"Ohoho, skeletons is it. The remnants of humanity left behind when flesh and blood and souls are stripped away, bleached white bones serving as a grim reminder of the mortality of men. And yet is it not because of those lumps of calcium that we can be who we are? To demonize our literal backbone... humans sure are strange." The monologue would have probably went better if her dear Master weren't using her esteemed self as an anchoring point for motion sickness, but she wasn't one to turn down the embrace of a cute girl in question. It was rather nice actually and were she in a more private place, would have rather enjoyed it more. As it was now, stimulation was to come another way.

In life, she was known as many things but fear and revulsion were the most important part of her 'heritage' as it were. She was a hero who led to the unification of Japan through her direct actions even if she never managed to do so herself, a being that continued to divide the Japanese people due to drastic and wild actions. Tyrannous and freedom loving was she, an eccentric mix that was in itself quite paradoxical. And here was an opponent that felt no fear, a seemingly perfect army that did not shy away from pain and was tireless. She applauded the use of such automatons but at the same time sneered at the fact that the weakness of such things were they lacked human drive and will. They were cold and efficient sure, but that was only if they were utilized by a competent commander. As it was now, all she saw was a rabble of target practice just waiting to be blown up.

"Ready. Aim." Folding her arms together and adopting an imperious look (or as close to it as she was capable of while not shrugging off the poor girl), the diminutive Demon Archer materialized three stylized flintlock rifles that bore the feeling of both antiquity and progress. They were cast iron cylinders with enameled gold and polished wood grained handles, floating about in blatant disregard to the laws of gravity themselves. "Fire." And with a resounding thunder, they burst into action. Crimson ardor lanced out from the barrels, beams of intense red color that tore apart the air itself upon their directed shots towards the skeletons. Mystery was apparent and in use, this Land of the Gods ironically making the godslayer more powerful. "HAHAHAHAHA! HOW WONDERFUL!"

Nanase nodded at her servant's words. "It'd be nice if things never got so bad you felt the need to assist... but I feel like that's unlikely." Pausing to smile, she continued "So I'll look forward to seeing your treasures when the time comes."

Along with the rest of the group, the two began to move, keeping up easily with her reinforced legs. She came to a stop with her servant atop a hill, gazing down at the chaos below. Someone sure had a thing for skeletons here.

She glanced over as Ozymandias called down an impressive blast, eliminating many skeletons in a blink, and then another group a moment later. With a small smile, the girl nodded in approval at the sight--truly, the Rider was as powerful as she had suspected, considering his identity. The fact that she had managed to summon him was something to be proud of.

The man spoke to her, getting another nod from Nanase. "Understood." She wasn't particularly effective at range in comparison to her abilities in close-quarters, but evidently Ozymandias more than made up for that.

The girl watched as the rest of her allies fought to the city, projecting a simple recurve bow and arrow, immediately reinforcing both objects as she notched the arrow and drew the string back. Breath held for a moment, she lined up her shot and let go, projecting and reinforcing a second arrow even as the first still flew. It managed to hit one of the creatures center mass, sending the bones that made up its body crumbling to the ground.

_@PKMNB0Y

---

The Berserker easily swatted away any skeletons in her direct path her legs. Following along with the others, she entered the city with Estelle still in her arms. Two other Servants did battle with each other above the city, one very likely a Caster and the source of the skeleton familiars.

Looks like she was the first obstacle getting in the way of the Servant's goal. An unfortunate position to occupy.

"Berserker, crush them until your heart's content. We're cutting a path to that Caster!" said her Master, clearly on the same train of thought.

The madness of her class had been growing slowly, itching more with every second she spent in this wretched world. Killing a few of the things that inhabited it would help, if only a little.

Holding Estelle closer, Penthesilea swung her ball and chain in a wide arc as it materialized, clearing a comfortable area free of any skeletons around the two. With that done, she set down her Master gently, materializing two swords at her hips and clawed gauntlets around her forearms and hands.

"Stay close to the other Masters, please," she asked of Estelle. Of course, she fully planned to stay near the girl herself as she fought, and keep an eye on her... but knowing the container she had been summoned in, she unfortunately couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't lose herself and end up prioritizing the death of certain enemies over the survival of her Master.

With that, Penthesilea allowed herself to a small part of that madness within her, and began an ungraceful, but highly effective rampage quickly cutting through the skeletons to get closer to the two dueling Heroic Spirits. It felt good, but the terribly weak enemies weren't nearly enough to truly satisfy her.

The Servant only slowed upon hearing the red Saber calling out brazenly to the Heroic Spirits. Interesting... strategy?

Penthesilea leapt and landed hard on top of a skeleton near the building Nero stood upon, driving the creature into the ground and slamming both ends of her flail down on two others close by for good measure, to ensure her presence was known by the two unknown purple-haired Servants.

She glared up at the Caster in particular. Something told her the two wouldn't do as Nero had requested, so the Berserker kept herself on guard.

_@VitaVitaAR

"The Witch... So that's her, huh?" Keisuke responded, glancing at the Servant as he continued to stare at the woman from outside of her direct field of view. The conflict between the two seemed to be at a standstill, with the blindfolded Servant managing to weave her way through Medea's barrage of bullets but never truly being able to come close. Of course, stepping in would overturn that careful balance, but at the same time, the conflict had to be stopped one way or another.

While the Enforcer was mulling over the options in his head, the arrival of Nero on the scene caused him to snap back to attention, doubly so when she went up to the two of them to...
Ask them to stop fighting.

The insanity of the entire thing, coupled with the arrival of a few more Servants and their Masters, caused Medea to pause her barrage for but a moment to look at the whole situation. That, ironically enough, was exactly the tipping point to throw the delicate balance of the fight out the door.

Taking advantage of the minor opening, the blindfolded Servant quickly closed the distance, the twin knives in her hands aimed straight for Medea's throat. Noticing her folly, Medea quickly swung her staff in an attempt to parry. With one hand, she barely managed to ward off the blow; her other hand, however, was hidden from view, seemingly digging for something beneath her cloak.

That was when Atalanta's arrow struck. Having been loosed right as the blindfolded Servant flew forward, the projectile found its mark straight in the attacker's side, giving Medea enough leeway to pull what she was digging for from within her cloak.

"Rule Breaker!"

In the minute opening that Atalanta had given, Medea took the chance to plunge her oddly-shaped dagger straight into the other Servant's chest, but quickly pulling it out and glancing at the congregation that had come... Likely for her, in all honesty.

And if the arrow loosed was any indication, she might be next. Letting the body of the other Servant fall to the ground, Medea quickly loosed a giant magic formation centered around her before causing a large white sphere of light to surround her, which then proceeded to shrink and fly off over the horizon... Somewhere to the west.

With that chain of events, Keisuke walked out from behind his hiding spot and sighed, looking at the Servant that was left behind in the chaos. The city was still in flames, yes, but...

"...I'm going to go off to chase Medea with Atalanta! Let's split the team in half; one group, stay here with this Servant and see if you can't gather any information from her; the rest, follow me. We have no time to waste!" he ordered, quickly dashing through the burning city and jumping around or over any debris lying around that could be a hindrance. The skeletons seemed to still be attempting to stop him, though that was less of a relevant issue right now than anything else. Their movements were more sluggish than before, which simply meant that they were easier targets to take down.

"Atalanta, let's move. Do you have any clue where that Servant might have fled to?"

@KoL

---

With the threat of the neverending skeletons finally drawing to a close, Ozymandias took a deep breath and stared down at the citizens of the city now in flames. Half of them seemed to be staring at the Servants who had broken through the skeletons and into the city, while the other half seemed to be staring at him and his Master. Acceptable, but the time for spectacle there could wait. With the problem in front of them now handled, the pharaoh calmly walked down the hilltop he was standing on and, glancing at a few of the civilians in his way, beckoned that they move. The mob seemed to part before him, and the Servant continued into the city, only to see that one of their group had already left in pursuit of... Well, one of the culprits, or so he assumed, all the while shouting at some people to stay behind and for others to follow. The other Servant, left wounded here... Could be an issue, but what was more hazardous was the city in flames around them.

"You!" he shouted, turning around and pointing the the civilians who were staring from a distance, his voice managing to reach them even from their current distance. "Water! We shall extinguish the flames of this city—or would you rather live on the hillside while your homes turn to ash?"

Almost as if struck by a sudden jolt of electricity, the civilians immediately began to run off to the nearest source of water to try and calm the raging flames. Ozymandias, of course, could not conjure water, but he could direct and keep panic levels low. There were other kings and emperors here; delegation of tasks to at least begin repairs while they questioned the leftover Servant would not be an issue.

With that in mind, Ozymandias stepped forward, closer to the rest of the group, and simply shook his head.

"Rash... But no matter; they have the communications device, do they not? I shall help calm the chaos here; anyone who wishes to pursue should go, before they travel too far. If they fail in their chase, they will return anyhow, will they not?" he asked, glancing once more at the fallen Servant before turning towards the flames to his direct right.

Maybe a sphinx to ferry water to and fro might be a good idea...

@Riegal@VitaVitaAR@Rin@Raineh Daze@Grey Star

So this was the power of a Servant... in an instant, the skeletons around them had been annihilated without fail, clearing a wide circle around the pair of them in a single motion. Then, the small girl was set down on her feet as her Berserker proceeded to tear apart the army of familiars. Really, all Estelle had to do was watch her Servant work... but she wasn't content with that. Extending one arm, a series of white orbs appeared above it, as the childlike magus spun on her heel and let loose three beams of destructive prana. A low-grade deployment of her most powerful spell was hardly as impressive as the top ceiling of her capabilities, but it would do, tearing cleanly through skeletons with each shot and knocking them into loose piles of bone. After a few more shots, she caught sight of the conclusion of the Servant battle. The Caster-class Servant had sunk some strange dagger into her opponent, and immediately fled when the purple haired woman hit the ground.

The last of the skeletons were being mopped up, but the town was still in flames. Deep down, she had to question why a Caster class Servant would chose to attack their opponent with a dagger rather then the useage of magecraft. Did the woman perhaps possess a high grade of magic resistance? She didn't seem like any one of the three knight classes, though... From appearances, Estelle would have guessed Assassin, but... somehow she didn't seem so... stealthy, perhaps?

Whatever the case was, something strange was happening here.

"... Berserker!" she called, "We're going to remain here. Do what you can to extinguish these flames, I'll investigate the wound that dagger made."

Perhaps this was an overly-confident decision, as Estelle began to approach the downed Servant. But... She had to know what had happened, and on top of that... Well, a deeply smug part of her was sure that even an attack from a Servant wouldn't so easily shatter her bounded field.

@Riegal

Demon Archer

Narrowing her eyes and letting loose a full salvo of red beams after the retreating Medea, the great warlord in the body of a small woman tsk'ed before glancing at the still clutching Master on her person. Slowly but steadily peeling off the suction-like girl with a calmness that bordered on professional and making sure to hold her up until she could actually move, the now glaring Demon Archer's crimson gaze throbbed with the glee of one that was on a hunt.

"Master, should we follow our prey posthaste? It would be ever so annoying if they were to escape into their burrow and hunker down... and we need both answers and reimbursement for her actions." The others could take care of holding down the fort, if they let their foe slip away, there was a chance she would simply just rebuild her forces and attack elsewhere anyways.

"Ah... Oh my..."

It really was something, to be honest. Bethany wasn't stupid; she knew that each Servant was a figure of legend, a hero on a mythic scale, something far beyond regular humans. These were great warriors whose epic deeds rang through the ages, and whose prowess on the battlefield was greater than anything seen before or since. But even then, even knowing this, all she could do was watch in awe as they tore through any resistance like it was nothing. She was especially transfixed by her own Servant, King Arthur herself, the mighty Excalibur mowing through skeleton warriors as graceful as a ballerina yet as devastating as a howitzer bombardment. This was power on a scale beyond her own meagre magecraft, something that reassured her original opinion that she wouldn't be of much help aside from sustaining Arturia.

As she followed Arturia, trying to keep at a safe enough distance, two more Servants entered the field. One was easily assumed to be Caster; the hooded cloak and staff would've been a dead giveaway even if she wasn't firing out bullets of magic at the epicenter of the undead horde. The blindfolded woman was more difficult to discern the class of, but she fought in such a graceful way... But unlike Arturia, there was more of a bestial edge to her attacks, something different from her own Servant's elegance but possessing its own unique allure all the same.

The other Saber, the one that looked like a squashed-down Arturia in flimsier clothing, had tried to quell hostilities in her own... Unique way, but it hadn't seemed to have worked. The Caster (the legendary witch Medea, from what the others claimed) had pulled out a knife (a knife? An odd weapon for a Caster, to be sure) and plunged it into the blindfolded woman's ample chest, before the congregation of Servants caused her to beat a hasty retreat.

"Ah... Arturia..." Bethany huddled closely to her Servant, inadvertantly embracing her arm as she did. "I... I think we should help her... Even if she's Medusa... And the village, um..."

Really, with how overwhelming this expedition had been thus far, it was a miracle she could get even that out.

Before anyone could reach the two battling Servants, a strange, crooked dagger was revealed from the Caster-class Servant's robes, flashing down and piercing the blindfolded Servant's chest. They'd failed to intervene?! ... And yet, even as Saber cleaved through more skeletons, still attempting to reach the now-fallen Servant, she couldn't help but question what had just happened. a Caster-class Servant using a dagger to fight an opponent who did not appear to have any form of Magic Resistance? Regardless, the few remaining skeletons came to a halt around her. In a flash, the King of Knights had cut each of them apart, severed bones clattering across the ground and fading away. Lowering her blade to her side, the blonde girl approached the injured purple-haired woman, a grim expression on her face. In spite of the dagger having pierced her chest, however, she seemed to be alive, albeit incapacitated... for what purpose had the two Servants been fighting?

It was about that moment that her Master suddenly latched onto her arm, pressing against her and taking her by surprise. For a few moments, Saber was silent and uncertain how to respond to the sudden contact, but ultimately duty won out.

"... While pursing the Caster-class Servant is absolutely necessary, I agree, Bethany," she replied with a nod, her gaze scanning the ruined, burning city and the injured Servant. Carefully, she pulled her arm away from the other girl. "Do you have any way to help extinguish these flames? I must admit that I am ill-equipped for such a task."

---

So many things had happened at once. The two Servants doing battle in the city, and then the allied Servant rushing down to cut their way through the skeletal horde... it was a sight beyond anything Yumi had ever experienced. As a magus, she had seen and done incredible things, but she had never seen anything on this level. The sheer strength exhibited by the Servants was incredible. The earth beneath them cratered, skeletons came apart, and not a single weapon touched the heroes as they danced through the horde of skeletons and laid waste to all their enemies.

But none of them, aside from the rather daft red-clad Saber, had reached the dueling Servants, and the cloaked Caster had embedded a dagger in the chest of her enemy before fleeing.

With many of the others volunteering to remain behind to question the injured Servant and help save the town(to be expected of heroes, wasn't it?) Yumi had only one course of action in mind.

"Berserker, don't hold back. We're going after that Servant!" she declared, pointing in the direction the Caster had fled and stepping to her Servant's side.

@Rin

For a second it looked that her magnificent plan had come to fruition--the witch paused in her magical fight and with that opening perhaps they could simply solve this through conversation--

So of course everyone had to set about ruining it. Their own side, of all things, went for a kill first and talk later approach--which would be coming up later--and the enemy Servant to breach the temporary interlude got stabbed for her trouble. Honestly, did these heroes think that an Emperor's word was something to be ignored? There was no point in meeting all these historically out of place people if you were simply going to respond with violence...

The Emperor nodded a second later with a triumphant humph, walking towards the downed woman. She would leave firefighting to the others--after all, if they could self-organise to do such a task, the emperor's input was hardly needed. If the locals came back after everything had burnt out and desired it, she would be more than happy to give them advice on rebuilding after a fire, along with a few tips to building a truly magnificent theatre. No, for now she would take basic care of the fallen warrior.

The first question: how? Her own dress was unsuitable for bandaging and Medusa's was rather short... well, modesty would be the first thing to go over health. Servants might be hard to kill but you couldn't just go around ignoring terrible wounds. And a basic ability to deal with stabs... well, with how her uncle had met his end, it was a skill that had seemed worth learning. The small blonde set to work cutting strips off the dress, then doing her best to actually staunch and bandage the injury.

"Hmm, you really brought this upon yourself. To ignore an Emperor and make a cheap shot... fate will always seek to punish such a presumptuous act. Were I any less a magnanimous Emperor, your beauty would be a requirement to receive such personal attention! It certainly marks a precious thing to save..."

Of course, it was unlikely it would sink in when the person in question was unconscious.

---

"Following is exactly the goal that I had in mind," the now-recovered Onmyouji said, taking one of the small birds off of her shoulders and raising it into the air--where it promptly took flight. All it had to do was fly westwards and look; should it find anything suspicious then she would know. An aerial view was a great advantage even when a Servant might be able to run faster than a bird could fly. "That should give us a good view of the area, but if I'm going to come along quickly, it looks like you'll need to help out."

There was no way that she was going to keep up with a bunch of Servants in a race, particularly if they were following one that was known for her speed.

---

Continuing to wander further into the town, it was perhaps unsurprising that--somewhat apart from the Servants and other Masters--one of the skeletons would get her attention. This was rather exciting, actually: the identity of the witch clearly showed these off as made from dragon's teeth and it would be interesting to get a look at their properties to try and make something more advanced at a later point. There was a certain inefficiency in familiars and homunculi were both too complicated and rather overkill for a similar sort of purpose.

Of course, it was difficult to study something when it was attacking you. Being left slowed and undirected by its creator's rapid departure, deflecting the attacks harmlessly aside wasn't exactly a taxing challenge... but it was quite frustrating when trying to examine it on mystical and more physical lines. Soon enough, the limit to her examination was reached. Even though watching something as inherently error-riddled as a bone construct fall apart with a single cut was immensely satisfying, her expression didn't flicker an inch.

The girl started making her way back to the other Masters--Berserker's, specifically--and sent out a brief message: "Please ensure that at least one Master accompanies the chasing party. It would be best to maintain a direct line of communication."

Masters didn't seem to be able to do anything that mattered in the long run as long as the subject of Heroic Spirits was to b taken into consideration. With that in mind, Ascelia withdrew her weapons and observed as the aftermath of their first encounter in this journey unfolded right before her eyes as she made her way to rejoin her Servant.

To say the truth, it was something to be expected from such a disorganized and headstrong group. With no clear leadership and so many different views of the world clashing against one another it was no easy task to coordinate any form of tactics or teamwork. Essentially, it was every man —even if most of them are women— for himself. The mere thought of proposing an actual leader for this party was a big no as well. With three legendary rulers, two of which had egos as big as the sun with which they were associated, such a discussion was bound to not end well.

"Do you have any idea of what to do now?" Ascelia said as she approached Nero. "Healing may not be my specialty, but I can try to help her. As long as she doesn't bleed me dry of course," she said, rolling up one of her right sleeve before pumping some prana on her family's crest.
"Take care with her. The Witch's Noble Phantasm is a tool of betrayal worse than any poison. In the worst case scenario this snake woman might be forced to serve under Medea's command," Atalanta alerted the others of the traitorous nature of Rule Breaker from her perch just as Keisuke issued his command. Atalanta may have misjudged this situation, but she didn't want any of her allies' blood on her hands because she failed to share the knowledge she has. If they failed to heed her warnings, it was not her problem anymore. At least she did her part as a member of this expedition.

As soon as she was done with it, Atalanta caught up with Keisuke. The huntress continued to run over and jump between the buildings of Colchis with her agility matched by none but the gods, while stalking the trail left Medea. "Keisuke, that doesn't make sense," Atalanta said from her perch above, "the Witch knows that no prey can escape from me unless she uses her greater spells. I suggest you be ready for an ambush. In the worst case scenario she may be drawing us to a magical trap. I'll go ahead and try to catch her, you pass this message to the others," she added before dashing ahead to intercept Medea before she could arrive at any traps she may have prepared.

Within the city now along with Ozymandias, Nanase allowed her projected bow to evaporate, the short confrontation with the cloaked Servant over. She watched as a few of the others immediately went after the woman, and looked over to her own Servant—from a glance, it was clear he wasn’t quite as interested.

The young Executor smiled softly to herself, hearing her Servant commanding the people of the burning city. He truly was an emperor, capable of leading with ease. She glanced around her destroyed surroundings, heart feeling heavy. She felt sorry for the citizens.

“I’ll go help,” she said to Ozymandias. “With getting water.” It was all she really could do, even if it wasn’t much. With that, she took off in a light jog after the crowd.

---

Estelle’s Servant was ready to take off in a dash after the cloaked woman, but her Master ordered her otherwise.

Penthesilea glanced over, brow furrowing at the girl’s words. This would be the first instance where she’d directly disobey her Master—the flames and the people it threatened were far less important than Estelle herself. The Servant immediately moved towards her. “Master! Allow me to do so, then. There is no need to put you in possible harm’s way.” Really, just walking up to an unknown Servant like that. Reckless girl.

The Servant had half a mind to lecture her further, but now was not the time or place; especially since she didn’t know the small girl well enough to know quite how she’d react to being reprimanded.

"Honestly, Atalanta? I would expect no less from a Caster," Keisuke responded, nodding his head as he pulled out the phone he was given to follow up on his Servant's suggestion. Of course, he (as a relatively 'normal' magus) wouldn't be able to keep up with Atalanta's speed if she decided to scout farther ahead, but that in and of itself had its own merits.

Granted, that also technically meant he had to jump and duck his way through the burning city, but it seemed as if that wouldn't have to last for long; just barely past the smoke and flames in front of him, the Enforcer could barely make out the walls that guarded the opposite end of the city. The ball of light that was Medea (or so he assumed) was still barely in sight over the walls, but his Servant (now a blur of colors that caused the fumes to waver) was rapidly making headway after her. Catching her... Would be ideal, but it certainly wouldn't be easy. There was also the factor that Atalanta made sure to point out—the Noble Phantasm that Medea had used just a while earlier. There were too many unknowns to factor into this, so for now the young man decided to simply radio in with the rest of the pursuing group to prepare. Pulling the phone out from the pocket of his pants where he had stored it, Keisuke stared at the device for a few seconds before realizing he hadn't had a chance to fiddle with it earlier.

"Hm. Well, at least the interface looks somewhat intuitive..." he muttered, glancing back and forth between the device and the road as he continued on. This was... Actually somewhat stupid, he now realized, as it meant that he was now dedicating half of his attention to not being crushed by debris or running into a wall or something stupid like that. Luckily, in the few moments he had taken to figure out how the call function worked (it had group calls, thank god), he hadn't come into any major issues (the worst of it being a slight decrease in pace), Keisuke quickly held the phone up to his ear before resuming his normal pace.

"Hello? Hello? Okay, I don't know how everything works right now, so I just dumped everyone's contact into into a group and started this call up; Ms. Marzikek, you're gonna have to drill me on this stuff later. That aside: to anyone following Medea, Atalanta's moving ahead to try and intercept. Let me know if the situation in the city changes, okay?" he said, using his shoulder to prop the device in place as he continued on.

The familiar that Ai had thrown into the air would soon respond to its master with the sight of the large plains outside of the burning city and the faint sight of the sea over the horizon. The two Servants that were playing cat and mouse had, by this point, left the city's boundaries, and the ball of light that was Medea was making a beeline towards what could barely be made out as some sort of seafaring vessel, if only because of its location and size.

From Medea's point of view, though, all that remained in her sights was the grassy plains in front of her. The ship he had used to arrive was a while away, and though her destination was the port, there were still other ways of trying to escape. Of course, she still had bad memories of that ship, but her current one... It would certainly be for the better if she could make it on.

Craning her neck around to look behind her, Medea's face turned a bit somber as her eyes met with Atalanta's. There was indeed a bit of irony given the current situation, but of all people to be chasing her down...

"Hmph. It pains me to be so wasteful, but..." she said, murmuring to herself as she began to scatter something similar to bone fragments out onto the ground beneath her. Wherever they met the earth, skeletal archers soon rose up, all with bows in hand as they aimed not at Atalanta, but at the sky above. As she did so, Medea turned her body 180 degrees around, still in flight as she pulled off her hood to stare at the cat-eared huntress that was pursuing her.

"How bold of you to come! It really has been a while, hasn't it, Atalanta? Though I loathe anything to do with that damned Argo, I do appreciate you showing the effort to chase after me like this. You were always like that, though, weren't you? Well, as with any prey, I'm not going to make this a simple hunt for you. Prepare yourself!"

With that declaration, Medea swung her staff in an arc in front of her, letting the bat-like wings on her back unfurl and begin to form a vast array of magic circles that began to fire magical bullets at the leonine archer.

"All I need to do is make it to the boat—no, not even the boat. Even the edge of the port will do—!"

---

"You wish to help? Very well; then let me send some of my own power to aid you," the pharaoh declared, waving his staff in front of him before two giant sphinxes, each roughly the size of a large truck and equipped with a large bucketlike tool around their necks, materialized in front of him. A few beads of sweat were now visible on the Servant's brow, but he paid them no heed as he continued to stand tall and directed the beasts to follow his Master. Ideally, they would also help with the water, but they were first and foremost his Master's guards while he remained here. After all, keeping a Servant restrained was infinitely more difficult than it was to kill them, more often than not.

"Hmph. How troublesome; the flames will likely linger a while longer while those citizens move off to obtain some water; honestly, I would prefer to use something akin to a well, but in the midst of this incident that isn't quite... Feasible," he commented, glancing back and forth at the burning buildings before back down at the group of women taking care of the servant.

Medusa, on the other hand, remained unconscious after the care from Nero and the rest, with the only notable change in her condition being a less labored breathing pattern. The bandage coupled with Nero's Master's healing, it seemed, had caused her condition to stabilize... Somewhat.

That didn't mean that it was any better for them to stay, but it wasn't as if Ozymandias would lift the Servant up to drag the unconscious Servant outside of the city. Actually, there were probably some citizens that were trapped within their homes or something of the li-
Damn.

"Okay, with this matter handled, I declare that anyone not directly involved in keeping track of this... Woman... Should look through the city for any survivors, trapped or otherwise. Loss of property is inevitable in this situation, but the loss of a life under the sun's watchful gaze is a crime that I, Ozymandias, shall not allow!" the Servant shouted, slamming his staff into the ground and causing the stone beneath him to crack before he began to walk deeper into the burning city, furtively glancing around for any sign of life from the crackling flames and swirling ash.

Luckily, the distance to the river was not all that far off, and with the additional help of the sphinxes and whatever things that the townspeople could muster to hold water in, the group returned to at least begin the process of quenching the flames.

The question now, though, was how much they could save.

@KoL@Raineh Daze@Grey Star@Rin@VitaVitaAR@Riegal

For a moment, Estelle was silent. Her Servant was trying to tell her no? She sighed, folding her arms and turning to face the Amazonian warrior.

"Berserker, do you know about magecraft?" she asked, "I know you're much stronger then I am, but when it comes to trying to understand what Caster's dagger did, would you be able to figure it out?"

She huffed to herself, cocking her head to one side. Partially it was her sense of superior magecraft knowledge even to her Servant, but on the other hand there was also some curiosity. To be perfectly honest, Estelle felt she wasn't in danger doing what she was planning. After all, her bounded field could protect her from at least one strike from a Servant, and she had faith that Berserker would immediately come to her aid at that point.

"I trust you enough to know that if she were to attack me, you would come running. I think it's best if someone with knowledge of Magecraft were to investigate this wound. Isn't it strange that a Caster-class Servant would attack her enemy with a dagger?"

@PKMNB0Y@Riegal

"Very well. If you're getting on then hold on tight, Master." Smirking even as she prepared her surprise of the day, the Servant would then grab hold of her Master in a bridal carry (if permitted) before jumping straight up into the air. Dematerializing her boots to reveal a pair of dainty feet, the woman would then suddenly materialize two flintlock rifles floating through whatever weird power held them against gravity's sway, locking onto the tubes with the space between her big toe and the rest of her feet's digits. It was an outright strange sight, seeing a raven haired woman of short stature using two rifles as an impromptu platform.

"I shall show you the splendid charging ability of the great DEMON ARCHER! ONWARD!" And then the two (if Ai decided to go along with this particular spectacle) would charge along into the distance, following behind the flying spellcaster's trail. Judging by the ridiculously evil grin pasted upon Nobunaga's face, it seemed like she was greatly enjoying herself thus far with her eccentricity. And of course, her great cape fluttered from the sheer momentum in question.

With the injured Servant now less likely to bleed to death on the floor, Nero showed every intention of what she planned to do with Medusa right now: hoist her in a bridal carry, taking extra care not to drag that hair on the ground any further. Though already stained and dirtied by the fighting and bloodshed, there was no reason to allow it to grow any worse than it already was. Besides which, the hair was longer than the Emperor was tall--not that this was in any way irritating--and would be a tripping hazard if allowed to drag around freely.

Maybe, since it was so long, help would be needed to clean it afterwards?

"As the Praefectus is already doing an admirable job of organising the relief efforts, we should concern ourselves with keeping our associate here away from any further danger, until she can wake and help us," the blonde stated, walking through the burning city without an apparent care in the world. The value of good subordinates to delegate to was never to be underestimated and it saved her the need from having to arrange a means to put out the fire.

Most of her more noticeable abilities would just cause more fire, anyway. Maybe once they got everyone out? It would be better to burn everything down properly and draw up plans for an architecturally superior replacement. One that was less inclined to burn down in future.

---

Being carried like this was... demeaning, since she could have held on perfectly fine. It was also becoming steadily apparent how more and more inaccurate historical records were about the warlord; she had certainly known to expect a good degree of rudeness but for the Archer to consider flying rifles a valid method of travel... or even to be able to use flying rifles in the first place...

Of course, the position made it easier to hold the phone to stay in contact--something that, compared to a normal magus, she had no trouble using. Growing up in modern Japan without secreting yourself away was useful for that. Staying in contact meant that she could put her familiar's view of the chase and fighting to immediate use.

"Medea seems to be trying to reach the sea; I can see a boat in the distance," the onmyouji confirmed, certain that would be enough for the various Servants to work with--if she was just going for an escape, then it wouldn't take more than a delaying action, "We need to be careful of the archers that she has aiming skywards."

---

Like the others, the white-haired magus was quite clear on her lack of ability to contribute to the task of putting out a burning city. Nor would she be a terribly reassuring presence for any trapped citizens, so she concentrated on the simple task of making herself stay out of the way and monitoring the call's signal strength. Good, everything was holding up as expected so far.

"Ah, I forgot that most magi have little experience with technology," came the monotonous reply, "I shall be sure to provide remedial lessons upon our return."

Bethany thought for a moment, trying to figure out an answer to Arturia. There really wasn't much she could do to help, honestly. She wasn't that strong, and the only magecraft she was any good with was formalcraft. ...Wait, formalcraft?

"I... Suppose I could... I could set up a bounded field..." Bethany suggested, even as she rummaged through her supplies and began setting up for just that. "Um... And... And maybe your Invisible Air could help contain the flames too, Arturia? Um... I know, I'm not good at this, um..."

Sighing, she kneeled down and began tracing lines on the ground with chalk. There wasn't much she could do, really, but at least she could do this. If she set up a bounded field then maybe it would help contain the flames. Maybe. She wasn't really sure about this at all, but... If it worked, hopefully it would suck the air away from the flames, starving them of the oxygen they needed to keep blazing. But even then, there was no guarantee it would even work... But at least it was something.

Ah, Invisible Air? Saber hadn't considered that, possibly due to the fact that she had been worried about potential destruction... However, it was worth trying. If she used the air currents, perhaps she could force the fire out, dissipating it with the strong burst of the Bounded Field that encased her weapon. She would have to avoid directly hitting the burning structures with the main force of the blow, and instead hit it with the 'edge' of the cone of wind that was released from her blade.

"Yes, Bethany," she said with a firm nod. As her Master began to set up the beginnings of the ritual that would allow her to construct her bounded field, the King of Knights turned on her heel and sprinted to the nearest blazing building. Squaring up her armored feet and taking a somewhat lowered stance, the blonde girl pointed the tip of her invisible blade towards the blaze, then tilted it upwards. Saber had to be careful. She wanted to avoid damaging anything, or potentially accidentally striking a bystander or an ally. As such, she was sure to aim at an angle.

The knight concentrated, furrowing her brow as she pushed Invisible Air outward. As she did, it would be difficult to ignore the sudden glimpse of blazing gold, the elegant and utterly perfect craftmanship of the world itself as the Holy Sword Excalibur was suddenly, briefly, unveiled. The was a roar of wind as a cone of pressure tore its way into the sky, air spiraling out around it. The fire wavered and was suddenly forced to the sides, sputtering and dissipating in the wake of the blast.

When Saber lowered her sword, Invisible Air once again sheathed its blade. Bethany's suggestion, it seemed, had worked! Nodding to herself, the King of Knights swiftly proceeded to the next house.

She would repeat this process as many times as was necessary!

@Rin

Ascelia didn't have much to do outside of supporting Nero at this moment. The situation was completely outside of her realm of expertize. Furthermore, the other Servant and Master pairs were already doing a good work at taking down the flames, they would have that covered in no time. Ascelia and Nero weren't really needed for that.

That said, Ascelia really did have one question for Saber regarding this situation.

"I have something to ask if you'll allow me," she said respectfully as the two of them walked side by side, seeking a proper place to lay down the unconscious purple-haired woman. "But first, we should get over to one of the temples, or maybe a palace. Being made of marble, it's unlikely that the flames damaged them substantially. At most, we might have to clear some burnt decorations," Ascelia added.
"That's not how it should be. It's not my intention to fight you. Just tell me what's happening and why are you meddling with Troy, instead of being in Corinth," Atalante replied to Medea. It didn't look like her words got through to the Witch, though as was evident by Medea's retort —summoning waves of her dragon bone familiars to challenge Atalanta to an archery duel. To make matters worse, the Witch decided to add a spray of her own magical bullets to the game.

"Very well, then. If that's what you want," Atalanta said summoning her bow. Thankfully for her, the natural terrain was an ally in and of itself. The many rocks that dotted the land might not be large or tough enough to take cover from the hell that Medea unleashed upon her, but they were more than enough to allow Atalanta to dodge the Witch's shots. Those magical bullets were as powerful as Atalanta's arrows, after all. A graze from them was enough to take down nearly anyone. Atalanta certainly wasn't looking forward to trying it head-on, given her meager Magic Resistance.

Atalanta didn't have the time to invoke her Noble Phantasm under such conditions so she had to take down the skeletons in small groups, shooting three or four of them at each time. The diminishing number were making dodging easier, allowing the Huntress to scan her surroundings better and finally notice Medea's intended escape plans. "Don't think that I'm going to let you escape on that ship. Not before you tell me what's happening," Atalanta said as she aimed a shot, not at the skeletons, but at Medea herself, trying to cripple the Witch's arm.

Nanase gazed up at her Servant’s constructs in a small measure of awe. She nodded her thanks towards him as she made her way to the river along with the crowd.

Realizing that there weren’t nearly enough buckets for every person in the group, she began to project as many as she could, one after another. Gesturing to the others, she told them to take the projections, keeping her focus. The object was simple to recreate—she could supply everyone without much trouble.

With everyone’s effort, the flames began to come under control. Hearing Ozymandias’ command, Nanase headed towards the most damaged buildings, reinforcing her body to dig through rubble to properly check for anyone trapped or injured. The girl’s stoic expression cracked slightly, showing a small frown as she only found lifeless body after another.

Finally, she spotted another woman around her age, laying with her face against the ground inside a small home. The girl writhed slowly, causing Nanase’s features to soften as she immediately moved in, kicking away part of the collapsed roof. While carefully picking up the woman, she took note of her injuries—gash on her head, forearm broken, several other noticeable bruises. As she stepped back out into the city, she called a random man over, handing the woman to him.

“Take her to the others I came with,” she said. Nanase herself couldn’t use healing magic in the slightest. The best she could do was reinforce own body to temporarily fix injuries. Hopefully one of the other magi could take care of the woman.

As the man headed off, the girl continued to search the city.

---

Berserker frowned and simply shrugged, gazing from her Master to the Servant that was being treated by the others. The purple-haired spirit did not move, evidently out cold. Fine. It was better that others risked themselves to confirm that than her own Master.

“Go then. With me,” Penthesilea said rather curtly, turning to head towards Nero, who now held the other Servant. “I only wish for you not to underestimate a Heroic Spirit and suffer for it,” she added, glancing over her shoulder towards Estelle.

The Berserker then looked to Nero. “Saber, allow my Master to inspect the woman’s wound.”

"Oi, don't treat me like an old man; I know how to use a smartphone just fine, dammit! It's the app that's tripping me up!" Keisuke responded in turn, clicking his tongue as he finally managed to clear his way out of the burning city and come face to face with a giant firing squad of skeletons raining arrows from above.

"...Well. Shit."

Taking a deep breath, the Enforcer grabbed his phone off his shoulder and slipped it into his pocket, putting the device into sleep mode in the process as he began to dash into the fray. Dicing his way through the skeletal horde (or, at the very least, what wasn't being peppered with the occasional stray bullet or arrow), Keisuke slowly began to advance ahead, occasionally rolling to the side or backstepping to dodge whatever projectiles might be flying towards his head. Being hit by one of those... Probably wouldn't be pretty, after all.

---

"My dearest feline archer, we are neither in Troy, nor would I ever think of stepping foot in that accursed place," Medea slipped in between shots, barrel rolling to and fro to try and keep Atalanta from getting a clean shot off on her. "But putting that loathsome individual aside, I'm quite serious when I say there is a reason why I can't tell you anything. Of course, that may have something to do with the fact that you and your entourage of ragtag individuals are currently out for my blood... And considering how you spared no time in annihilating my dragon tooth warrior patrols before interrupting that fight earlier, I'd wager you'd sooner kill me than not. Am I wrong?"

With a bit of a smirk and a small glint in her eye, Medea began to wave her staff in the air before the arrow that Atalanta had shot moments ago his her other arm, which in turn threw the Witch off balance and sent her spiraling off course. Medea gritted her teeth in pain at the attack's impact and, with a rather hasty motion from her other arm, barely managed to stop herself from crashing into the ground. The fall had slowed her speed notably enough for Atalanta to catch up with her within a moment's notice now, but at the same time it had brought her close enough to the port that she could see it from here. Of course, it wasn't as if she would go down without a fight, but at the very least it was easier to fight a defensive battle than an offensive one in this sort of situation.

...Though the inability to use both arms might be an issue...

---

The pharaoh's walk through the blazing city was mildly uncomfortable, if anything; luckily, the fact that he was a Servant meant that he wasn't in any danger from regular flames... And the fire didn't seem like anything inherently magical, either, which was also a little more off of Ozymandias' shoulders. Magical flames were far more of a nuisance and far more likely to leave dead in their wake, which would also mean that his current actions would have been far less effective than they might have been otherwise. As he felt the energy of the sphinxes returning from their trip off to whatever river they had followed the villagers to, the Rider noticed a man whose body was trapped underneath a collapsed home, his life almost fully extinguished. A shame that his first encounter would be one already on the brink of death, but even so...

"...A shame. I cannot give you life, but you have the blessings of the pharaoh. May Ma'at judge your soul fairly on your journey to the underworld," he sighed, shaking his head as he continued on, seemingly unfazed by the incident...

At least before hearing a child's cries from underneath that same rubble. His attention now fully focused on the dying man's body, Ozymandias quickly swung his staff and blew away the debris, creating a gust of wind that blew out some of the flames in the process, before walking over to the man and shifting his body off to the side.

A young child, barely old enough to even walk, lay under the body; though shaken and barely burnt, the child lived. This... This, he could not ignore. Looking around to see if there were any more unfortunate souls that were in easy reach (and disappointed to see there were none), the pharaoh picked up both the dying man's body and his child, the staff in his hands disappearing into this air as he began to carry the both of them out of the wreckage.

"...For sure, your heart shall be judged for saving this soul over yourself. Even I, the great Ozymandias, can understand a parent's love for their child has no bounds."

With a sigh, the Rider began to dash out of the burning city, face steeled in silence as he weaved his way out of the flames and back to the rest of the survivors. Hopefully, there would be some kind soul willing to raise this child as their own.

The first thing that Ozymandias saw when he returned, of course, was the blue Saber blasting away at the flames with some magical source of wind... Or something. If he recalled correctly, it was one of the Servant's Noble Phantasms, but to use it in such a manner felt a bit... Strange, if anything. Well, it seemed to work, and it seemed as if her Master was also working on some magic of her own to quell the flames. He wasn't entirely sure what that entailed, but it seemed as if the girl had the best of intentions at heart, and thus the pharaoh gave the question no more thought as he handed the two off to the group of survivors not attempting to quench the flames.

"The child is alive; its savior, less so. See to it that both of them are cared for, in their own way," he said, nodding his head before returning back into the burning city. With the sphinxes having now memorized the location of the river, they soon began to dump their water on the nearest burning houses before flying back to retrieve more. The cycle took considerably less time now, and soon enough the houses nearest the entrance, while drenched, were no longer on fire. Those hit by Invisible Air, soo, seemed to have stopped burning (though the flames around them seemed to continue to flicker about).

Upon Estelle's examination of the wound that Medea's dagger had made, she would find a small trace of a mark that was almost barely noticeable at this point in time, and by the time anyone else would look at the wound in further detail, it would be gone entirely. The Servant herself, however, would begin to stir as the mark disappeared, and though the movements were faint at first, it only took a few moments before the woman snapped to full attention. Fully aware that she was not being carried by some unknown being, the Servant quickly attempted to free herself from Nero's bridal carry...

Only to fumble and tumble onto the ground. There was a brief moment of awkward silence before the Servant slowly got up and brushed herself off, weapons now at the ready. Unlike before, though, the woman did not seem hell-bent on stabbing anyone in the vicinity to death with her knives.

"...Who...? What...?"

@KoL@Riegal@VitaVitaAR@Grey Star@Rin@Raineh Daze

The white-haired girl knelt, hands on her knees as she peered at the wound in the purple-haired Servant's chest.

"Hmmm..."

In the child-like magus's mind, this confirmed it. There wasn't any question of what she was seeing. The wound was sealing itself. Already she'd suspected something was up, given that it was a Caster-class Servant using a dagger at such close range. Now that she saw the injury healing itself so quickly... Certainly, a Servant's healing capabilities far exceeded that of the a human's, and such a wound likely would not have been lethal anyway. But this speed without assistance? No, no, Estelle was certain that she had figured out was going on.

"That dagger wasn't intended to wound," she declared, folding her arms. "It's more like some sort of magical catalyst, or... something else. I'm not sure. But it's not a weapon. It's a tool for magecraft."

She paused for a moment, frowning.

"Or against it? Something felt weird when Caster used that dagger. Hmph."

The tan-skinned girl huffed as she looked back down a the other Servant, then up towards Berserker. The tone around here was pretty harsh...

"Don't worry, Berserker, I'll be sure to stare at your chest plenty later," she said, simply, "That'll make up for it, right?"

And then the Servant suddenly awakened and fell to the ground, prompting the girl to scramble back with a yelp of surprise.

---

The moment the fires had cleared, Saber dashed forward. A charred, weakened door was kicked down in an instant, splintering beneath her armored boot. She could still feel the lingering heat in here, but she had to search. If there were any survivors, she had to find them. If they'd been trapped in these buildings as they burned... Her armored boots crunching as they fell upon charred wood still glowing with embers, she was relieved to see no-one had been trapped here.

The next few buildings were much the same. Horribly burned, but it appeared no one had died here.

Saber used her blade to cut through the next door, which had only burned partially before becoming trapped over the doorway, difficult to move. And within...

If there had been anyone else in here, they had escaped. The remaining body was badly burnt, making it difficult to tell who the person who it had been was. Saber's gaze lowered, and she averted her eyes. Perhaps if they'd been faster...

But there was no time to dwell on such things. She had to keep moving. If anyone else was still trapped inside...

Each subsequent search revealed that it was unlikely anyone else had become trapped. For this, the blonde-haired girl knight was thankful. Most of the civilians had been able to escape...

But for what reason had such an attack been mounted here? There were a few things that had confused the smallish swordswoman.

The buildings were in flames, and yet the skeletal warriors that Caster had used had not been attacking the civilians. Surely they would all have been killed if that was the enemy Servant's goal? What was she planning?

@Riegal@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze@Rin