Mud was encroaching upon the surroundings.
Altered Servants, their hair bleached white or discolored and their skin charred black, began to close in on us step by step. Instead of prana, the source of contamination—the mud—dripped incessantly from their forms.
[Wh-What on earth are those?! That's not a Saint Graph on the level of a Shadow Servant!]
"…Obviously. Those are enemies a level far above that."
In that instant, the Alter version of Medusa spun the Harpe in her hand and hurled the chain attached to it toward me.
Naturally, the chain was caked in mud, looking as if a mere touch would cause corruption. Before Mash could deflect it with her shield, I repelled it using Shinra Tensei.
The Servants who had approached started battering our defenses with their Noble Phantasms, as if waiting for a crack to appear in my and Mash's protection. I quickly scooped up the two girls and took to the skies.
"Wait! Won't we just get intercepted by that strange-looking Archer?!"
"I've prepared enough defense for that, so don't worry! Just keep your mouth shut for now; you'll bite your tongue if you're not careful!"
Ultimately, to break through this situation, I needed to summon a Heroic Spirit who could assist me. There were only four leylines in Fuyuki City… and excluding the Great Holy Grail at Mt. Enzou, the source of the mud, the closest one would likely be the Matou Residence.
"Director! Scan the Matou family estate on the Fuyuki map right now and send me the coordinates!"
[Leave that to me; I've already memorized them!]
"Aoko-nee, thanks!"
[Wait, two hostile entities in that direction! Their Saint Graphs are above Shadow Servant level—take a detour!]
No sooner had Olga Marie's briefing finished than a rain of dozens of black arrows poured down toward me.
As I deflected the arrows using Shinra Tensei, a knight wielding a sword that appeared plain and simple—yet possessed a Mystery of incomparable power—showed himself.
[Cat ears and a tail… Is that Atalante after all?]
"The sword on the Saber's side is ten-to-one Balmung. That must be Siegfried."
"The hero from the Nibelungenlied?"
"Yeah, though here he's closer to an evil spirit!"
As if hearing my words, Balmung instantly shifted its trajectory, obsessively aiming for my neck and the neck of Ritsuka Fujimaru. After barely managing to keep him at bay with Shinra Tensei and missiles, a sniping-type Noble Phantasm—which condensed hundreds of arrows into a 'single' shot—flew at me, seemingly intended to pierce my Shinra Tensei.
Emiya, who had appeared out of nowhere, began throwing his Noble Phantasms once again, detonating them. As if lured by the sound, magical beasts began to swarm the area.
…Naturally, they were monsters consumed by the mud.
"Ah, damn it. We might actually die at this rate."