“Xavier Arkwright,” Moses repeated his Master’s name, testing the feel of it. Personally, he thought it sounded odd, but who was he to judge the names of another place and time? Despite the oddity of the name, the way he spoke was more or less exactly what Moses had expected. He sounded like a scholar, which is what he understood the modern magus to be, from what he had been given to understand this new era. As far as his class went, however… “Yes, I suppose you would call me a Caster.” He was, as far as he considered it, a human channel for divine wrath, but he supposed his ability to make the miracles manifest counted him for the class. He was about to make another comment when the explanation started.

It seemed this Grail War was not proceeding as it should. He understood how it should properly happen, and a meeting between Servants was just about the opposite of a how it should properly happen. It could easily be a trap, but at the same time, he did not want to risk incurring the ire of every other Servant, let alone Ruler.
“Very well,” Moses acquiesced with a nod, “I’ll admit that I don’t know anything about your family and its fame, but I do agree we should go together. It would be a shame were something to go wrong so soon after you summoned me.” He cracked a small smile at that. “In any case, we should get moving. I take it you know where this meeting is to take place?”

@Kost Alter

“In any case, we should get moving. I take it you know where this meeting is to take place?”

"Only vaguely so..." Xavier confirmed with a nod. "The message I was relayed simply mentioned that the meeting will take place somewhere in the Eastern Field." The blue-haired youth explained, while adjusting his glasses upon the bridge of his nose. "I'd wager, though, that this will be all the information we'll need in order to find it. Logic dictates that a gathering of so many Servants at once should be easy enough to locate once we're in the area." The overly analytical young magus reasoned, feeling once again confident about his assertion.

"Let's go. The Eastern Field is in close enough proximity to where we are right now that we should be able to get there by walking in a reasonable amount of time." With that, the Arkwright Master motioned for Caster to follow him as he walked off at a reasonably hasty pace...

---

At last they had made it... True to Xavier's calculations, getting there on foot had not taken too long. And again, just as Xavier had predicted, finding the gathering place of all the Servants was not that hard once they arrived at the Eastern Field - though that was less attributed to the presence of said Servants, and more to the fact that the meeting place itself stuck out like a sore thumb, bearing festive lights that made it shine like a shinning star in the dark of the night, along with what looked like tables filled with various snacks and beverages, as if this was a party of some sort!

After making sure that Caster had caught up, Xavier approached the "party" site. Once he was there, he calmly announced his presence, so as not to startle the rest of the patrons in the vicinity. "Good evening. My name is Xavier Arkwright, and I am a participant of the Holy Grail War." The blue-haired magus introduced himself, before gesturing towards Caster's general direction. "This is my Servant. He may reveal his Class to you at his own discretion." The Arkwright heir then bowed slightly in a respectful manner, as he spoke in a somewhat apologetic tone. "To whoever the host of this meeting is, my sincere apologies for arriving in such a belated fashion. I assure you this was not intentional. It was simply that I had not summoned my Servant yet when your message first came to me."

After his apology, and while waiting for whoever the host of this meeting was to answer, Xavier finally took a breather, which allowed him to actually get a better look at the rest of the meeting's attendants; Some of them he could identify as Servants at first glance - such as a ludicrously tall, brutish hulk of a man garbed in lavish clothing and an animal skin of all things, a silver-haired man in dark, knight-like armor, and a woman of Amazonian height and proud stature. Others he was fifty-fifty on.

Xavier reasoned that he would have more than enough time to individually check each Servant's parameters later on during the meeting, but right now the subject of this meeting itself was a more pressing matter. "That aside... for what purpose have we all been summoned here in this manner tonight? Or has such a question been answered already in the timeframe before our arrival here?"

@ConstantlyComic @Moonlit Sonata [@others]

@Moonlit Sonata
@Berserk Gene
@DrowsyPangolin
@Yukitamas
@Holy Grail
@All

---

"Fuck. In hindsight, I should have asked if you could sense command spells, or something." Airi replied to Ruler, now holding an impressive stack of styrofoam plates that had been ruthlessly emptied of their contents. On her eighth burger now, she was slowing down, but Airi simply wasn't a person to let food go to waste.

That woman from the church was here...this was the second time they had seen each other. Airi briefly paused to note her conversation with the Archer-class servant, but no more than that — eavesdropping was in poor taste. More and more people were arriving in general, which was a good thing, to her.

Matsunaga stuck out to her in particular. There was something about a person who practiced martial arts — not just 'knowing the moves', but truly making the practice a part of you. It affected the way a person walked and stood, and held themselves. And for her, at least, there was a certain level of respect to be had in that alone. She nodded at his arrival, leaving it to Ruler to explain it to everyone once the congregation had— what the shit, is that a guy with blue hair!?

...Well, he's hardly the most ridiculous-looking guy here.

"Need a way to sense magi or Masters, huh..." Airi frowned, for once not thinking out loud simply because there was nowhere to start. She didn't live in that world. She had no idea what to even ask about for getting to something like that. Honestly, as far as the Grail War proper went, her plan for drawing out 'enemy' masters had just been to stomp around until someone came after her. "...You know anything, Ernest? Crocs?" Maybe one of them would have an idea. It was certainly a more manageable proposition than trying to sense the Black-Haired Man himself.

“Berserker sort of was one but that thing, that black haired man was it?… If it was a demon then it’d be under that other girl. If it’s really not part of any servant then it can’t be a demon.”

Airi turned towards Nakae, who was still quite a bit taller than her despite being younger than most of the other Masters. Honestly, she had been starting to wonder why it was all 30-year-olds here. "Oh hey, we saw each other at the church! You said you were heading to a convenience store." The girl recounted, with a grin. "You missed out, man. Ruler announced the free food like, right after that. You coulda saved some money."

The guy's outfit was a little thrown-together, and he looked...kinda ill? Well, he did lose his Servant, that couldn't have come easily to him. "Uh...well, that's good. I don't know a whole lot about Demons, I just know they're bad news." The girl admitted, slowly munching on the further half of burger number eight. "Apparently a bunch of my relatives died from one...Or like, a half-one...I never knew 'em or anything, but still, like, damn, you know?"

It was small talk for her, at least on the surface. But the memories of what had been in that box in the rubble of her home, the family history that had been hidden away, were still very fresh in her mind. There was so much that her mother hadn't told her. Maybe she had planned to, once Airi was older, but...

“So, are you confident in winning once we deal with this stuff?”

That was a question that threw Airi for a bit of a loop. She actually blinked at Nakae for a moment, as though he had brought up something that she hadn't expected. Her answer, though, didn't take much consideration. In a moment of being caught off-guard, the girl simply blurted out her feelings on the matter.

"I'm, uh, not really thinking about it."

She shrugged, finishing off the eighth burger, and looking for a moment like she was contemplating a ninth. But her stomach was already about to explode, it felt like. If she started eating another one, she wasn't sure whether or not she'd be able to finish the whole thing — and she'd much rather just stop than have to leave something half-eaten. She had gotten as much as she could out of the free food deal. With any luck, she'd be able to coast on it for a while before she had to spend money on food again.

"Well, you know...treating this like it's some kind of opportunity to get ahead, using it to scout people or throw them under the bus, or shit like that...that kind of teamwork doesn't get you very far." Airi said simply, setting the stack of empty plates aside. "I ran with a crew back in Western Tokyo...sometimes, we'd tussle with gangs that weren't put together very well. And you know what? It showed. It showed in the way they walked down the street together, in the way they fought...and you damn well better believe it showed in what they were able to accomplish." It was a rural area, or at least, as rural as Tokyo could possibly be, which wasn't very. There had always been the sharp and painful contrast between the Shinjuku high-rises she saw when visiting Yuko, and the empty lots that littered the place she and Hana called home. "A team like that is just the sum of its parts. We took 'em down like it was nothing, no matter how many of them there were. My crew was just three people, but our teamwork wasn't some half-hearted bullshit. I didn't roll that way back then, and I'm not changing up my style now."

Wistful memories...she kinda missed the simpler days. Before the box. Back when it was just the three of them, taking on common street thugs and tracking down drug dealers. No complicated magical shit to worry about. No meandering family histories. Just a lot of life lessons for the wrong kind of life, ones that she took to heart anyway, because that's how she had survived in that world.

More than that, though...more than she missed those days, she missed the days that had come before them.

"Yeah, there'll be a time when we're all enemies again. And I'll think about being enemies at that time." Airi admitted, "But, right now, it's the time for us to be friends. And I'll think about being friends at that time. There's no sense in tripping myself up on anything else."

---

That's why, I have to do this right.

What would she tell me, if I brought her back that way...?

---

With a rare smile, the girl extended out a hand to Nakae, offering a handshake.

"So, how about it? Wanna be friends?"

Izumi Airi's voice was oddly devoid of its usual roughness at that moment. It was still unmistakably her, but at the same time, there was an earnestness there, a simple joy that she partook in as any human did. In that crystallized moment, she was just a youthful person who enjoyed making connections with people for its own sake.

---

Turning her attention fully towards Ruler, Yukimura had a few thoughts. The other servants seemed to be more social than she was with all this atleast and... Some of their attitudes were amazing her. And it gave her the perfect chance to bring up the thing from the other day. Raising her hand a second she then remembered she wouldn't exactly need to do that, as instead she stepped forward towards the moderating servant, taking a deep breathe before speaking... Very loudly.

"Excuse me! Sir! I am not entirely sure it's related to the whole situation but I had sensed something unusual. In the River. Something... Unnatural. Inhuman. It was definitely not a servant though." Speaking out what she had though, she glanced at her Master since she was sure he'd be fine with her revealing this information. It may net them some answers in the long run after all. Or so she was thinking. The other parts of her mind wanted to look straight to the other servants and start questioning them right away.

So many questions flooded her head. What did they like to do? Their goals, their wishes. She wanted to compare to other Heroes and go into battle against them already. But such a thing would be bad at this time, when obviously there was a bigger issue. Thus instead she just waited, standing at attention as if a Soldier on the field. A warrior awaiting their leader... Or in her case, it was more she just seemed tense due to all the other heroes around, and was happy to be included among them.

@Moonlit Sonata @Breo [@All Around]

Hisoka took another burger, placing the two burgers on his plate and finding a place to sit. He simply continued eating, keeping his thoughts mostly to himself. It was of interest to him that a Servant had revealed herself outright to her potential enemies, although it seems she wouldn't need to rely on hiding her abilities with those parameters she has...

That Noble Phantasm does spell trouvle as well, but luckily for himself and for his Servant, she would not be able to replicate Assassin's.

As Hisoka enjoyed the free food, Assassin stood by his Master, not bothering to take a seat as he observed everyone else, Chi-You moreso. An ancient tyrant named God of War of a bygone age, now a Servant in the Holy Grail War. This spells alot of trouble... hopefully an accord, perhaps even an alliance, could be met with this Servant after the previous issue with the Black-Haired Man is quelled. Perhaps he can draw upon being a fellow Chinese Warlord as a means to make an alliance. It may not be so bad of an idea, after all.

"So a powerful third-party capable of taking out Knight-class Servants has made an appearance in the War?" Assassin asked, crossing his arms. "And you said you've sensed a strange presence near the River?" Assassin looked over to Lancer as he asked, before thinking on the subject more, stroking his beard.

"Might I suggest setting a trap at this location? The best place may be under the Bridge, although that still may potentially draw alot of unwanted attention. We will have to think of what exactly drew him to making his attacks, or if there is a pattern to them." Assassin suggested, nodding as he explained. "If there isn't anyone who volunteers to be the bait, then I, myself, will volunteer to serve as such, seeing as it was my idea, after all. I also have a means of potentially escaping this Black-Haired Man via my Noble Phantasm," Assassin nodded to Hisoka as he mentions this, "in order to give any reconnaissance to where he may be taking those he's kidnapped, or at least details of wherever he is taking residence in, if I am not eliminated outright once I am taken."

As Assassin finished, Hisoka made another loud gulp, finishin his first burger.

"It sounds risky, but I'm also willing to have Assassin be our bait. He has the proper skills to escape the Black-Haired Man's grasps, not counting his Noble Phantasm." Hisoka said, before getting to work on his second burger. While potentially losing a Servant may be a big risk, Hisoka's whole life was full of making risks, anyway, seeing as he's served as a mercenary. A reward was mentioned, and it may draw any potential partnerships if this proves to succeed. Plus, Assassin seems willing to roll with it, so why not? He probably even need to expend a Command Spell to bring him back once he's taken... hopefully.

@Moonlit Sonata@Ijoyen@Holy Grail[@everyone else, lol]

At the mention of a presence at the river, the Archer who had just spoken to Lorelei spoke up, a slight laugh lacing his tone. "If it's at the river and you detected a presence of the like that you're describing, then I can assure you what you encountered wasn't the target we're all after. All you'll succeed in by setting a trap there is potentially upsetting one of this war's Servants by launching a collaborative attack on her...familiar, I suppose you could call it." He explained. "And trust me, it's a blessing that I was able to keep her from coming. Let's not ruin that happy circumstance too quickly."

"Whatever it is that we're up against, it's not that. To me, the question's what this 'man' is aiming to do. Why kill a Servant and kidnap a Master? If it's well and truly not involved with any of us, then what reason does it have to stick its hand into the Grail War? Something this powerful almost certainly isn't just acting randomly without cause, or it'd be on a rampage. There's some motivation we need to crack."

---

You will be beloved by God.

You will be struck down by God.

You will tear apart mankind.

You will be steeped in rage.

You will forge something terrible.

You will herald the end of life.

You will serve under God.

You will create a legacy.

You will create a shadow.

Too much. It's too much.

It's horrifyingly, gut-wrenchingly too much.

@SIGINT

Airi turned towards Nakae, who was still quite a bit taller than her despite being younger than most of the other Masters. Honestly, she had been starting to wonder why it was all 30-year-olds here. "Oh hey, we saw each other at the church! You said you were heading to a convenience store." The girl recounted, with a grin. "You missed out, man. Ruler announced the free food like, right after that. You coulda saved some money."

The guy's outfit was a little thrown-together, and he looked...kinda ill? Well, he did lose his Servant, that couldn't have come easily to him. "Uh...well, that's good. I don't know a whole lot about Demons, I just know they're bad news." The girl admitted, slowly munching on the further half of burger number eight. "Apparently a bunch of my relatives died from one...Or like, a half-one...I never knew 'em or anything, but still, like, damn, you know?"

He shook his head. “I can eat still. Besides, I need something for later.” Left unsaid was the somber fact that it wouldn’t matter if he died in the near future. But he wasn’t going in this with the intent to lose. With a much more normal, albeit still voracious hunger of the student who was equal parts too lazy and apathetic to cook something and yet enjoyed the simple pleasures of life, especially in his solitude, he began to grab at what he could, starting on his own binging. Without much care for his manners he ate, swiftly, silently, a bit clumsily, in a manner that made the number of napkins at his part of the table slowly build up.

“I don’t know anything about them. I don’t even know anything about magic or anything. I guess to put it one way I knew about the supernatural, but nothing about it, the same way normal people know about a train, but nothing about how they work, what models they are and the details. A train is just a train, the supernatural was just the supernatural. I fell into this war's lap in a way."

He rubbed at his face and shook his head again, towards her before returning his focus to the food again.

"I'm, uh, not really thinking about it."

"Well, you know...treating this like it's some kind of opportunity to get ahead, using it to scout people or throw them under the bus, or shit like that...that kind of teamwork doesn't get you very far." Airi said simply, setting the stack of empty plates aside. "I ran with a crew back in Western Tokyo...sometimes, we'd tussle with gangs that weren't put together very well. And you know what? It showed. It showed in the way they walked down the street together, in the way they fought...and you damn well better believe it showed in what they were able to accomplish." It was a rural area, or at least, as rural as Tokyo could possibly be, which wasn't very. There had always been the sharp and painful contrast between the Shinjuku high-rises she saw when visiting Yuko, and the empty lots that littered the place she and Hana called home. "A team like that is just the sum of its parts. We took 'em down like it was nothing, no matter how many of them there were. My crew was just three people, but our teamwork wasn't some half-hearted bullshit. I didn't roll that way back then, and I'm not changing up my style now."

"Yeah, there'll be a time when we're all enemies again. And I'll think about being enemies at that time." Airi admitted, "But, right now, it's the time for us to be friends. And I'll think about being friends at that time. There's no sense in tripping myself up on anything else."

Exactly what he was doing in a way, but also because he was too weak to stand on his own.Still, even if someone wasn’t doing that, friends?

"That’s an odd way of putting it. Friends is a strong word for people you work with for a short time before killing them. If anything, isn’t that the cruelest or worst way to put it?”

He put his burger down, and waved some juice stained fingers at his direction. His lips moved and his face slowly craned down as though it was going to plant itself onto the table.

“ That sounds way worse than anything else. You’re making something that’s already unpleasant even more painful, more horrible. It sounds sad. It sounds dumb. It sounds mad.”

…

Ah, those were suppose to be in his head. He ended up whispering it, didn’t he? Whispers that snuck under her words, skulking about, trying to be unheard. It felt a bit like how those who would be thinking of the future instead of the now with this joint-venture were acting. He whipped his head back up to see if she noticed, face suddenly presented with hers as she reached out. His locks of hair sprawled out of his face, revealing his eyes clearly for once from the motion, leaving him a bit surprised and almost flinching back from her.

With a rare smile, the girl extended out a hand to Nakae, offering a handshake.

"So, how about it? Wanna be friends?"

Izumi Airi's voice was oddly devoid of its usual roughness at that moment. It was still unmistakably her, but at the same time, there was an earnestness there, a simple joy that she partook in as any human did. In that crystallized moment, she was just a youthful person who enjoyed making connections with people for its own sake.

It hurt, it hurt ah… it hurt. He looked away, then looked back at her, torn between seeing her to protect himself and trying to escape it completely. “Let’s be friends.” It was a thing he heard of course before, but he couldn’t accept it. It’d fall apart, and he’d be alone, and that was the best. What was the point of being around someone like him with these eyes? What was the point of someone like him being with others? To be around others was painful, but that pain was still better if he couldn’t put a name to it.

It’s just pain, nothing more. Stay nothing, be nothing, you have to or else it will hurt even more.

Even when he looked his gaze seemed to want to avoid her and his eyes focused on strange places, places that people did not usually focus on with other people.

Even after seeing that he didn’t want this. What was good? Everything felt more like a lack of bad to him, especially now.

He reached out with his hand, he’d take what was good and learn about it. Betray? Learn? Well, maybe this play at whatever this was would end with her simply dead from something else. His e hand moved before he thought about it, and his mind was simply trying to catch up, to offer justification. In the end, faced with all that was punishing in the world he found himself with want. Want to push him into the madness that was to continue to fight, to go despite knowing that she without doubt waited at the end of the road.

I want to be happy.

Is this a way? What was the path to it? It didn’t matter what it was, but he’d take them as offered until he finally found his way.

This was a war about wishes, right?

“Sure.”

@Yukitamas

---

When is big sis gonna be back? Is she gonna...bring food? I'm so hungry. But she told me not to move. She told me to wait for her. If I don't move, I can conserve myself. I won't have to eat as badly. It's been three days. I hope she brings food. I hope she brings them back. I want to see them again. I want to see her again. I want to eat something. I don't want to die alone. I don't want to be by myself. I can't do anything by myself—

---

"Heh! You're a weird guy!" Airi's smile beamed as he finally took her hand. "'Already unpleasant'? Friends part ways sometimes, or hell, even fight each other sometimes, but that's no excuse to not make them, jeez." The girl couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the way she was talking. Dropping her usual rough, acerbic demeanor wasn't something she did very often. But no matter how she spoke, she wasn't the type of person to hold back words, for any reason. "Memories are precious things, too, even if they hurt."

"And besides...you're making assumptions, you know?" The movement of Nakae's hand was a soft, dark blue, with a little bit of orange mixed in. Not a combination she'd seen before, but she didn't glean anything harmful from it. "Who says we all gotta kill each other? The grail revs up when seven Servants eat dirt, right? There's way more than that running around, here. Also, you're not a Servant." Airi raised an eyebrow at his rather strong verbiage. "So...saying I'm going to kill you at some point, isn't that a little, I dunno. Dumb? Mad? I'd really have to go out of my way for that, dude."

"So, if it's worth it even if something bad happens, and there's no guarantee that something bad will happen anyway, there's nothing strange about it."

Ernest's eye visibly twitched as Chi-You proudly declared her true name to all in attendance. For a moment, the reserved necromancer stared at her in utter bewilderment, the veins at his temples bulging. He looked to the ground for a moment, his fingers tapping mercilessly at the head of his cane. This was problematic, very problematic, a huge concern even. He cursed himself silently for not having considered this. Of course she would come barreling in like a freight train. She had proven she had a mind for tactics, but she was a warrior first and foremost, and a proud one at that. The magus let out a sigh and quietly poured a glass of wine from one of the bottles Ruler had provided. He had initially planned to refrain from partaking in the refreshments, especially the alcohol, but things had changed. He took a long sip from the glass. It was wonderful wine, and he needed it at the moment.

Letting out a sigh, Ernest looked toward Airi, struggling to understand her burger-impeded speech. Eventually, she managed to overcome flame-grilled difficulty. Ernest nodded to the girl taking in everything she had to say. “Oh, right, yes. The Thrall from the Church was one of mine.” It seemed the girl was not too fond of the undead. That was normal. It would probably be easier to count the number of people who were fond of the undead than to count those who were distinctly uncomfortable in the presence of things that by all rights shouldn't exist. With that out of the way, the girl introduced herself. “Izumi Airi, a pleasure to meet you.” He pondered just how true those words were. Strange as she was, at least they were on the same page. “And Ernest is fine.”

The magus watched and listened as the meeting began to unfold. It seemed their hasty plans of dealing with the Black-Haired man were doubtful to work. That wasn't all that surprising. How were they supposed to defeat something they knew nothing about? Ernest took another sip of wine. A few others had shown up now, a blue-haired fellow and his Servant, and the Servantless Master from the Church earlier. The latter began speaking with Airi. It seemed the War had not been kind to the young man. Airi stressed the importance of working together, of cooperation. It seemed she wasn't a cutthroat.

Ernest leaned into the conversation. “She's not wrong.” He spoke to Nakae while motioning toward Airi. “We're better off cooperating than not, at least for the moment.” It wasn't as f he hadn't considered the possible benefits of a few Masters or Servants being defeated in their attempt to stop the Black-Haired Man, but cooperation still took precedent, mostly because the Magus wasn't sure any one team could defeat that enigma on their own. He glanced toward Airi. “I'd be careful with that line of thought though. Relaxing around these people might prove dangerous. There are plenty who wouldn't hesitate to betray a 'friend' if it means they get ahead in this War. Really, you both should be cautious.” Ernest honestly wasn't sure why he was giving them such advice. Any Master or Servant that died only served to forward his own goal, still, unnecessary bloodshed didn't particularly suit him, and these two were scarcely more than children.

The discussion of the Black-Haired man continued. Another plan had been put forward to catch him, but it seemed shaky as well, especially once the suggested location for it proved to be another dead end. The strange Archer suggested the key was discovering the interloper's motivation. Ernest pondered for a moment. “Is it not possible that his goal is summoning the Grail? Perhaps his motivations are not too far from our own. Killing Lancer would make sense in that case, and since he is not a participant in the Grail War himself, taking a Master might allow him a chance to use it, if he could find a way to control the kidnapped Master... or perhaps take his Command Seals, though I'm not sure such a thing is possible.” 'Possible', at this point, seemed to have a very uncertain meaning.

@Holy Grail @SIGINT @Yukitamas @Moonlit Sonata @Everybody

"As was said, unless it's quite a coincidence, the presence at the river likely isn't a third-party." Ruler spoke up, letting out a slight sigh at the lack of leads the group actually had. One would hope that gathering together some of humanity's best and brightest would lead to this being fairly easy, but apparently not. Why couldn't someone have summoned that one detective, what'shisface, the one played by Benedict Cumberbatch? That one would probably have figured this all out in five seconds flat.

"However, if we don't have anything else to go off of, then it might be worth pursuing just so we're not standing around worthlessly. While I will agree that you are viable as a scout, Assassin," Ruler said, giving Cao Cao a nod. It went without saying that he was clear on the Assassin's Noble Phantasm; after all, things like that were the privilege of his class. "You should remember that the enemy is something capable of immediately killing a Knight-Class Servant. Even if we assume that was an exception rather than a rule, I can't imagine that you'd last long after encountering the target, if you're on your own. Even your escape tactic might not be quick enough." He explained, shaking his head with an exasperated groan. "With that said, though, if you're still willing to place yourself in harm's way for this purpose, I'll of course reward you and your partner."

Ernest's words drew Ruler's attention next, the Servant nodding slightly. "I had considered that possibility. If one knows the right kind of magecraft, taking the Command Seals of another is certainly possible. There's a chance their goal is the Holy Grail as well, but if that's the case, then why bother with all these pretenses? Someone capable of battling a Servant or controlling someone who can would no doubt be seen as eligible by the Holy Grail and given Marks of the Chosen. Why would they not have just summoned their own Servant?" He murmured, half-speaking to himself. "Though, nonetheless, that avenue of thought is probably the most valid one we have for motivation."

After speaking, the Servant turned his eye to the two conversing not-quite-magi. He couldn't deny a sort of slight like of them. The boy had stared that freak in the face and yet, without a Servant, still planned to fight in the Holy Grail War, while the girl had slammed down more burgers than everyone else here had eaten combined in all of a few minutes. It was good to see two such exemplary individuals getting along. A slight chuckle escaped the Servant as he moved to put cheese on the burgers that were ready for it.

"-Wha...t?"

-Only to freeze up, eyes widening.

Ruler was not alone in noticing. The other Servants, no perhaps even some of the Masters would have felt it before they saw it. Wind kicked up, a veritable gale that began as enough to blow up the skirt of a schoolgirl, and intensified until it was enough to nearly knock a human off their feet. Where had it come from? Like an arrow loosed from a bow, a lance stabbed downwards from the kingdom above, it approached.

"Everybody move!"

The overseer of the war let out a yell, not merely troubled this time. No, now true fear laced his tone. Abandoning his grill and the handful of burgers that were still cooking, Ruler moved. The other Masters had their Servants, so he went for that one who lacked a partner, grabbing him with a rough urgency before falling back from the Party Zone. Now he was not merely concerned by the prospect of a third-party mucking with the war, but well and truly worried that death was about to occur. The reason was simple.

"What...is that?"

---

...

...

_Stars
Yeah, yeah, ticket received. Saint Graph Analysis of gathered Servants completed.

Alright, assessment's finished. Collective threat level maximum. Looks like maximum force'll be required. Mm, good thing this happened in a field, otherwise I'd be worried about destroying the city.

Well, here we go I guess. Joint Operation, activated. Shapeshift, activated. Shielding capabilities, activated. Thought Acceleration, activated. Memory Partition, activated.

Body seems to be moving fine. Bit rusty from disuse but it should work.

■■■■■ ■■■■■ System, activated.

Magic Circuits, opened. Ah, god, can never get used to that. Flow of prana seems normal. There's enough mana to hit capacity too.

Assessment of the World's returned, seems normal. Nothing involving creating a territory or altered space or anything like that is around right now. Oh, wait, are those burgers though? Damn, those are going to get ruined. Sorry, burgers. Alright, back to business, let's check the Memory Partitions.

Apologies to the Servants I'm about to kill. I'll try and make things as quick as possible, alright? I don't like to drag out suffering. I'd ask you to not fight back to make it as painless as could be, but I know you won't. Really, I'm sorry. I would have liked to be friends, but that's impossible.

Partition 1 report. All functions optimal.

Masters, magi, they're down there, aren't they? Ah, god, even if they're magi it doesn't make this any easier, you know. They're still people. Hey, little magi, please stay out of the fight, okay? I'm only after the Servants, so please don't get in the line of fire. Please.

Partition 2 report. All functions optimal.

...I wonder how that old fool's doing.

Partition 3 report. All functions optimal.

Ahaha, a different old fool than what 3 mentioned, but sorry ■■■■■■■■■■■. You'd probably be annoyed if you saw me like I am now, huh? Don't show up halfway through the fight, alright? That'd be really embarrassing for me.

Partition 4 report. All functions optimal.

Ah god, I could really use a drink right about now, but drinking on the job's a no. Well, let's get to it then.

Terminal report. All functions optimal. Great. It's been a while since I've gotten to stretch out properly, so even if the circumstances aren't ideal, should at least make the most of it.

---

Something fell. A dazzling star, a soundless meteor descending from heaven appeared in the Eastern Field at a concerningly short distance from where burgers were being grilled. It was nothing more than a golem.

And yet, it took up more space than hundreds of golems ever could. In that sense, it could not be called a golem. Then what? A titan? A monument?

No, no, that sort of naming convention didn't do it justice. Would these trifling Servants and humans understand the glory of something such as it? Would they dare to call it golem, titan, or monument? Or, would even one of them witness its splendor and realize the name of its being?

In this world, this monstrously large world, there exists a lone man. A wealthy man, an absurd man, a terrifying man who can create golems that equal Servants in might, a monster who in another world would bear the title of Dead Apostle Ancestor.

Dead Apostle Valery Fernand Vandelstam. Dark Lord of the Business World. Van-Fem of the Demon Castle.

It is from this man that the golem is given its name. It is from this man who gave it form that it can be called a Demon Castle Candidate.

"Deploy shielding."

Wreathed in black armor, framed with crimson lines that ran along its edge, its outer "skin" pushed up out of it and expanded. Shields, countless shields covered every inch of its body, anti-spirit sigils and spells inscribed on their every inch.

Yes, if this golem bore the title of castle, then it was a castle that neither man nor ghost was permitted to enter.

Bright, bright, bright. From within the shielding, light started to burn. A freakish light, an otherworldly light. In no more than a second, nearly half of the mana of the entire immediate expanse of the Eastern Field had been drawn into the castle, fuel to feed to that light. And that remaining half too was still being taken.

The towers of the castle tore themselves up off of its foundation but remained connected to the greater body, extending out like the stone arms of some profane god before being brought down as hammers upon those who had gathered. Two of the towers swung down to crush those Servants and Masters present, while the other two pierced into the earth, hungrily drawing in yet more light.

Now then, let us begin this properly.

You call yourselves heroes, do you not?

-Then demonstrate what that means.

Let this monster of stone and jewel be the proving ground that you carve this truth into, or let it be the herald of the end.

---

The Emperor had opted to be quiet, slightly annoyed at Airi's language, but her appetite at least explained it. He would be quiet and listen. Others present wished to speak, but not revealing much of his personality was prudent. There was, after all, something he disagreed with that his Master had implied. Her words of alliance were ones he respected and approved of, but they were pretexted on the condition of mutual interest. And as Emperor, of course he knew that not all men were trustworthy. All the same, he would not undercut her words by objecting.

Being quiet paid off. Another self-announced servant was Chi You, over there was Assassin in a nice suit, and the Einzberserker had some kind of hideously dangerous pet in the river. That was valuable to know. Avoid the river!

---

Escape.

Grab her, get to safe distance from the impact. The Emperor snatched at Airi, his B-rank Agility parameter hauling her into his arms before he took off running. With his strength, lifting her was no problem, though the abrupt scoop was sure to be disorienting. The Emperor, thankfully, had looped his arm under her own, using his other hand to steady her head. The sheer whiplash from his speed, otherwise, could have endangered her. "We move, Lass!" @SIGINT

It was as if a meteor was raining down at them. Danger mobilized his body, and this time around, he wouldn't have his Master snatched away in a moment of shock. Ruler's alarm was barely heard as he prioritized immediate evasive motion.

The Emperor was forced to be serious, and he dropped all pretenses of discretion, thoughts focused on strategy. Priority 1 was getting Airi to safety. If possible, other Masters also needed to be accounted for. There was no guarantee the city was safe either. They were in these fields, sure, but houses weren't far off, and something that large would be visible from an enormous distance.

"The city isn't safe either!" Nothing that enormous, a literal castle crashing down from the sky, was concerned with hiding itself. Other magi and the priests aligned with Ruler would be, he wagered, immediately prioritizing secrecy and cover-up. After all, the Grail's imparted knowledge made it very clear to him how vital the secrecy of magecraft was. So it was a safe bet that they had already begun moving to action.

Either way, the only option was to get their Masters away from it first. The meteoric castle was changing, as a glance behind him indicated. No, not changing. Activating. It now resembled a giant insect, with an exoskeletal armor. And in the instant of that glance, the Emperor felt like a tornado was forming. Not one of wind, but a cyclone of mana, swirling at the eye of the storm, now glowing under its plating.

Piston-like arms of the castle's towers guzzled more and more fuel, while swatting at any who lingered close enough. He hoped that those among them who didn't need to safeguard their Masters would be prudent enough to try and disrupt the activation.

The Emperor had actually shifted from civilian discretion to drawing upon his available energy supply, but this had not changed his appearance. After all, the clothing had been given to him. It was part of his legend, part of his Saint Graph, now. There was no reason to expend the effort of manifesting his actual Servant attire. Which admittedly made his analysis of the situation a bit surreal. "If it needs to draw in that much mana... a siege, then!"



Like a coal-fired steamship, it needed a fuel supply, and an inner system to make use of the energy, let alone provide mobility. With such a monstrous size, and especially given how his own energy supplies had been threatened lately, he had a plan. "The Masters just need to be safe, then we can besiege it."

@Moonlit Sonata
@Berserk Gene

---

Airi had seen it coming, but not from where. The entire area had suddenly become engulfed in color. An 'intent' that encompassed everything around her. She would have looked around, but she wouldn't have looked up.

Like a hook digging into her stomach, the girl nearly lost her lunch when Berserker grabbed hold of her, the field and sky zooming past like race cars on a track. Between the movement and the wild wind, it felt like being swept up by a tornado, and there was a brief, mad fear of being thrown through the air like a piece of debris.

"Wait, where's—"

The boy she'd been talking to just moments before. She had been snatched away from him just as they shook hands. The girl looked around, but her vision had exploded into color. The field, filled with people and that thing, had exploded into a cloud of mixed intentions. Had she been epileptic, it very well may have given her a seizure.

Ernest — Airi didn't actually know who his Servant was, but she figured he had one. But that boy had lost his at the graveyard. Was he— was he safe? Was he—

Clawing at Berserker's shoulders as the wind assaulted her eyes, she spotted him, similarly accosted by Ruler. For once, she had to give Sunglasses some real props. Her friends, those freshly-formed bonds with hardly even names exchanged, were safe.

"I can handle running myself, you know!" With that knowledge assuaging her deeper fears, she returned to her usual self, though she didn't physically struggle against her Servant's grip as she listened to his words. A siege...well, draining magical energy had certainly worked on her, so she could see that being a viable plan. Swallowing air to keep ahold of the contents of her stomach, she surveyed the situation. She couldn't sense mana, but at the very least, she could see locations, and some aspect of what they were up against...

A...thing of stone, surrounded by some kind of conglomeration of...forcefields? To call it even massive was a disservice. An impenetrable defense, and gigantic, swinging arms that destroyed the ground itself. Two arms on offense, two more rooting its position...




The fact that it was alive was enough of a shock. That the gigantic thing of masonry in front of her wasn't simply a castle, or animated clay. The thing in front of her was...thinking. Reasoning. Feeling.

And apart from the cloud of intent that pervaded the field like a blanket of choking gas, there were intentions emanating from inside of the giant as well. Deliberated actions with a set beginning and a desired end. In the chaos, and being thrown around as she was, it was difficult to pin it all down. But there was no doubt, that multiple intents were emanating from multiple points...

A soft navy...a deep green...parts of it even seemed...reticent. But, why would that...?

"Who the fuck summoned Voltron!?" Airi complained thoughtlessly, her loud voice for once being a benefit over the raging wind. Her temples began to throb as the colors assaulted her, but now more than ever, she had to focus on them...! Wherever they were coming from, the points of emanation of that 'intent', those had to be its cores, right? If it had anything like a weak spot, it had to be that...!!

Xavier listened closely to what other Masters and guests had to say, trying to decipher as much information as he could about the nature of the predicament that had necessitated that meeting in the first place. There was a young girl among them, called Izumi Airi by one of the guests, who looked no older than sixteen; Her outfit looked sloppy and kind of ragged, her manners were crude, vulgar and unrefined, and all in all she did not behave like a proper mage in the slightest. Normally, a highly conservative magus devoted to the study of his craft like Xavier Arkwright should feel appaled by such improper behaviour and such blatant disrespect for etiquette. Luckily, Xavier was not as prejudiced as most of his kind were, and right now was more interested in what this Airi girl had to say, rather than what her standing in the magus society was.

From what little the blue-haired magus could gather, the Holy Grail War was being interfered with by a mysterious third party. That 'Black-Haired Man' as they refered to him as was apparently strong enough to kill a Knight-Class Servant. His true motives, as of this moment, were unknown. The Arkwright heir had hoped that the sparkiling fellow they refered to as Ruler would've been able to clear all the confusion surrounding this mysterious Black-Haired Man. Indeed, the Overseer of the Holy Grail War began to explain the situation to all the masters and servants in greater detail. But then, all of a sudden...

"Everybody move!"

Ruler didn't have to yell at them twice; With his keen senses, Xavier had already picked up some kind of disturbance in the air before all Hell had broke loose. He couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it still caused the hairs on the back of his neck to raise up. The young magus hastily used his Wind magecraft to create a small gale of his own. With such short cast time, it wasn't nearly strong enough to be used as a means to harm whatever enemy was approaching, and Xavier knew it, but it was still just barely strong enough to push the lean-figured young adult backwards, out of harm's way, narrowly avoiding a gargantuan mass of stone that came crushing at them with extreme destructive force.

"Is that thing... a golem? No, that's not logical..." The blue-haired magus muttered, as he stared up awestruck at the towering monstrosity that had quite literally crashed this party! It had fetures resembling a golem, but its size was infinitely bigger than any pictures of golems Xavier had seen during his arduous studies as a growing magus. It looked more like a fortified structure, a formidable castle, than it did a standard golem. Who could have possibly summoned this? Could this be the work of one of the Holy Grail War's participants, who planned to take out all their competition in one fell swoop? No, that didn't make sense either. Golemancy was a pretty rare type of magecraft in the modern era as it was, but the thought that a regular magus would've been capable of creating a Familiar of such massive scale was simply absurd! Then who controlled this titanic beast? Could this possibly be the work of the 'third party' that everybody had been talking about...?

All those thoughts raced in Xavier's highly calculative mind. It was then that the gigantic 'castle' activated a myriad visible forcefields and literal shields to protect its person with. The Arkwright Master's eyes widened. "Caster, are you alright...? Whatever this thing is, it's clear that conventional attacks won't work on it while it's in that state! Can your magecraft possibly break through its defenses?" Xavier shouted at his Servant, while also looking around to see where his Servant actually had ended up after the giant's first attack. At the same time, the sharply-dressed magus removed his glasses and began applying Reinforcement to his own eyes. While his own magecraft would likely be insufficient to deal with this towering golem, it would still be useful to increase his own reflexes through amplifying his eyesight - especially after he had only barely avoided the enemy's first attack earlier...

@ConstantlyComic

"Everybody move!"

He craned his head towards the source of the warning when suddenly his world came to be that of violent winds, from the rush of air that cried out in disbelief from the sudden presence of the looming castle, to the speed of Ruler in his protective action.

His head felt like it was being jumbled as much as the burgers that were even more of a mess now. Clumps of ground up beef falling apart and mixing in with dust and dirt until they were just as much a part of the ground as the earth. If he didn’t have help he’d be just like that. Toshi shook his head before forcing himself to look towards the towering golem, eyes struggling against the winds and trying to focus as the light that only he could see radiated from it.

“That…”

It wasn’t nearly as bad as the portal. Compared to that this was all a soft breeze. He was still as helpless as when Berserker dealt with the raining blades, but now he knew what to expect, and his mind began to start rolling again much faster.

“There’s something to it’s middle, something that was hurt a long, long time ago. It’s white… like Berserker was. Is it demonic? I don’t know. Berserker wasn’t a demon, he was an Oni. But in there… in it’s middle, inside.”

He scoffed to himself before taking in a deep breath. Of course something important would be in the middle. But what did it mean for it to have a scar like that? What was this thing?

He shouted, in the hopes of Ruler being able to hear him, bellowing out his lungs to the point that his voice wavered and almost cracked.

“In the middle, it’s core, I guess. There’s something there, something that can feel pain, or felt pain in the past. Don’t ask how. I don’t even know what it is or if it’s important. Something about it is like an Oni too, I think!”

What kind of stuff was he saying. It was hardly useful, was it? But why, what was it? The castle that walked, the castle that hid a secret within. He should be fearing for his life, but the strange sight made him wonder about it. What was this? What was in there? It wasn’t anything weird or mindboggling after being shown these myths that should shatter any conceptions of the world. But it was a simple question that hung in his mind.

“How do we get in?..”

He tried to break off from Ruler, to stand on his own feet, to look at it clearly and witness it on his own. He raised a hand to shield his face and found that his stomach squirmed once more, this time due to simple biology rather than any response to trauma. He didn't feel good, but he felt way better than before. The simple comfort of food, even if it was interrupted, and the offer of safety for a short time was something that let him stand up again.

Ah... but next time he hoped he'd get time to actually finish eating something instead of having it spilled over the ground.

Siegfried’s eyes had slid towards the towering behemoth that addressed him, more akin to a giant than a human in size, if not in demeanor. Looking at everyone else and then at his choice of attire, he realized that, yes, he was quite out of place in that regard – but well, there was not much that could be done regardless. He would catch the eye of normal people either way, and it was not like he could conceal his back, so it was simply less of a headache to just carry on like this. That said, there was no reason not to be courteous.

“I—”

Until there was, he supposed. The breeze kicked him first, the hair in the back of his neck stood on end, almost like a jolt of electricity had shot through him, his eyes turned towards the source, a hand making its way towards the handle of the greatsword at his back.

His fist clenched, his heartbeat stilled as he observed it draw closer and closer upon them, almost a single moment stretched into infinity. This was. . .

No good. No good, no good at all. Ah, damnation, he had expected a simple affair and he should have known better than to tempt fate like that. But those were thoughts for another place, another time – what mattered now was that Ruler’s sole warning had not fallen on deaf ears.

Indeed, he moved. With quickness beyond normal men, he turned and practically lunged towards his Master in an attempt to get her out of the line of fire. Certainly, it would be a somewhat disorienting experience, but better be alive to lament that than dead, right? His features bled into a frown, looking over his shoulder towards the newest monstrosity to have arrived. In spite of himself, he felt his heartbeat quickening yet again, but he reminded himself – before engaging, it was paramount to ensure his Master’s safety. If it was required, he would fight, but not until he completed that task. Good thing, too, it would give him time to formulate possible strategies to employ in his head.

That said – he had a feeling he would not particularly enjoy this fight at all. Give him an enemy his own size to battle one on one against, he would be a happy man – or he would have, a long time ago, before he bathed in Fafnir’s blood.

“. . .But a literal moving fortress? That is not nearly as fun.”

The irony of the statement did not escape him. He just failed to care for it. Regardless, now it was not the time to either jest or dawdle. His eyes narrowed as he noticed it taking in the Prana of the surroundings, almost greedily, accruing that light. . .

That. . . Could not possibly mean anything good.

“Master, apologies if I was too rough, but will you be fine by yourself? I don’t believe we can let that thing be, so it seems we will be rushing into battle sooner than I would have liked. At least this time it won’t be by our lonesome. . .even if the enemy seems far harder to take down.”

Well, at least this one seemingly did not insult him with its mere presence. Small steps. Even then, however, he knew those words rang true. Balmung could be said to be overkill against one individual opponent, his own greatest weapon was something suited to battle armies with, but even if this was one individual opponent, he could hardly say it was the average. So. . .he was not particularly certain about its capacity to take the castle down. For the first time, he felt that perhaps a different kind of Holy Sword would have been better suited to the task than his own.

To say nothing about the unease he felt as it absorbed more and more magical energy. That did not bode well, at all.

“That said. . .I think the first order of business should be trying to stop it from gathering more mana. Or kill it before it does.”

A disgustingly simple plan. Then again, he did not have much else to go on.

Of course, it was easier said than done, considering the amount of question marks said course of action still left them with. Ah, well, he supposed he could think as he fought, or at trust his Master to figure something out.

At the very least, he would not allow her to fall here.

@ConstantlyComic

---

He froze for an instant, feeling as though the world slowed down around him. The wind caused him to stumble, almost fall, but his Circuits opened and, with single word spoken almost in a trance, something he had managed to accomplish after turning it into a true reflex, he felt magical energy flood his limbs to an extent, giving him the ability to stand on his feet.

Fat lot of good it would do him if that thing managed to catch him. Without even thinking, he ran, dignity thrown out of the window in the face of a much more pressing need – that of surviving to see another day. He knew which battles to pick, and right now, as he frantically sought to put as much distance as possible between himself and that golem, that castle, he knew it would do him no good to try and stand his ground, fight here. It was not an enemy he could take advantage of, at least that he could see, and therefore, the most efficient course of action was to not get killed and leave Lancer without a Master.

At least they were not alone, and even though a small part of his mind told him they could be put at a disadvantage if they revealed too many cards right now, he told that part to shove it and retreat into the darker recesses of his conscious. For the moment, what mattered – what actually mattered – was dealing with this uninvited guest in whatever manner was the quickest and easiest.

They just had to find it.

Considering its lack of care for discretion, they had to do it fast, as well.

Ah, he had hoped his first battle in this ritual to have been perhaps a more dignified affair, instead here he was, running for his life, his back to the enemy and already going on tangents. Mother and Father would be – actually, he was not sure. At least it seemed to work out, as far as getting out alive went, so maybe they would not mind too much. Decorum was secondary right now, and he hoped they would agree.

“Lancer!” He said, perhaps heard perhaps not. Who could tell, amidst these roaring winds? “I’ll be counting on you today, too!”

Nothing wrong with relying on his partner, he guessed. He did feel a little disappointed that he would be unable to provide much aid beyond healing, but it was better than nothing. Or so he hoped.

@Ijoyen

Processing all of this data is a headache. I might not like it, but I see why the Suppression Protocol was a thing.

Still, no excuse for slacking.

Sufficient mana to kickstart the ■■■■■ ■■■■■ System's been absorbed. Let's stop eating up the mana at this point, then. There's not enough for the magi to actually do anything dangerous with it at this point, and there's no sense in trying to hit capacity in that way.

Shields are all functioning optimally, good. I was worried some of them would have needed a touch-up. Partitions, report.

Partition 1 Report: All targets avoided initial attack.

Partition 2 Report: All targets avoided initial attack.

Partition 3 Report: Anchoring successful, complete circuit formed.

Partition 4 Report: Anchoring successful, complete circuit formed.

Alright, didn't actually expect that haphazard swipe to take any of them out, so that's fine. 1 and 2, start attacking. 3 and 4, start circulating through the keystones, we need to be ready to respond in an instant to whatever they can plan out.

Like I said, Servants, I'm sorry. I'm really, terribly sorry. In an ideal world, this wouldn't have to happen, but in a world like this, I'm powerless. You don't have to forgive me. I'd be shocked if you did, honestly, so don't feel like you shouldn't be upset. But, all the same, I'll have to ignore your feelings. Because, after all...

I have to wipe every last one of you out.

---

What is a castle?

Something that protects a king.

What is a king?

Something that lives in a castle.

What is a hero?

Something that slays the monster.

What is a monster?

Something that is slain by the hero.

Like clay, the two towers that had been swung down distorted the moment they struck the earth, kicking up great clouds from the impact. Their form shifted and writhed, stone folding in on itself and compressing.

Strengthen certain points, weaken others. Reshape, reform. Circulate absorbed magical energy in order to create an imitation of life. Faster, faster, faster, faster, faster. A monster cannot defeat a hero, a king cannot defeat a hero, a castle cannot defeat a hero-

So the castle and the king and the hero and the monster must all be the same and wouldn't that be strong enough wouldn't it be able to strike them down then wouldn't it be able to call itself by that name

A castle, built of stone and jewel. A king, imprisoned within the castle that is its flesh. A hero, running headlong without stopping. A monster, daring to call heroes its enemies.

The absorption of mana stopped as quickly as it began. The towers lifted themselves from the earth, an absurd sight to be certain as one of the two towers wound back...

-and punched.

@Berserk Gene @SIGINT @Yukitamas @Ijoyen @Breo (David) @ConstantlyComic (Moses) @Kost Alter

The air shattered under the wake of the strike. The tower darted out, mocking the sound barrier as it flew forwards towards those who had been nearest Ruler. The sheer force of the wind in front of the tower was enough to cause damage as it approached, let alone what would happen were it permitted to make contact. And yet...something was wrong, something about that "punch" was impossible. There was a sort of refinement behind the hasty blow made with a castle tower.

Technique. This thing had technique.

At the same time, the other tower swept out in a wide arc among the others, aiming not to kill, but to keep them separated from Ruler's group. They could either flee back from the sweeping strike, guaranteeing themselves safety, or attempt to leap over or even attack the tower in order to keep their footing and bridge the gap between groups. Given the sheer mass behind the tower, though, even a glancing blow could likely be enough to cripple a Servant, let alone a Master.

@Holy Grail @DrowsyPangolin @Beloss @Breo (Siegfried) @ConstantlyComic (Marguerite)

@Moonlit Sonata @Berserk Gene @Yukitamas
@Ijoyen @Breo @ConstantlyComic @Kost Alter @Cu Chulainn

---

"OKAY NEVERMIND I CAN'T HANDLE THE RUNNING BY MYSELF FUCK FUCK FUCK—"

It was at the moment that the castle un-rooted itself, and began to wind back. That was when the action was decided upon. When 'desire' morphed into 'intent'.

That sight was terrifying to her. The color nearly filled her entire vision. Normally, when an intent like that surfaced, it merely meant that the person wasn't really thinking about where their attacks went — but that wasn't the case this time. It really meant to destroy this entire area.

That soft navy had started to fade into more of a purplish shade...
...'Remorse'...?

While it was winding up, she had just the slightest window to warn them, to give them a window of opportunity beyond just the strike itself, even if it was just another second, with a Servant's speed, that would be enough—

"Incoming!! Left arm!!" Airi's fingers dug into her Servant's arm as her stomach churned. Her eyes moved to Nakae again. He was in the blast radius, the area of intent. Ruler wasn't that fast. Not as fast as Berserker, not nearly. "G—Get him out! He can't—!!"

Who could've predicted the sudden attack? Even Ruler only got his warning out seconds before impact. Still, in that second, something screamed within Ernest. A primal wish for survival, a fire in his nerves that shouted “MOVE NOW!” Without thinking, without understanding the situation, and certainly without trying to formulate a plan, the necromancer threw himself backward, feeling the gust of the impact slam into his body and send him rolling backward. The sheer force of the impact felt like it might have broken a rib or two. The magus could barely make out anything over the ringing in his ears as he forced himself to his feet, bracing himself with his cane and looking upon the monstrous contraption that had descended upon them. A golem? No. It was more like a living fortress. Ernest backed away, the gale whipping at his suit.

Think Ernest, think. The roar of the win made it difficult to hear even his own thoughts, much less those around him. Against something so impregnable, there was probably little he could do, but perhaps the Servants could find a way through... even that seemed unlikely, but maybe not impossible. “Chi-You!” He backed further away, placing himself behind his Servant. “Whatever that thing is, it can't be completely impenetrable, we just have to find a weak point.” The magus continued stepping back from the impossible monster. “And Chi-You, don't hold back.” The castle pulled back its towers for another attack. “Shit.” Ernest turned, running as fast as he could, trusting Chi-You to handle herself. As the wind off of the second attack knocked Ernest to his knees, he looked back toward the castle. “It's trying to separate us then.” The magus realized he had just wholly cooperated with the construct's battle plan, but it wasn't as if he had anything to contribute to the battle, other than perhaps healing.

Having avoided the second swing, Ernest shouted again into the wind. “Aim for the joints!” It couldn't move without joints, right? Frankly, Ernest was concerned as to whether or not logic even applied to the titan. If it did, though, the joints would be the weakest points, but with how that thing was able to reshape itself, there was a chance that the only opportunity to hit those joints was when it attacked, and a single blow from that thing was likely enough to incapacitate a Servant.

---

To say Lancer was surprised by all this would be an understatement. She wasn’t sure what she was witnessing, even though she was someone who had gone beyond a normal human. A Servant. A special existence… And she was seeing… A moving castle. Definitely not something she had been expecting today, or at all in this war. If it had been flying that’d be fine. If it moved? Also possibly fine.

Moving and attacking with a punch though? That was where it started to confuse her. She did hear her Master though. Was she being told to fight? Or to use her own judgement? That being said she didn’t consider those though and did the second without a single word. The attack would catch them if she waited after all. She did hear someone call out about it but it wasn’t a thought she could afford right now. Instead she moved directly to catch David as he ran, and pull him further away from the Castle beyond just out of the range of it’s first punch.

“My first priority shall be your safety.” Speaking honestly and sharing her thoughts with her Master, she tried to get as far as possible so that she could get him out of it’s range. It wasn’t too far. She was just happy she was a Servant with high Agility as to get away in time. Once she had set him down though was the real issue. It was actually much harder to get him out of its range in time like she was wanting to, thus she had to settle for out of it’s arms reach for now, and a focus on fighting meant she might be exposed.
But fighting unarmed and unarmored would be a worse idea, thus she had her Armor and Spear come forth, with slight regrets to her action as most people familiar with Japan would probably recognize the six coins on her headband and waist guard.

Her largest worry also was this enemy didn’t seem like something one would want to fight alone. Which meant… Teamwork would be important. And she had very little idea how well she’d work with the other servants. Either way it was a good thought to try as she raised her voice as loud as she could to speak with them in this moment.

"EVERYONE! WE NEED TO REGROUP!"

It was the most she could think of as a first step. Sudden events making planning difficult, especially when you can't move as far as you'd like in such a short amount of time.

@Berserk Gene @SIGINT @Yukitamas @Breo @Kost Alter @Holy Grail @DrowsyPangolin @Beloss @ConstantlyComic @Moonlit Sonata

The air shattered under the wake of the strike. The tower darted out, mocking the sound barrier as it flew forwards towards those who had been nearest Ruler. The sheer force of the wind in front of the tower was enough to cause damage as it approached, let alone what would happen were it permitted to make contact. And yet...something was wrong, something about that "punch" was impossible. There was a sort of refinement behind the hasty blow made with a castle tower.

Technique. This thing had technique.

"Oh dear..." Xavier muttered as he noticed that the gigantic golem was starting to level down its makeshift 'fist' at their direction once again. Truth be told, the young Arkwright magus hadn't seen that many boxing matches in his life, but he could still tell the difference between a well-executed punch and a sloppy one, and this was certainly the former. To think that a creature of this size was capable of educated combat maneuvers like that, instead of just blindly rampaging about like a Berserker... It was quite fascinating... Scary too, because it was trying to kill them all, but also fascinating. However, even with its ungodly strength, its formidable defense granted by its myriad of shields, and its apparent experience in hand-to-hand combat, there was still one thing monsters of such colossal stature inherently lacked...

Speed.

Not to say that it was slow by any means. In fact, for such a large golem it moved a lot quicker than one would expect it to. But, it wasn't quick enough, not when dealing with a group of such extraordinary individuals. While magi were nowhere near the level of a Servant when it came to speed and nimbleness, they could still have a few tricks of their own up their sleeve; In Xavier's case, during the time it had taken for the gigantic structure of stone and pummeling death to lunge its second attack at them, he had finished applying Reinforcement to his own eyes. The blue-haired magus' irises briefly glowed an azure color, as his eyesight was greatly heightened. Now able to much better observe and predict harmful attacks directed at him, his level of optical perception had advanced almost to the level of a pseudo-Clairvoyance. Though it was still nowhere near the level of the true Clairvoyance that certain Archer-Class Servants were known to possess, it still allowed Xavier to read through the golem's easily traceable attack. By hastily creating yet another wind current of his own, Xavier pushed his relatively light body out of harm's way.

Though he had escaped death once again, it was only barely so. "This thing knows how to move. I believe it is a lot smarter than we give it credit for." The young magus shouted at the others. The situation did indeed look grim... At this rate, how much longer would he be able to keep dodging the golem's powerful attacks? Sooner or later, either his body would give up to fatigue, or his Reinforcement on his eyes would wear off. And that was not accounting the possibility of this giant golem secretly knowing a stupidly powerful, unblockable attack that it had yet to use...