excitement at the prospect?
…Probably, but whatever made her life easier and her allies safer was worth it.
Almost made her wonder why they hadn't arranged for something like this earlier. Maybe it was a problem with logistics of carrying things like that around? Or the overall situational nature of it? Or the ammunition…
Yeah, there were plenty of reasons why that wouldn't have worked out, now that she was looking into it.
But hey, now they had a guy who could cover all of those single handedly. Nice.
Without as much as a flash, the monstrous weapon disappeared into the gloves and Roland leveled Da Vinci with a look.
"And the second one?"
'There was a second one?!' Ritsuka yelled internally.
Da Vinci just smiled, bringing out another, smaller crate.
A grenade launcher this time.
Roland picked it up, not as impressed, but with a small smile tugging at his lips.
Yeah, now he felt like he was ready.
*****
"Thanks for coming, everyone," expressed the basic formalities Romani, just for his face to harden the next moment, "You probably figured out why I called you guys here."
It wasn't a secret.
They finally managed to catch the coordinates of the Singularity.
And everyone involved in the mission was now getting briefed, which included the servants. And they were… a colorful bunch.
"Get to the point, shrink," put her foot down Jalter as she scoffed, making Emiya shake his head in dismay. Medea, for her part, was impassive and collected. Mash's smile dimmed a little and Roland mirrored Jalter's scoff. It was just aimed at her, this time around.
Ritsuka could only hold up a calm smile. She was the reason Jeanne was here, after all.
"Right-right," Roman nodded vigorously and continued, "To cut the long story short, the year is 1273. Judging from what we managed to gather, the Singularity is taking place near Jerusalem. From there we realized that it probably has something to do with the Crusade that Edward of England led at the time."
"Doesn't matter. Can I burn it?" Jeanne asked excitedly, standing up and looking at Romani, just to swirl and look at Ritsuka, "Can I? You promised, didn't you?"
Nowhere to be seen was the catty and abrasive Avenger. In its place was an arsonist playing cute, trying very hard to get inside the building to set it alight.
Made chills travel down Roland's spine, to be honest.
"If the situation requires it," Ritsuka nodded, while also avoiding a straight answer.
Jalter narrowed her eyes, feeling the ruse in her words, but didn't have the time to act on it.
"Sit down, will you? The faster we finish this, the faster we can get to it," voiced Emiya Roland's feelings.
Jeanne Alter sat down, huffing.
"Khm-khm," Romani cleared his throat. "Anyway, we have all the basis to consider this singularity to be wildly unusual as there are… Difficulties in determining its value for human history."
"Not to mention," Da Vinci continued, "It might just be the most unique of the Singularities yet. Take a look."
Inventor clicked on the mouse and an image appeared on the screen. An image of CHALDEAS, with an area of it being completely grey, as if wiped clean.
"The magnitude of this irregularity is hard to estimate, therefore, we've come to a conclusion, that I shall accompany you on this voyage as well," she declared to the cheer of Ritsuka and Mash and the subdued reaction of others.
Roland wouldn't mind an additional brain to come with them, anyhow. Always useful to have someone like that around. Especially when everything is hung up in the air, like this time.
Which couldn't be said about Romani, who showed an outwards reluctance with the whole thing. Though, judging by how unmoved girls were by his display, Roland reckoned that he was either bullied into accepting, or his opinion was not considered at all.
With these three, it could go either way.
"This, however," Romani decided to put another word in, stopping the discussion from spiraling out, "means that Chaldea might not be as able to provide you with much supplies or any reinforcements. Comms is the best we can manage, from our estimates right now."
This put a dumper on Ritsuka's mood, as she nodded, her eyes serious.
"That's bad, but I think our current roster will be good enough."
"I'm not saying we won't be able to completely. We'll have to see how it goes when you land," Romani attempted to alleviate the heaviness in the air.
"Do your best, Roman," Da Vinci winked.
"Yeah, I'll try."
"This is all, yes?" asked Medea.
"Yes, this is it. You guys have time until tomorrow to get ready, psyche yourself up and whatnot," Romani commented and everyone took it as their cue to start getting ready.
Tomorrow was shaping up to be very exciting.
*****
"Well, shit," Roland said, looking around.
"Language," Da Vinci rebuked, without much bite, surveying the land around them.
This… wasn't quite what everyone was expecting.
Ritsuka, meanwhile, had her eyes shut, standing back-to-back with Mash. Looking through servants eyes could be a bit taxing on the mind and vestibular system.
"Weren't we supposed to appear near the fucking city?" Jalter whined, a scoff plastered across her face.
Burning it seemed to be pretty up there on her agenda list. And hearing it was getting old very fast. Fast enough for Roland to start getting irritated by it.
"Well, even my genius can't account for irregularities such as these," Da Vinci shrugged and pulled out a notebook, scribbling something down. "Medea, how would the current mana levels measure up to those in your time?" the genius expressed her academic curiosity to a fellow Caster.
"Above average of what was supposed to be in this era. I would say, closer to the final stages of the age of gods in less saturated regions."
Da Vinci jotted that down, scratching her temple with a pencil.
"Why do you need that info, exactly?" Roland asked.
"Why, Roland, because of my purpose here. If I am to uncover the unusual 'weight' this singularity had on human history – I need all the data I can get. Measuring the mana levels could, potentially, point me at the direction of the potential cause," she lectured.
"Alright, people, we have news," Ritsuka finally spoke up, "Questionable news at that. First: there are no cities in… quite a bit."
You could hear Jalter whispering curses.
"Second, we have mountains just north of our position. Not even that far. And there is clearly something burning there, with all the smoke and whatnot."
"Well, couldn't have noticed without you, Master. The big dark something at the edge of our vision didn't give us enough of a clue."
"Shush." Master silenced, not really paying attention to the scathing remarks. "Anyway, my and Archer's proposal – we go there and survey what might have happened. Maybe get the info from whoever is still present."
"As good of a plan as any," Roland fixed his mask and gloves, going through the mental checklist of everything he had and sighing to let out some of that pent up stress.
The operation didn't exactly go as planned, but it wasn't anywhere near the FUBAR levels, and not even as bad as the last one.
Though, they were about to move to somewhere potentially dangerous, he guessed that could change any second.
So, they marched towards the ominous black smoke.
*****
"Are they loonies or something?" Jalter asked aghast.
The group took to the highground, settling on an advantageous position overlooking the mountain's valley, as they bore witness to the ridiculousness below.
Down there, on the numerous mountain tropes leading to the burning huts, warriors fought. One group was wearing clearly Roman Empire garbs. The other ones were wearing silver colored armor with ominous looking vizor. And clearly, the Romans were losing.
If it weren't for a simple irregularity with this situation, that is.
"Kill the plebs! Don't let the damnable king get any more of the lambs for the slaughter!" the Romans shouted with enough venom to be heard even where they were.
The other party, while overwhelming in power, was a lot more occupied with tying the villagers, who struggled endlessly to no avail in their grasp. The knights, showing pretty much un-knightly behavior - dragged them through the mud and into some cages, which were then set to go somewhere via wagons straddled with horses…
Well, that would've happened if Ritsuka wasn't such a bleeding heart.
"Archer - fire at will!" she pointed at the knights and Emiya didn't need to be told twice.
With wisps of blue light, a black long-bow appeared in his hands, along with a… sword looking arrow? Roland couldn't place a name on this travesty.
*SWISH-SWISH*
The arrows cut the air with the ease, reaching their targets in a heartbeat and felling them instantly.
"Okay people, in we go! Keep the civis safe! Casters, - save whoever you come across - get them somewhere save. Archer - provide cover." Master shouted all the while Mash picked her up, and then carried her down the slope.
As they made the landing, a deafening boom came from down the valley as a part of the mountain exploded into dust dirt. Ritsuka winced from the sound and continued with the commands. "Pretender, Avenger, Mash - with me. Gotta figure out who's in charge. Go-go-go!"
With the roles distributed, they all split their separate ways.
'Roland, Jeanne - get behind Mash. She'll be our battering ram. Pick up whoever's left. IF THEY ATTACK!' a voice intruded in Roland's head and he swiftly adjusted his positioning.
"Damned knights got reinforcements! Men - formation!" one of the romans shouted, as his men rallied around him in a formation - their shield serving as a caprice of a sort.
Well, that was something novel for Roland.
The knights, meanwhile, stared at…Mash? Mash's shield? And they didn't try to attack - but they were veeery hesitant about it.
'Leave the knights alone for now! We pushing through the romans!' Ritsuka gave the command and they picked up in speed.
*BAM*
Like kegs in bowling, the roman forces scattered from the sheer power of the strike, shattering the formation in the middle.
*SHATTER-SHATTER*
They were fast approaching their destination, and the sounds from there were picking up in intensity.
'Don't attack! Don't have time! Need to hurry!'
"Damn it Master!" Jalter roared as she kicked one of the unfortunate sods in frustration and continued forward.
'She does have some impulse control!' Roland thought sardonically to himself.
Afterwards they came upon a scene…
Of utter devastation.
The further down the mountain path, the less of it even existed. Entire plots of land were turned into debris and the pulverized stone.
Not to mention the dots of golden silver and wild red bouncing around the entire mountain until, at some point - they stopped, giving Chaldean's opportunity to observe.
One of the fighters was wearing knight armor with clearly exaggerated gold embroidery. Their armor was untainted by the surrounding chaos, as if it never touched by it.
The other one wore a formidable-looking chest plate of silver - ragged in its design and yet refined. Beastial, came to mind. The man wore wild scarlet hair and wielded a huge sword, which glinted with infernal red.
That was an obnoxious amount of red.
Both combatants seemed to have noticed their arrival, giving varying reactions, ranging from a silent flinch to a…
"Ha! Reinforcements for you, Arthurian dog?" the man asked, glaring at his opponent. "A familiar shield," he noted, and then his eyes closed on the person wielding it, "and an unfamiliar flower, covering behind its safety. A curious development." the man noted haughtily, his eyes glinting with anticipation as a grin sprawled on his face.
"Oh, and a bunch of fodder behind the beautiful lilac flower."
"Fuck you too dickwipe!" Jalter didn't take it lying down, with Ritsuka nodding discreetly next to her.
"Are you guys for real?" Roland couldn't help a sigh.
"Regardless, you mutts stand no chance, so - come at me. I'm ready to take all of you," showing the heights of arrogance, the man spread his arms, inviting anyone to land a strike.
"Senpai?"
Ritsuka assessed the situation, looked at the knight in the armor and decided.
"Let's retreat-"
"WRONG ANSWER!" The red haired barbarian lunged at them as soon as the words left her lips. "No dog of Arthur's is going to escape my grasp!"
*CLANG*
With a moan of extortion, the Shielder blocked the strike that was meant for Ritsuka - barely catching it, as the speed was beyond of even what they had seen.
Jeanne jumped into action, taking a shot at the man's side.
"Pathetic!" he roared.
And almost got skewered by Allas workshop out of his blind spot - Information Erasure once again proving its worth.
But showing amazing flexibility, the man turned in an unnatural angle and avoided the lance at the last second, growling, with a frown finding its way to his face.
"Pests!" he made a sweeping motion and deflected the shield bash, rocking Mash a few meters and swatting Jalter's spear sideways - thwarting any kind of attack she had in mind.
Roland chose to disengage and start rapid firing at the man, annoying him to no end - but it did just that. Annoyed him.
It distracted him enough for the mysterious knight to step into their little game.
*BOOM*
With a literal explosion announcing their arrival, the knight sprung into action, biting at the stranger's back.
"And I thought your knightly honor prevented you from such dirty tricks!" the man spat venomously, spinning on his heel, as he met the lance face to face with the grace of a predator.
Roland couldn't take the shot - too fast for him to shoot accurately. Jeanne stayed her hand…
Sparks rose, steel roared. The man parried the lance up - barely missing his hair - and went into the knights guard, pushing with all of his body and staggering the spearman momentarily. They recovered, just in time to get the swordstrike on the pommel of the spear, which pushed them yet again.
'Roland, flank him!' came the command, but the fixer was on it even before that.
Durandal appeared in a plum of black smoke and slid into his hand. He rounded the man from the back, striking at his legs, which seemed less protected.
An oversight.
In a show of an uncannily good instinct, the man jumped up, and after defying physics, landed on the blade itself, spun and sent a roundhouse kick Roland's way.
A millisecond all it took, to brink out Wheels industry, the trusty sword let go in forced self-defense.
*CLANK*
The vibration of the hit rocked Pretender's bones, but he held.
But Wheel's industry came with the drawback of less mobility. Which his opponent read well.
The man veered around the hunk of metal, trying to stab Roland clear into abdomen.
Crystal Atelier appeared swiftly reposting the sting and then accepting the swing on a cross guard.
It was two seconds of struggle. The opponent, clearly, outpaced Roland in specs - inching the blade ever closer to his throat.
But a few seconds of standstill was all it took to change things.
'Recall the sword now!' shout resounded in his mind and with a flex of his mind, the giant sword dissipated into golden motes.
Giving the Avenger a perfect hit out of a blind spot.
"BURN FUCKER!" a banner was followed by a serpent of flames biting with fiendish vigor.
Roland had to disengage quickly - lest he became a pile of ash.
"A LITTLE HEADS UP WOULD BE NICE!" fixer shouted his frustrations, gun trained on where the flames had just passed.
…Showing the man to be barely scratched. His furs - barely burned, his armor - hardly charred. His face - as perfect as it was. Giving only a self-assured smile, dusted with barely perceived annoyance.
A lull in combat ensued. Everyone was thinking of their next move.
"Ha-ha-ha! A fiery woman! Pale in complexion, yellow in eyes… How should I call you?" the man pondered out loud. "Yes! A chamomile! Because you are so harmless!"
His smile turned from self-assured to mocking.
If looks could kill - the man would be long gone.
One moment - everyone descended into another silence.
The winds howled through the devastated valley, as if crying out the nature's pain. The distant screams of the people accompanying it.
Roland shifted his posture, Jeanne scowled more, Mash grasped at her shield, Ritsuka clanched her fist.
And just as suddenly everyone was in motion. With the arrogant swordsman in the center of a three sided attack.
A spear roared with booming flames, its wielder blurring into fiery movement.
A banner of white, likewise, turned into infernal blaze, seeking to devour the impudent enemy.
A trusty sword of black returned to his owner's hands, billowing dark smoke as it went.
But the man made no haste to run away, no. He stood, pridefully, arrogantly, only uttering.
"Witness and quiver, for before you is the true son of Rome."
It only took a blink, less than that - for the sword to be ready to strike.
The three that charged, took hasty steps to the side. Except for one. The knight was on their way to an untimely demise. As if desperate for it.
"MASH! BY MY COMMAND SEAL! STOP THAT BLADE!" Ritsuka shouted in alarm, her entire being screaming danger. It doesn't matter if it would save that unknown spearman.
She knew for a fact - if that Noble Phantasm went off - they'd all be dead meat.
The demonic sword of crimson lilies
"Florent!"
With a booming eruption of deep, bloody crimson, the sword lit up, the wilted black of lilies dancing across its surface and turning into a black line on the ever-expanding red force engulfing the blade and growing bigger - ready, nay, itching to strike.
"LORD CHALDEAS!" the unseen, ghostly walls of blue appeared in the air, primed and willing to provide protections to all those in need.
An unstoppable sword and an immovable wall met.
Except - the wall was not as sturdy as one would like.
The red hue started to break into the translucent blue, biting and gnawing at the bricks of the invisible fortress, chipping them.
The shockwave from the hit was enough to send Roland flying a few meters back, not to mention Ritsuka, who had to hold on to her dear life.
And yet she did not move her gaze from the battlefield. Not once.
"BY MY SECOND COMMAND SEAL! MASH! HOLD ON!"
The wall took shape, regained its luster. It held steadfast.
But it still wouldn't hold.
"BY MY THIRD COMMAND SEAL!" Rituska decided to bank everything on this one instance. It was ride or die.
Then, a voice came.
"No need to exert yourself. Let me assist."
Suddenly, a voice passed Ritsuka by in the form of silvery flash. With deft movement, the silver figure crossed the distance between her and the emperor.
"Airgetlám - switch on!" he intoned, the stranger's right arm turning into an elongated razer of golden light, promptly clashing with the deep crimson.
An intense struggle ensued - red against gold, light against dark.
The violent red began to subdue, ever so slightly. It then turned into a shimmer, then - died down, leaving only an exhausted Shielder, a serious looking Emperor and another knight of silver - their blades clashing.
"You…" who Ritsuka supposed was Lucius Tiberius muttered, "How did you get this-"
Before he could ask anything else - the explosive knight swept in to attack, but the emperor retreated. No one gave chase, silently watching where the situation would go.
Florent found its way in to its sheath, and the man himself looked in Mash's direction. Her breath was labored, but she stood firmly despite the fatigue.
"My name is Lucius Tiberius, girl of lilacs. And I advise you to find the name of your patron soon. Else, our second altercation would not be in your favor. And I would hate to pluck the flower like you before it came into its full beauty." There were no licherous undertones in his tone of voice. It felt more like he was stating an unfortunate, but invevitable fact.
His eyes then scanned the area around, noting other combatants and, after giving a small, condescending guffaw, he spoke again. Or wanted to, before his brows knitted into one line and his face morphed into a mask of deep displeasure.
He then motioned something with his hand and the horns started to roar around the entire mountain.
His gaze darted up.
"And as it happens, we will have to cut this bout short."
Then he was gone, the force behind his leap leaving a small crater behind as he raised dust and left for, supposedly, his men.
No one moved.
The Chaldeans - the two servants, a demi-servant and a master - regrouped, and approached the two knights.
They were standing, very still, their gazes pitted against one another. Until, the one in the helmet spoke, their voice quivering with untold emotions.
"Sir Bedivere…" they bowed to the silverhaired man named Bedivere.
Ritsuka along with Mash recognized that name.
"Sir Gareth," now named Bediver nodded.
Aaaaand they went still again. Ritsuka started to feel very awkward - something shared amongst everyone present.
'Master, we should leave,' came through the link. Before Ritsuka could question it, another curt sentence came. 'Look up'.
And up she looked. And shat her pants she did.
Thankfully, only figuratively.
"Mmm, guys? I get it that you are having a moment, but we really should be leaving," she said, not trying to hide the trepidation in her voice.
"What the fuck is that?!" Jalter had no filter to go with her surprise, however.
Then, Bedivere stared up, he saw the massive lance of light and…
"What? How can this be? Gareth-"
"...You should leave, Bedivere. The king… she is seeking those worthy. Should we meet again, I'll have no other choice but to strike you down. WE won't have any other choice." She then looked at the Chaldeans. "That also includes you. I ask- No, I plead with you - hide. Run. I wish not to have any more deaths on my conscience!"
"Gareth I do not understa-"
"There is no time. You need to run. Twenty minutes at best - that's as much as you have to escape the blast radius," Gareth punctuated each word with solemn finality and borderline hysteric tone. "...If fate is merciful, we will not meet again. Farewell."
With that, he disappeared, fast as wind itself.
"Ritsuka, we gotta bale - you heard the man," Roland urgency apparent.
She nodded at that, but there was still a distraught man in front of her, so…
"Erm, hello. My name is Ritsuka," she stepped closer to Bedivere, drawing the attention of somewhat doleful green eyes, "I know you and your comrade just had a bit of a misunderstanding - and you want to know what is going on. We are part of an organization called Chaldea. We are here to figure out the source of the singularity and what's happeing. I suggest we join forces and figure out what's going on together. If you want to, of course."
He looked at her for a second, before a thunderclap up above disturbed his thoughts.
The spear was growing in size and intensity.
"...I think we can come to some kind of arrangement after we escape. But I thank you for the offer nevertheless."
"Good, then…" she closed her eyes and relayed her thoughts to Archer. His reply came quickly, telling of the location where they were supposed to meet and then make a run for it.
Then, came the less pleasant news.
'We only found six people. Two we saved initially, the rest were in the houses where the knights and romans hadn't yet passed. Two kids and two women. Others were either captured or killed.'
Ritsuka scrunched up.
…Well, you can't save everyone, right? Right…
"Okay people, we move out," she said and climbed up Mash's back. Then, promptly, they escaped the wrecked mountain valley - now turned pulverized rock and grimy dust.
An intense run later, they were at the rundezvouse spot, and with how the giant spearhead in the sky was gaining in intensity, so did the unpleasant feeling in Ritsuka's gut.
'We have a problem, Master,' came from Emiya again, who was running a bit late.
From the twenty minutes Gareth gave them - six were gone.
'Out with it.'
'Da Vinci is nowhere to be seen.'
Rituska's mind went up in alarm. 'Explain.'
'Can't find her anywhere. Lost track around a minute ago. Medea lost track of her even before that.'
Ritsuka suppressed an overwhelming urge to scream out bloody murder. All while navigating the menu of her communicator.
"Senpai?" Mash asked, but received no answer, as Ritsuka focused on getting the reception.
"C'mon, c'mon…" she said, and, thankfully, there was a response.
"Ritsuka- we- side?"
"Romani! Da Vinci! Status!" she exclaimed, and judging by his serious face, he got a hint of her mood.
"A-ve. Ali- -ve." he seemed to have repeated, trying to fight through the haze of intertime communication.
The communicator promptly closed, she relayed the info to Archer.
Already well aware that if they didn't get her to their position in less than a minute, they'd have to…
'And Medea?'
The witch of Colchis appeared before them right that instance - descended from the sky. Along with her - the six people Archer spoke about - standing on a barely visible platform.
'Nevermind. Archer…' she looked at the ever-increasing spiral in the sky.
For a split second, she got lost in the magnimonously malevolent visage of it coming down on them. Like a divine fury.
For her sins perhaps?
'...Withdraw. We will be on the move - getting away from here. Just go further south.' Even in her mind - her own voice appeared weak to her.
"Medea," the heavy tone of voice and the absence of one of the servants didn't go unnoticed by anyone. "Can you carry them for some more?"
Medea just nodded, and made some gestures with her hands and the platform was once again reinforced. ]
"But Senpai, Da Vinci…?"
Ritsuka just shook her head, but explained.
"We lost Da Vinci. She is alive, but nowhere to be seen. She is smart enough to get away from the explosion. Unless something happened, she'll find a way to contact us. We need to go."
She said so, hoping against hope. Because if it was otherwise…
"Let's go," Master commanded and they sprinted as fast as they humanly could, traversing the mountains until eventually, they came to a stop - kilometers away.
Ritsuka felt like her insides were about to spill out of her month, and as she struggled to stand upright.
Just in time to…
First, there were tremors. The earth - registered the impact first.
Then, came the blinding flash, momentarily disorienting whoever was careless enough to be facing in that direction.
And then, a crack. Deafening. Like a thousand whips slashing at your ears with a ferocity of a roaring thunder.
Thankfully, they had someone with a counter just for that.
Roland fixed his gloves, the sounds from the outside of the radius growing muted.
With quick gesture, a barrier of purple was erected, courtesy of Medea.
And when the rumbling of the earth and the earsplitting shockwave finally came to them - the group only barely had trouble standing.
It all came to an end, eventually.
Suddenly, Ritsuka felt that there was a lot more air hitting her back. She turned around to witness…
A crater. A barren, scorched wasteland, spanning a frighteningly big distance. And they were near the edge of it.
A seed of deep seated dread sprouted in the Master's soul.
If this was what they were up against… She wasn't sure there was any chance of winning.
And wasn't that a terrifying thought.