@Cu Chulainn @Crusader Lord @Kyoka @Seirei No Hai @Reflection






Some sparks flew, although that was to be expected. War was war, and the founding families were the ones who knew the dangers that they presented to each other the best.

That rider was impressive indeed he acknowledged as he saw his strength with the master’s clairvoyance. Yet to simply be strong was not enough as the defeat of Saber proved. Perhaps it was his own failing as a master, perhaps not. In the end he did not think too much of it, and even the loss of a command seal, of the greatest symbol of Roland’s legend, his sword which granted him his class container did not bother him too much.

For he knew that his servant was a hero, a servant whose essence was in struggling against hardship. Wallowing in despair, pining over the losses of his recent time in the modern age. It was nothing that he could be begrudged. He had suffered much, he had gained little. Yet…

He did not think it would simply end there, in moping. In jealousy, in regret.

Even as he clapped his disciple on the shoulder with a firm pat while looking to the servants, Til listened. “Hideyoshi, I’m glad you are well. I went to your manor during the fire, and picked up a few things you left behind. Unfortunately I did not find you there, but in the end it all ended before I could ask if I could be of use to the Second Owner.” A wistful sigh came out from him, the man simply lamenting that he could do little for the tragedy. Yet he was not held down. Nor should Saber.

"I am without my sword." He said, before turning to his fellow Saber. "And for once, I have no clear future. How exciting. What a glorious thing to add to my story when I conquer the odds."

And when he heard Saber, no, Roland’s words, Til could only smile. Indeed he picked a man who embodied the west, always marching forward.

A man led the way, but a horse marched and strode forth. A servant of the past would open the path to the future but a modern man would have to walk that path. Together they would journey, together they would arrive to what awaited them. Was that not the essence of the Journey to the West? Of their pact?

There was a wise enlightened monk who had traveled west with a number of companions. His (her) fate was in their hands, and their fate was swept along by the journey and the quest of the monk.

Was a master and servant not like that?

“It occurs to me that I have never met the Einzbern. Of the old lord Matou, and of their current representative in the war I know and have met. But never have I met the creations from Germany, the ones who are made and visit for the war.”

He did not lament their purpose. But he found himself curious. He had met familiars here and there, but he had never met a homunculus, an artificial life-form in the shape of a man that could serve in such an independent function.

Or perhaps to call them independent was a mistake to begin with? Something about them, with what he had been told… Well, it was hard to form an opinion as of now.

“I would indeed like to meet her.” were his simple words.

Words that he directed to the Rider that had given Roland a gift. “Yet before that I must thank you. Sometimes there are those who do not know of what else the world holds, or where to walk the path. That is why friends and teachers exist. I am a practitioner and traveler. As such I will thank you in food and stories! Perhaps as a test I shall have my disciple recite some of them also.” Then he suddenly sighed. “Stepping stones, perhaps in a sense one could call the lineage of magi and of dojos to be like that as well. Yet there are no kings among us of the present. Saber and I shall climb together. But for that to happen…” He may have to tap upon that knowledge. He had meant to test himself as a practitioner of that path, of martial arts. For he had accepted the duty of pursuing that from Tohsaka Nagato.

Yet…

Despite his mask covering his face to Hideyoshi it was clear the turmoil that his mentor was dealing with, the dilemma, the matter of pride, or rather respect and his straight-forward path. Yet what was the most respectful path to tread at this point? Tilpo looked to Hideyoshi, head nodded in acknowledgement. The man had lost much, and carried a great burden despite being a youth. But he would hold, he would withstand it. He was trained, but training could only improve upon that which existed in the first place.

He had his faiths, he had his hopes as any teacher had. But what then were his hopes for his servant, of the war?

There are stories, tales meant to entertain. Then there were the meanings to the stories, or rather the effect that the stories should hold. Like the meaning of runes, the mysteries of stories, the crystalization of legends.

A story is told for many reasons.

But a story should have an effect on people, on the world.

Were servants not the proof of that? Til was a man who continued to see the world, to see stories. He told stories but he had not truly created nor woven a truly great story.

He wished to go west. He wished to go west like those Conquistadors who discovered a new world. From there they brought riches and new things of wonder to the world of the west. To those who lived in that western world. To those like his ancestors they visited upon them crimes, suffering, terrible things. Yet wondrous things appeared.

Because they were told that the world was larger than the one they saw.

The world was large. Asia, America, Europe! Antarctica! The moon, the galaxies! His heart swelled in jealousy and joy that he could learn of so many things that exist in the world, and that he could only see so little of it.

He was a teacher, yet he was an infant compared to these heroic spirits. Yet Roland did not look down upon him. Together they traveled a world different from the one they grew up in, and together they will fight.

Ah, it was not yet time for him to weave his own story of the west. Or so he thought. But he felt something strange. There was something for him to meet, or rather, someone. The spirits in his mask swam, attracted and almost bent in the face of a spirit much greater than all of them. If a servant was equal to thousands of human souls, then the one who roamed this forest was indeed a heroic spirit of horses.

He had raised a hand, without thinking to Rider whether it would be an insult to treat him in such a way and began to speak “What do you enjoy eating? Do you enjoy eating italian? Japanese? Dutc-...”

He looked towards the outskirts and let out a loud whinny. The sound was not that of a man, but that of a beast, a horse.

There was another legend he had to meet.

Alright, good, that had been dealt with. Archer was hardly a fan of the 'divine punishment' angle in most cases, but come on, when someone did something like that, there was something of a code that he had to stick to. Besides, if people just thought they could mess with the manager of a bar, how did that reflect on the bar as a whole?

Well, regardless, hopefully that kid would have learned his lesson, assuming he survived. Archer had gone pretty easy on the kid; nothing too excessive, just a minor recreation of Pentheus's story, so if the kid was able to handle himself well enough and had a bit of luck, he ought to be able to survive. Assuming he did, he'd hopefully have learned the lesson of not trying to push Archer around. Assuming he didn't...well, that was just how these things went.

It'd probably be best that he kept a tab on the kid and the Servant both, though, for the time being.

With that matter attended to and in need of another drink, Archer turned to reenter his bar, only to pause.

He saw it.

No, before he saw it, he felt it.

No, before he felt it, he saw it.

The Servant turned in the moment before a comet descended on his territory, rounding about to face the new arrival. Even if the spiritual foundation and the hair were not dead giveaways in their own right, there was only one Servant who boasted that degree of speed.

"Ah..."

He'd been dreading this, truth be told. After all, while Archer himself had few issues with Troy, to many of his students, those walls represented 'Hell itself'. The place that they and their friends were met with death, the place that they and their friends devoted their lives to shattering.

Well, no matter.

Still standing outside the bar, facing Achilles head-on even as he let out that guttural scream, Archer spoke up in response.

"There's no mud in ya face, Ach. He ain't here, and neither's the girl. Remember rule numbah twenty-two: restraint. Clear ya head, don't be a fuckin' dick, capisce?"

In the face of a Servant who could be called an unquestioned contender for the strongest being in this current war, Archer's demeanor didn't change in the slightest. If anything, he seemed more exasperated than anything else. Achilles always had a temper on him, after all, but there were ways of dealing with that.

Being responsible for nearly the entirety of one's childhood traumas gave a litany of options, after all.

Building a Friend-ship and perhaps forming the most dangerous alliance ever set foot on the land of the rising sun.

Ratface stood there in silence, menacingly, being grotesque as it can be and listened to the threats and condition the overprotective Navy girl demanded her master's safety. Respectable, A smart move on their part. The king of rats wouldn't have it any other way that their potential ally is no fool when it comes to this kind of deals.

"Now, now, Admiral, your little master is right, there's no need for such hostility, you have all the right to be suspicious and you have the utmost leverage in this situation, my messenger being surrounded by your armed men states the obvious," Piper said through his hivemind carrier.

"you are fierce as your legend says, I like you.." Ratface says, contorting its void-like face, forming a disturbing smile out of its rats figure and rubbing his grimy hands together, staring blankly at the navy servant.

"and yet, that fierceness blinds you for seeing the bigger picture here" Ratface immediately frowns and turns his sight to her master, the one who is more open-minded of the two. She isn't super uptight like her servant in uniform, so maybe she can be reasoned with Piper's proposal.

"Forgive my grotesques looks, my looks or what I choose what to look like isn't important, sometimes the best of help comes in the form of the unpleasant ones." He answered, turning his attention and slowly walks towards the homunculi girl.

"Think about it, little one, with your ship's raw firepower and my coordination and network of familiar, we'll be unstoppable. My rats are quick, my rats are nimble, they talk to me, whisper me secrets from all over Japan, Perhaps these secrets and information can be shared with a friend, if she truly wishes...Especially hunting down these culprits from Ruler's message" He playfully smiled and continues.

"In other words, I'll be your eyes on the land, You'll be my weapon at the sea. I point, you shoot.. our alliance goes together like PB&J" The rat figure pitching his proposal, circling around her, making her think about the benefits of partnering with the King of Rats.

"As for your condition, it seems we come to a compromise and this deal is good as it gets, Its a shame tho, it may not be 'practical' but My master is an old-fashioned formal man and likes this kind of stuff, treating his guests like kings and whatnot, Master will not be pleased about this.. But you're right, safety is more important than formality" Rat-face sighed.

"Very well, It can't be help, I shall accompany this mask upon your request, little one" Rat-face extends his arms and grab dirty vagrant like-mask with his grimy hands like some sort of beach ball, scrutinizing it inch by inch. 'What a strange object' said the Figure made entirely out of rats.

"This mask will be your representative, and as for i for my master, I think that's reasonable and fair," Rat face said letting go of the mask and let it float about, giving it a pat on the head before speaking again.

"Very well, I shall receive further instructions from my master, what i've said earlier in my proposal is mine alone, but think about it and keep an open communication.." Ratface said before facing the edge of the rails of the ship, preparing to leap into the waters.

"Come Ted, you know how to swim right?"

@Paradox Witch@MrCellophane@Seirei No Hai

A low giggle left the homunculus as the rat-thing voiced its reply, rocking her weight back and forth on her heels before nodding when it had finally finished. "Oh, don't worry, I'm on the same page. Familiar network combined with pinpoint bombardment? Beautiful. If you're able to put a stranglehold on supplies coming in through the rails like I am with the ships, we're also able to cut off outside help. And that's not to mention extra stuff like magecraft synergies; looking at these rats of yours, I have a proposal in mind that you might be interested in..."

She crossed her arms behind her head, giving Shaytanea a coy glance that would have sent a shiver down the mask's spine if she had a spine to begin with.

"But I'll leave that for a bit later, after Ted's gotten to your place and you've chatted with your Master on the matter, 'kay? I'll just say that I'm interested, and we can work out the specific terms of everything once we've checked that your Master's on-board. Sorry about not being willing to stick around on the mainland. If it's any consolation, though, I've got some masks with my personality in 'em. I could have one sit at a dinner table and all, even if it's not quite the same, ehe~"

"But yeah, especially after everything that happened last night, I'm just not willing to take the risk of heading out and then getting smashed by literal Achilles or something. We indirect types've gotta stick to our advantages, right?"

As the rat-thing grabbed Ted without warning, though, the mask shifted around in its grasp, its face contorting in disgust. "H-Hey, Boss Lady, can you tell this thing to let go of me?"

"Now, now, Ted~ That's no way to talk to your new friend. Be polite. You're representing me, so I don't want any of your usual shenanigans. Best behavior, that's an order~"

When he was released, Ted shot the rat-thing a grimace, muttering something to himself about bleach. Regardless, he didn't have much room to deny an order from Carly-Beth, and so moved to disembark from the ship as the rat-thing did. At the mention of swimming, he shook his head, which looked somewhat amusing given that his head was his entire body.

"...I'll just float, bud. Lead the way."

And so, the mask and rats took their leave.

Strategist kept sternly silent as Carly-Beth and Piper's rat-contraption consulted together over the Servant's proposal. A part of her was inwardly surprised that this here-to unknown Servant had been able to gauge so much about her in less then a day, yet neither of them had even met before. If Piper had spies or some kind of familiar that was keeping tabs on them, then the Servant inwardly feared that key information about her, her Master and this ship is now already compromised. She will need to begin to take contingency steps to prevent another such security breach from happening again, starting with swatting down any spy-familiar she or her Master spotted.

She kept her eyes on Rat Face and the now-dispatched mask of Carley's as the pair disembarked, mindful of the trio of her ship's 76mm swivel guns that their crews trained on them until they were out of sight. The phantasmal Admiral cleared her throat once their passengers were out of earshot and added sardonically, "Not too sorry to see that Caster's puppet gone, Master. I was almost afraid that those rats would decide to start getting into every nook and cranny here and begin to break things."

She let out a breath. "Still, given that Caster's proposal and the fact we now know we've been spied on, we'll need to accelerate our plans. I've a couple of ideas already of how we can do so." The Strategist, starting to become 'geed up' to the looming prospect of involvement within this conflict, didn't even bother waiting for Carly's yay or nay, launching right into her summarisation.

"Firstly, I've consulted with my officers early this morning and we are in accord that we'll need to take control of the area's key harbor. Not only can we use this as a launching point for any operation, but it can also allow us to commandeer any ship entering or berthed there; I can then 'repurpose' each and every one into either armed Q-Ships or possibly even new warships that can match the power of this one." She stamped her right boot against the deck of 'Dreadnought' once to emphasise her point.

"Secondly, I think it'd be best if we attempted to make overtures to each of the three founding magus families and other organisations in this area. While I think our Hamelin Piper's offer is tempting, it wouldn't behoove us well if we've stabbed in the back, or if we find ourselves on the wrong side of the war. Gaining at least one of the major families' backing - or even an alliance of mutual aid - would be of significant benefit with us." She clicked her tongue. "The issue is: which of the three would be appropriate for us to make overtures towards - the Makiri, the Tohsaka - who are, if I recall, the 'owners' of this area of Imperial Japan - or the von Eizenberns?"

Drawing on what information she had gained from the Throne of Heroes, Strategist quietly mulled to herself on the latter question.

At a glance, the Eizenbern family would make the most sense to Strategist, with a millennium's worth of magical experience, their status as one of the three families that drove the creation of the Holy Grail War system and rumors of their capabilities. That said, Strategist's instinctive mistrust of any family that may have even tenuous links to the hostile Imperial Germany rankled with her; even if the von Eizenberns had forsook all allegiances to their homeland, how could she trust them without her prejudices getting in the way?

The Tohsaka family, with their status as the Second Owners of this patch of Imperial Japan, came up second. While the second arm in the Triad of Founding Families and - officially - the Family responsible for overseeing that the War was conducted 'properly', they was still a relative unknown. Little had been heard of them yet within the War and Strategist did not have a full appraisal, seen from her 'own time', as to what this family of Magi might ultimately become. Still, having the backing of the Second Owners could be beneficial and could allow them to operate in Japan with slightly less restrictions.

Finally, if the Tohsaka were unknowns, then the Makiri family completely eluded Strategist's thoughts. The third arm of the Founding Triad had been relatively secretive and, outside of rumors regarding their speculative specializations (some of which ranged from unusual to unpleasant) and mutterings of an unknown 'decline', nothing about them seemed to cross Strategist's mind. The Makiri were, in a word, a complete enigma. Still, if one gets backed into that corner ...

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, inclining her chin to her Master as she patiently waited for her input.

@floodtalon@Reflection@Scallop@Yukitamas@Kyoka@Froppy

---

Suzaku wondered what it would be like to have a sane Servant. One who actually listened to reason. One who didn't threaten an already-tenuous alliance with what could only be described as absolute fucking psychosis.

He supposed it must be nice. Shame he'd never experience it himself.

He sighed again, lighting up a rare cigarette as he inspected the schematics he'd drawn up for his newest model of draugr. As if losing two arms in as many days wasn't bad enough, Tesla had actually brought back the contemptible woman who'd inflicted said injuries to their doorstep. Proclaiming, of all things, that he was in love with her. He... still couldn't quite wrap his head around that. Was this normal courtship in his time? Evisceration? If that was the direction the future was headed, may he die before ever growing old.

He'd pondered using a Command Seal to order Tesla to kill the demon while she was unconscious and hungover (and what a feat it was, getting a fucking Oni drunk), but that was counterproductive to the extreme. Sure, it would eliminate the issue at hand, and prevent any further issues regarding the purple-haired Oni, but it would also leave Tesla resentful. Perhaps even murderous. And between his capability at Independent Action, and his ability to absorb mana from mundane energies, there wasn't much incentive to not kill him, should he decide Suzaku had worn out his welcome.

On the meagerly-bright side, should he be able to rein in the woman's homicidal impulses... perhaps we have yet another powerful ally to assist us. He bit down slightly on the cigarette in his mouth, trying to rein in his own frustrations. A very large if, but the difference between madness and genius is success rate. I've trusted him so far, and it's all worked out... marginally well. This will just require more vigilance than ever before...

He would've continued this tangent, had his metaphysical senses not suddenly taken a blow from a sledgehammer. He physically recoiled from the feedback from whatever ritual had been cast. While he was still reeling from that, however, something even worse started to happen. Something... started to move. His eyes widened in shock as he jolted from his workbench, dashing for the upper levels of the church where the rest of the group waited.

"Tesla! Xerxes! Ludwig! Everyone!! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!"

Shaking his head slightly, Christopher realized that the brown shapes he had presumed to have been wooden buildings. Well, that was embarrassing, and visiting that mysterious pub would have to wait for later.

Reorienting himself, he registered Avenger’s question.

“Visiting the Einzberns” was in all likelihood a loosely veiled euphemism for burning down their residence and perhaps the rest of the forest surrounding them. Which probably was not a great idea in all respects, especially since Dido seemed to have been… more erratic, after absorbing some of that cursed fire. Considering the magical strength of the Children of Nature, the homunculi most likely would have summoned an immensely capable Servant, which would be troublesome to deal with, especially if the Einzberns were on guard from the fire. This warranted some scouting before

Well, wasn’t that their purpose for heading out today in the first place? Goodness, it was late, but late was still better than never.

“Not quite yet,” Christopher spoke. “Since we are now in the forest, it would be prudent to investigate the occurrences of the previous two nights, like we had originally planned. Unusual lights and explosions are hardly out of place in a battle between Heroic Spirits, but the fact that they occurred in a single place twice is something worth noting. I would prefer to observe the scene before we take any more… aggressive options.”

Tilting his head a bit as he spoke, a new thought popped into his mind. It was a little out there, but…

“Perhaps we may even catch some hints on what may have turned the fire into what it became, Avenger. The Einzberns are certainly candidates for the cursed blaze. They have the motive, considering that their two most dangerous rivals, the Tohsakas and the Matous, reside in the Foreigner’s District, where the fire began. While cursecraft is out of favor in the Clock Tower, if the flames were altered in some fashion, the means certainly resides within the hands of the Einzberns. They have had years to prepare for this ritual, and alchemy at its most basic is the changing, maturation, and refinement of an entity. And they were safe outside of the city, deep into this forest, with an undoubtedly powerful Servant to protect them. This, of course, could simply be incorrect theorycrafting, but it gives all the more reason to investigate the area first before returning it to whence it came from.”
@UndyingRegret

Gin yawned, making his way into the bar with a half-empty bottle of wine. He looked ragged and... almost dead, having spent most of the night practicing his magecraft with Baba to little avail. As a matter of fact, from the lack of sleep he's had, he seems to have lost most of the information he was supposed to retain. Stuffing the bottle of wine in the hands of one of the passing waiters, he shuffled towards the bar, unknowingly leaving a small trail of talismans on the way there. It seems that Gin had even forgot they were in his now torn pocket.

"Yo, Donnie! Make me one of those Long Island teas, the ones with the ice in 'em," Gin waved to Donnie, pulling a stool out and taking a seat, "and, uh, what was going on? I heard a loud scream from outside." Gin scratched his head as he began to think of the possibilities. If it weren't for that terrifying shout that had just happened outside the bar, Gin would've been asleep until the evening. It isn't like anything important would've happened before then, anyway. Gin isn't the brightest when it comes to things like how the war works, but he does know it would be absolutely stupid to attack a Greek God in their own territory, anyway. In any case, he just shrugged and rested his head on the bar, cradling it with his arms as he awaited his drink.

---

Rider's smile only grew larger as Saber mentioned his uncle. It gave him just a brief idea on his identity, enough to where he's easily reminded of his own knights. Saber was not one of his knights, that is for certain, but the tales of a great king and his team of loyal knights is one that is both famous and consists of many variations. In any case, Rider felt like he also developed a sort of kinship with his newfound allies, and he could only hope he'll fight alongside them in the future. As for Saber's equine Master, he also seemed like someone that would make an interesting conversationalist. His views on progression and moving forward are ones that are aligned with Rider's own, having ushered the Age of Man in his kingdom with his own hands. Rider feels that he will have a deeper conversation with this man when he returns. For now, though....

"Miss Sophia is actually pleasant company if you don't mind her... habits. I will be leaving, for now, seeking those responsible for the fire. Perhaps I might find the one who had stolen your sword, and even your sword arm, Saber." Rider began to slowly turn into the stuff of spirits, whisking away in a shower of blue lights. Before he completely faded away, however, he turned, once again, to the man with the horse for a head.

"My companion is on his way here, mister Tlilpojuan. He is a much better conversationalist than I... I can tell you will take a liking to him."

And so, Rider had apparently vanished in spiritual form, making his way to Miyama. He wished to find information on what had happened in the city and, more importantly, who or what caused the fire. Indeed, while he wasn't particularly searching for a fight just yet, the obvious challenge in the form of fires in the sky did entice Rider to head in that direction, first...

With Rider's departure, the sound of hooves approaching the compound followed. If one were to turn and look in the direction, they would clearly see it; a mighty black stallion adorned in armor similar to Rider's, along with an excitable beagle riding atop the steed. As soon as the horse met its gaze with what had appeared to be another as great as itself, it let out an enthusiastic neigh. It had finally came across another that it could explain it to...

---

Tracking the source of the fireworks down, Rider had found himself in a rather strange place. It was a lively grove in the middle of the wasteland that is now Miyama. The cursed blaze that had consumed much of the city had grown to such massive proportions that it would cause the destruction of half of Fuyuki... except it wasn't the blaze that caused this widescale destruction. A shining comet, an entire world, crashed directly into the blaze, snuffing much of the flame out. What had followed was a mighty tempest that seemed to have healed the damage done to the land. It was these turn of events that had caused Miyama to be reclaimed by the wild...

... but that doesn't explain why that grove is here. Naturally, Miyama should have been nothing but flatland and rubble. Nature doesn't reclaim its land until weeks, even months later. No, it had to be the work of Magecraft. Especially because it had grown overnight, Rider assumed this was either the territory of a Caster, or at least a competent Master. Walking straight into enemy territory would be suicide, had Rider not be blessed with such a strong resistance to magic. Luckily, for him, dragons blood runs strongly through his veins.

Rider decided to stride forward, past the gates, despite the fact that he was entering into fresh enemy territory. It was because this territory was created after the two events of mass destruction that made Rider so interested in it, so keen in making his way in. The creator of this territory must know what had happened in Miyama, the night before, and could perhaps also give him an idea of who the culprits were. Taking a deep breath, Rider began to shout his declarations to whoever watched over this sacred grove.

"I am the Rider-class Servant of the Einzbern Master! I have come here in answer to your challenge, and I am willing to accept a bout on one condition! Should I best the Servant who guards this grove in combat, I shall be given information regarding the possible culprits of last night's blaze! I intend to fight with all I have, but I do not wish to spill any blood, if it is not necessary! I only wish for a information as well as a good fight! If my terms are accepted, then I request that the guardian of this sacred place to reveal themself. And if not..."

... Steam exhaled from Rider's nose. He had intended to burn these wooded lands down if he were to be so unjustly ambushed.

A pile of purple silk in the corner shifted and let out an audible grumble as her beloved's loudmouth master stormed in shouting. Roll roll, curl, ears covered, but it was too late. As he exposited the situation upon his team the little berserker in the corner's ability to simple roll over and go back to sleep rapidly diminished. All the pleasant dreams were chased from her head, she was wide awake and disgustingly... Sober.

She stood suddenly, back arching as she stretched and let out a big yawn. Against her will she had collected just enough of the details to form a plan of action. Disturbance. Caster. Miyama. Whatever. After the situation was dealt with surely she could curl drink herself back into napville without fear of any other interruptions... "Mmmnnn... We'll just kill them. Come on..."...With her sweetheart! Who could resist the sleepy grumbly call of the cute little oni?

Well resistance was futile anyways. Come on was not a suggestion, she was already headed towards Tesla with a dopey, sleepy, and markedly dangerous look on her face, like a wild starving animal approaching its prey. She simply shoulder checked him(NOT at full Oni strength) and slung him over her shoulder like a sack of barley. Not a second later she had leapt... CRASH! Straight through the window.

There were no stops on the Shuten Douji line, a prana bursted trip straight to Miyama in just a handful of leaps. Tesla could figure out exactly how he intended to deal with the situation despite his current state on the way there. Shuten had already decided he was the brains of this operation and besides, she was too sober to be thinking that hard. Certainly her sweet heart, a man so mighty as to capture the heart of an oni, had already slept off that minor injury.

And if not, well, there was no shortage of concerned witnesses from Tesla's little alliance that could follow and help smooth things over if they were worried about him.

The back and forth between Master ans Servant proved to be entertaining to say the least, the Persian Master did not fail to reply in his retort as he continued to diagnose Tesla. Symptoms in spades he did indeed have, awkward reaction times, thick blood, possibly arsenic poisoning. Strong arsenic poisoning too if it could affect a Servant, meaning it had to be Servant level poisoning. Tesla quickly downed the tea, his face grimacing as he reminded himself that this was in fact for his own good. Tea will be a thing of the past within the next century, just like coffee, he had said so in his first life and he would stick to his guns all the way into this one. He quickly ran through the various feelings he had felt last night with clinical precision, pausing once he reached the worst part of his little float down the river. "There was something very dangerous in the river. Something which would terrify any man in their right mind, Servant included. It could only be described as a... Monster." The capital M was clear to anyone listening, this was something which surpassed even his love next to him. Something indescribable. But Tesla did his best regardless.

He was then asked what kind of Servant could possibly poison him with Arsenic, which immediately sent Tesla into the Throne of Heroes's database to try and find a culprit. Unfortunately there were many many heroes with Arsenic as a part of their legend, Assassins mostly but there was the occasional Caster mixed in here and there. There had to be something to narrow it down somewhat, some part of his poisoning last night that was unique compared to every other arsenic poisoner. It was then that it hit him, what exactly had poisoned him. "The river... I was poisoned by the river itself... That could only leave-" His train of thought was interrupted as Suzaku burst into the room.

"Tesla! Xerxes! Ludwig! Everyone!! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!"

---

A problem indeed, what Suzaku described could only be a Caster claiming a major leyline for themselves. Of course the first one who came to mind was the one he was currently aligned with, which could only mean bad things for the city. A groan came from purple darling in the corner and Tesla repressed a groan. Speaking of bad things for the city. "Mmmnnn... We'll just kill them. Come on..." Well it was a simple plan that left a lot to build on, but it was a sound- Tesla grunted as Shuten shoulder checked the scientist, away from his injured side thankfully, and slung him over her shoulder. Well, maybe he would have a chance to convince her to let him go before she reached the door. His eyes followed her sight line as best as he could, another groan rumbling from his chest as they burst through the window.

Well, it was time to formulate a plan now. He needed to take care of this Caster quickly and efficiently, he was still recovering from injuries and didn't want to put too much stock in Xerxe's supposed miracle tea. Even if it could heal him completely, there was absolutely no guarantee it would do so instantly, so he didn't want to get into a prolonged battle with lots of movement which could aggravate his wounds. Well, looks like it's time to tell Shuten who he was. She wouldn't mind, as long as he put up a good fight she would continue to love him most likely. Hmm, Oni love was quite strange, but it really made perfect sense for a species so focused on chaos. They landed at the edge of what used to be Miyama, Tesla quickly getting to work as the mortar cannons atop the Church emerged once more. The bombardment began quickly, firing at the bounded field's edge nearest to them to try and crack it open like an egg. He was only going to get one shot at this, so it needed to count. Tesla put his monocle on, his vision growing sharper as he stared at the Bounded Field and prepared for the first strike.

He looked at Shuten with a very serious gaze, yet a hint of mischief lied in his eyes. "If I recall correctly your greatest rival was the scion of Minamoto correct? She wielded lightning, which is why you mistook me for her that first night. Allow me to show you what true lightning is." With that statement he inclined his head slightly, a clear sign for Shuten to back away lest she wish to be caught in the descent of the gods. "Now let my legend be known." Tesla planted his feet into the ground firmly, staring at the Bounded Field to determine the exact moment to begin. It was then, a crack rang out as yet another bolt of lightning fell upon the barrier. It was then that his Mana flared.

---

It could only be described as the second coming of the god of thunder and lightning. Time and space bent as Tesla flung himself forwards, the energy that had collected within him releasing and obliterating everything in it's path. If the day before had signaled a world falling upon the cursed blaze, this could only be considered a galaxy. Something with so much weight, that it distorted anything around it. This was the legend that changed humanity, which began the Age of Human Innovation. It was all the power that would ever be generated, all the power that had ever been generated, every flash of lightning that had ever struck the Earth and every engine which would ignite and propel humanity forwards. It was Alaya's cry, it was the cry of all men and women. It was devastating.

Anything in it's path, anything which even tried to block the beam of energy would be annihilated. If a bullet had someone's name on it, this could only be a letter to anything even remotely in the area. It was a dislocation of time and space, turning everything around it into raw particles. Legends would be told about Miyama for centuries to come, about how the day after the greatest storm to ever be witnessed passed, an even greater bolt of lightning struck the land. It was Susanoo himself returning for just one last potshot, to make sure the land of the gods was never touched again.

@Cu Chulainn @Dosthou

For a time he had simply lied there. Resting. There was no need for a servant to sleep, to eat, to rest. Yet there were things that he saw, things that he had done. His body figuratively ached, even if the memory of that battle was only in his mind. It was a conflict to burn itself into the very core of the young hero.

The Lancer that returned to Hamel, covered in ash and mud was not the same one as the one who left the swamp for a frivolous desire. He was taller, and perhaps more sullen.

Well, at the least staring up into the sky that seemed to hold no hint of the malice and tragedy that had been visited upon the land yesterday the neutral expression of Percival simply took in the world instead of acting out in his strange manner for once.

It was in a sense a beautiful day if one did not consider the deaths in Miyama. The Red Knight, Ither had made sure of that.

That man had come here too, huh? Well.

His words were unkind, yet not undeserved perhaps. Unlike many others they did not quite strike the boy so cleanly. But rather they were words that stuck to what had happened, that mixed in with the memories of the day before. Under the weight of those two things even his ignorant mentality found itself pressed down, forced to listen. In a sense it was an introduction of something that was not within Percival to begin with. A heroic spirit, a servant was a fixed existence but...

A world had ended, a world had been born. With the flames and clash came the simple end of many stories, of lives. It was an utmost tragedy. It could have been worse. But perhaps if he had used his armor earlier that man would have come quicker. What an event to burn into one's very soul.

But confronting that great hero.

Crossing his own fists with ruler.

After being saved by Ruler the man who protected the Grail War walked off, no doubt with many new things to do in the wake of the incident being finished.

Despite his body not holding any of the wounds he felt the touch of the man’s iron-like body and his full presence as he was acknowledged.

Some encounters would burn into one’s core. Perhaps in a sense he had been damaged from that fight, from that fire. His spiritual core was fluctuating, growing unstable. Which experience was the one that effected him most?

Ah, someone came. It was a man he shouldn’t fight, a man he probably could not beat. But he already fought someone even more like that. In a sense that man matched that great hero as a monsterslayer, but as a hero… Well, to compare anyone to Ruler was unfair.

With a "hup!", Percival leapt to his feet, flowers scattering as he rushed to the entrance with a smile. “I’m Lancer. That sounds fine to me. Why don’t we play?”

Some things perhaps didn’t change. The kid was still just a kid no matter what sins were visited upon him.

Troilus sat huddled in the middle of the central keep, trying to distract himself with the scattered toys surrounding him. It was difficult to remain calm, knowing what was stalking Fuyuki, the darkness outside of those walls. But this place was somewhere the war didn’t exist, a place that repelled such things. The walls of Troy, that had repelled over a decade of assault from those forces, would surely hold against the dangers this war had to offer.

But still, he couldn’t shake the fear that gnawed at him. Even after Troilus’ own death, how many of his brothers had that man killed? How many of his friends, people he saw every day in the city streets, had met their ends at the point of his spear? There were names he knew, names he could put to faces and names he couldn’t. Too many to process. The masses of people that he’d killed, corpses enough to stain a river with blood-



He was here.

Pleading with him was impossible. Death cannot be reasoned with.

Running from him was impossible. Death cannot be outrun.

Fighting him was impossible. Death cannot be outfought.

The only thing he could do was hide behind those walls that had repelled him before, and hope. Troilus curled into a ball, and whimpered.

“Hmm. Well that didn’t work out like I expected.” Jack mused as he held the blade Durandal in his hands, a spoil of the night before. Stolen from hands of virtue, with the honor of a thief. Snorting at the overblown ideas of honor, he tossed the blade back into his bag. A jaunt and a secondhand chair at the Round Table and part of him thought he held to the ideals of chivalry. Of course not.

Picking up Ruler’s letter, he reads the words and frowns. The culprit of the flames. The words of the Matou Master to his had revealed some troubling truths. There was another who was already going around wearing the face of either himself or his master, a culprit for an unknown crime that had offended the Matous personally, enough that they would easily believe that he had instigated or worsened the fire. It was common enough for a well-known criminal to have his name used by scores of lesser scum in the hopes that riding the coattails of a legend would let them more easily threaten and intimidate others or set false standards to be viewed as.

But to take the name of another before they were known? Either it was a targeted smear campaign, or another party was simply committing atrocities under a false guise in order to protect themselves from the fallout. So it would require another servant with the capability to transform into others, or trick outside viewers to see them as someone else. Nobody fit that bill. Not right now.

There were too many thoughts running through his mind. Looking out, an unexpected sight causes him to blink. Brilliant lights flash in the sky, before fading out.

“Hey Master! I’ll go visit our helpers from last night. I think they’d be open for an alliance. We’ve got a gigantic target on our back right now, thanks to Ruler and likely Matou. I think you should come along to stay safe. Better by my side, wouldn’t you say? We should also search for others we can target on the way.

Besides, who knows who we could run into?”

Queen of Carthage
Forest Outskirts, Near Foreign District/Miyama

Avenger frowned for a moment as she processed her master's words before a calmer look settled onto her face and she looked back to her master. She had let herself get out of hand and the best she could offer was a somewhat apologetic smile for her behavior.

"I'm sorry Master, you're right. I had forgotten why we came out here in the first place. I guess I got a little caught up in all the fun." With that she gestured back towards the remains of Miyama.

Avenger looked about, looking for signs of other servants, but not seeing any.

"We should head over to where we saw those lights the other night and see if we can learn anything new, in that case. We should be careful though, I can only assume the Einzbern servant won't show themself if we don't intrude, seeing as they haven't appeared to challenge us yet. However, it would be bad if they took us by surprise so close to their territory."
@BlueHelix
--------------------------------------------------------------

Workshop, Newly Occupied House, Southern Moor

Lilith was beginning to grow bored of the house. There just wasn't much fun to be had here, and hiding from the other masters didn't leave her much in the way of options for "resource" gathering. She would need to leave and interact with the others, now that the basic preparations were done.

Assassin had her own experiments to run and the plan to win the grail war was already in motion, so Lilith doubted she would have an escort on her trips, but that was something she'd just have to deal with. Her servant had responsibilities, things that she would just get in the way of or...well, she didn't feel comfortable around that one thing.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask, so Lilith settled down to await her servant's return.
@DostHou

@Paradox Witch @Breo

“Of course I didn’t just plan on letting anyone who comes here not fall. Whether they be Master or Servant, I am sure they are nothing to our power. I’ll leave the heavy lifting to you though.”

It was likely not too much of a boast by either party. Achilles was the greatest hero of the Trojan wars, and Benita was designed to claim victory in a Holy Grail War.

“Good plan, Lancer. I shall inform you when I need you once more,“ Benita said, honestly believing for that moment that her Servant did not have an ulterior motive of simply goofing off. Perhaps it didn’t truly matter. The project would continue onward regardless of her Servant, and it was not as if she was worried for the moment of any actions against her. Even if her opponents managed to beat past her defenses, her’s were not the only thing someone should worry about …

“I expect an account of your findings after you return.”

It was very unlikely that Achilles would have any sort of detailed report he would share with his Master, but even something as simple as “I saw a Servant here” was still information she could use to better plan in the upcoming Grail War.

For whatever reason, this calm felt like the beginning before a giant storm. There had been no casualties Benita had found in this war. Perhaps they were merely playing some sort of game, as her own Servant was, but considering the record of engrained upon herself, aside from the civilian population, this war seemed to divulge from previous bloody conflicts. If it were her own assertion, it would be that the total number of participants might have caused pacivity in the general magi within this war. After all, the daughter of her own master had formed an alliance with several others prior to the loss of contact with her. Therefore, one could assert solely based on this there were other factions vying for supremacy in this war.

Maybe Benita should have sent a familiar to check for Reiki’s whereabouts?

If she was truly the offspring of her Master, she was likely fine. Though the house was flattened, Benita had to weigh the consequences of her actions to the potential damage of such a catastrophe that could have wiped an entire city and its population from the face of the earth, maybe even spreading beyond that, all because a bunch of people couldn’t figure out how to work a fire extinguisher. In her drunken state, her intentions might have been diluted, but she was still someone who was born to “save the world”, and as such pragmatic, instantaneous choices must always be enacted before something becomes worse. She was not a “savior” in this case, but losing a leg is always better than allowing the leg to infect the body.

It was not a choice she would have gladly made if she was not under the influence of drunkenness, but it would have been one she made nonetheless.

That was when Benita heard the knock at the door. And with that knock came a presence, both pleasant and placid in demeanor, seemed to convey a sort of familial bond of sorts; as if he believed Benita to be some sort of equal in his eyes.

And perhaps it was impotent of his actions to equate himself to Benita in this regard. If Benita was the foreman, this “man” was the coordinator. He was the arms and legs to ensure that the project was going to plan and that Benita was not in the way of the construction project, as she had previously. A hefty job for such a soothing “individual”.

“I currently have the time to look over those plans, though I will presume your input would be notable in forwarding the project to its natural conclusion. For that, you have my gratitude; for both you and your master.”

If anything, even if at times she would solely act upon impulsive behavior, Benita was not the sort to disregard the assistance of another.

If it came down to it, and “that man” and she had their differences, Benita would take it upon herself to deal with him to the best of her ability, but so long as they were partners if only for the venture of this project, she would honor her dealings. As she hoped a merchant would honor his own.

“As for that which both your master and I had discussed prior, you may call upon him now if you wish. I am willing to make this transaction any time he is availabl-”

That was when there was a huge explosion outside.

“Can’t I get a moment’s break?” Benita aloud, though it was clear it was not directed at Strauss’ management consultant. After all, this city was destroyed once over. It was likely that it would continue to be destroyed if the first two days were any indication of the level of destruction a Greater Holy Grail War, unsupervised by either the Mages’ Association nor the Holy Church, could reach in a short period of time. It appeared that within viewing distance, a Noble Phantasm had been activated.

… Well, viewing distance might as well be considered the entire flatlands, as, besides her construction project, there were no buildings left in the area. At least she could gain some information using clairvoyance.

Of course, with this level of destruction, perhaps they would eventually show up to supervise this war.

Until then, the participants were dogs without horses.

---

It had been a good day. At first. Vlado- his first and most faithful disciple- had been making great strides in his training. Franziska was, even now, hunting down the defilers that had unleashed that cursed blaze upon the city. The "Igors" had production in full swing, and his creations were learning by leaps and bounds- an advantage granted by his summoning. Yes, indeed, things had been going well.

And then some upstart prick fired off some sort of psychosis backlash through the connection Vlado had to the New Lifer he'd been... commandeering, and the entire workshop was going to pot. Within the small part of his mind that was not consumed by the corrupting berserker effect, Victor was... well, still enraged, but at least he was capable of being rational about it. He watched helplessly through the haze of red over his vision as his body betrayed him and again lashed out at his disciple. It pained him to do so, especially with how, surprisingly, the boy had endeared himself to him. He was a quick study, a talented Magus, and the first person who had ever been possessed of the same passion for his New Life that Victor himself had possessed. Which made it all the more stressing that he was now trying to kill the boy under the effects of this corruption.

He tried to bring himself to turn his attentions elsewhere, but... elsewhere was New Life. And his damned "Obsession" that should have kept him focused now prevented him from turning his violent impulses elsewhere. He could always sacrifice a few Igors to slake this unnatural bloodlust... but they were too far away. The berserker effect was very... precise. Lightning-focused on the nearest victim. Which, sadly, was his disciple.

Victor swore and raged in his mind- if he ever found out who did this to him... if his Master still lived by the end of this nightmare... he would find whoever played this foul trick on them, and roast them alive in their own skins. Oh yes. They would BURN. But first, he had to get away without killing his disciple. Fortunately, he had a backup. He only hoped she would get here in time.

Franziska! Franziska, can you hear me??

Father? Father, what's wrong, you sound--

No time to explain! You must return with all haste, before I do something I cannot correct, or control!!

O-okay, Father. Just hold on, okay? I'll be there soon! Just hold on!!

Victor ground his teeth in rage as his body took another swing at Vlado. Hold on, eh? One could only hope.

Rider raised an eyebrow at the young Lancer's response, having rushed on over so quickly. So there's more than one Lancer in this war, then, Rider thought, to himself, as he observed his opponent carefully. The first thing that Rider noted, aside from his apparent age, was that his opponent looked like some sort of simpleton. Lancer's lance was just some stick that didn't look like anything special, and his attire was just a set of simple robes, a far cry from the exquisite arms of the previous Lancer that he faced. In other words, Rider deducted that his opponent definitely wasn't anyone special. As a matter of fact, Rider was actually annoyed that he was facing a child. His expectations for this war began to sour.

"Very well, then, Lancer. I will 'play' with you, then." Grunting, Rider crossed his arms, not hiding the annoyance on his face. Rider didn't do well with kids. Throughout his adventures, he's had to deal with the children of his allies before, and he hated it. He even threatened to eat them, at one point. Rider's hatred of children has gone so far and beyond that he even avoided having an heir of his own, allowing his dynasty and blood to die with him. The fact that he had been challenged by a child, especially one that looked like a commoner, filled him with anger.

"I came here because I expected a true challenge between heroes, not some trivial nonsense," Rider noted, uncrossing his arms and allowing his shield to manifest in his off-hand, "so unless you'd like to set your own terms for the challenge, Boy Lancer, then I'd rather get this over with so I can be on my way." The next thing to manifest in Rider's hand was an expertly crafted blade, a blade that could be considered as the finest to be ever crafted from a certain bladesmith. Crafted for this particular smith's son to become a knight, if it weren't for its shortened edge, it would indeed be fitting to call this sword worthy of a knight's hands. To Rider, however, he found it quite ironic that he would be using this weapon against this particular Lancer. A commoner challenger deserves to be felled by a commoner's blade, after all.

His rage upon seeing those walls again burned strong — enough to conjure the memories of all those he had lost to them, of his dear friend who had been killed by their foremost defender.

There were a lot of bad memories associated with that place, and for a hero who wore his emotions on his sleeve, it was all too easy to become lost in them. Of course, the knee jerk reaction had been to call out the only man he would have thought able to construct them in the modern era, but. . .

”There’s no mud in ya face, Ach.”

His gaze flickered to the man that had addressed him, not surprised by the knowledge of his identity considering what he had done the night prior so much as confused by the familiarity in the tone. Come to think of it. . .

He was rather sure he had never met this man before, but a nagging feeling on the back of his head. . .

He ignored that for the moment, however. What he had said was true — his foot shifted, slightly, but he did not lower his spear.

There was no way he could have gotten this close to Troy if that guy was around, at least not without paying dearly for every inch of ground, having fallen into a couple dozen pitfalls and gotten more rocks to the back of the head than he cared to admit. The walls might have withstood many assaults, but they alone weren’t even half of the defenses that protected the Trojans from their enemies.

That guy had never been ‘someone who decisively won’, but he had been the sort that ‘simply did not lose’. That made him all the more annoying.

Still, he was not here, and that calmed him somewhat. Seeing his figure combined with the walls themselves would have been enough to make him fly into an actual rage.

If the man was to be believed, ‘that woman’ was not here, either — though that did not matter as much. Achilles was one with his fair share of regrets, and he wished to apologize, yes, but. . .

“She doesn’t worry me as much,” He snorted, though there was no humor in the following smirk. “It’s only the one issue with her, but the circumstances are not right to solve it. I have my own duties — so even if she was here, I would kill her again.”

After all, despite all that had occurred between them, she was not someone he had called ‘comrade’, and despite his regrets over an insult, he would not simply lay down and die.

“I’d be a pretty piss-poor Servant otherwise.”

What had prompted him to share those thoughts, he wondered? Usually, mentions of that girl would at best merit a brusque answer, but the odd sense of familiarity persevered — and his curiosity as to the man’s demeanor grew.

Rule twenty-two. He closed his eyes for a second, feeling a memory swim just out of reach. For some reason, a shiver went down his spine.

Well.

That was also curious.

Regardless, for all that was all well and good, it was clear that the great hero if the Trojan war would not be dissuaded from his course of action so easily — those walls needed to be cracked open and shattered. Perhaps it was an inevitable outcome in this war — after all, regardless of how soundly Achilles declared his hatred of ‘fate’, Heroic Spirits were no more and no less than slaves to their own stories.

However, the other Servant was in the way, and clearly not intent in just letting him walk through for whatever reason. He raised his spear just a touch, pointing it his apparent opponent.

“So, just what’ll you do to stop me if I keep at it, then? You know who I am. Speaking of which. . .”

Looking at the man, examining his features just a bit more closely, Achilles could say. . .

“—just who the hell are you?”

@Paradox Witch

With the departure of Ted and Ratface, Carly-Beth rounded about to face her Servant, shrugging slightly in response. "Sure, that first bit sounds good to me. I'm no naval strategist, so I'll leave the bulk of the planning there to you, since I'd only get in the way. The only thing is that I don't wanna start a full blockade; this is a city that just had a national disaster hit it, it's not worth causing a full blockade, let's just focus on the magic stuff. I'll have Shaytanea work as our scout to check out any incoming ships and make sure we're not going to get caught off-guard by something they've got. I can't imagine anything coming in here is going to have the firepower to take Shaytanea down after the tests I've run on her, so that's prob'ly the best way to go."

At the second proposal Strategist made, though, the homunculus let out a brief hum, face contorting in thought for a good few seconds.

"Well, honestly, it might be better to keep ourselves lean. More alliances means more obligations and more concerns. Besides, we're definitely existences that're 'detrimental to the city', yeah? We've got a chokehold on everything coming into the city by sea, and our new ally can do the same on land. If we reach out to them, not only do we reveal our existence, which I'd rather stay secret until we're ready to bombard some enemies, we play our hand and might not even get much in synergies out of it."

"'Sides, a bigger alliance means we're more safe against a stronger enemy, sure, but there's only one winner in the end. Just complicates matters, if you ask me. The way I see it, we're better off staying out of sight and out of mind until we're ready to crush most of the opposition in one fell swoop."

"But, well, I'm not the one who's named 'Strategist' here, so I could be off on some points, but yeah that's my two cents. What'dya think?"

---

A low laugh left the Bartender as Gin finally returned to the land of the living. He and Archer had been trying to help the young man during last night's teaching session, but sadly it didn't seem to have yielded much in the way of results. No matter, though; Chiron was nothing if not patient.

...although, if he'd just felt what he thought he felt a few minutes earlier, it seemed like someone had managed to do what was ordinarily impossible and actually stoke Chiron's temper. Poor bastard, hopefully Chiron would let them off easy. Besides, from the sound of it, he was dealing with someone else now.

"Of course, Gin." The Divine Spirit replied, setting the requested drink down on the bar mere moments later, before letting out another laugh at that next question. "Oh, Chiron's just...catching up with someone from his past. I'd recommend you don't walk outside just yet, but..." A coy grin flashed across his face. "If you feel like you need an ego boost, take a peek outside in about thirty seconds. You should get quite the show."

The following question, though, caused a slight glint to enter Dionysus's eyes as he leaned over the bar a bit.

"Hm. Well, I really shouldn't be giving you much of an answer. Trust me, I would be happy to usually, but Chiron's planning on training you, which makes this an entirely different matter. My advice is shaped by my experiences, so it'll necessarily pull you down a certain path. That's why he's been asking you to shore up your fundamentals from the other Master, so that you have a foundation that is entirely built off of 'what's optimal for you' when the training happens."

After speaking, he paused for a moment in consideration, before resuming.

"That said, I can probably give you a couple of tips, so...hm, well, you see, affecting fate directly at a high level, to the point where anything really happens is essentially impossible for a modern magus. However, you yourself have some of the highest resistance to fate I've ever seen in a mortal. So, how about you use that as a leverage point?"

"Well, I won't go much further on that, since explaining that much more would be colored by my experience, but maybe mull on that. Also consider the application of your magecraft to spirits; I'm no expert in Japanese esoterica, but it seems to me that Hojutsu is at its best when dealing with spirits, whether that means banishing them from a place or something else. Ultimately, what you do with that is dependent on you."

---

"Understood, I will communicate that back to him. He is, of course, rather excited for the opportunity this presents. Truth be told, I am the same way. It is an odd feeling, but I do not dislike it."

It nodded in reply, seeming pleased, if unsurprised, by Benita's response. That last remark it had made, though, caught even it by surprise. It seemed that it was changing as well, perhaps the result of obtaining 'that'. Hopefully this would be a continuing process.

Of course, as the next topic was broached, something occurred to shatter the conversation for the time being. Divine readvent. Noble Phantasm true name release. It had of course felt the event taking place at the site of where the Tohsaka Manor had once stood, but if that was a spark, then this was a bonfire. Given the distance from where that attack was released and the flat expanse of the former Foreigner's District, it was unlikely that anyone in the Holy Grail War who was not living under a rock would not notice that lightning.

And, it went without saying what witnessing that lightning meant.

The information its master gave to it divulged that what was being released was classified as an 'elimination class Noble Phantasm', followed by some muttering of 'wow, seriously, that guy becomes a Heroic Spirit?' and 'damn, I've gotta beat him to the punch then'.

Its master was truly a curious sort, but it didn't mind that. There was a sort of 'loyalty' there for the human who had created and raised it, to say nothing of the anticipation it felt for this construction site.

However, something else was passed along their shared line, which caused it to pause in confusion for a moment, seeking out aid from Benita seconds later.

"...my master has a remark that I profess I do not fully understand. Evidently there is a snack food currently being popularized that is known as 'popcorn'. He has stated a desire to be in possession of some at the current time."

---

Oh?

Now that was interesting.

...no, not interesting. After all, on first glance, Archer could surmise why he'd received that sort of response. It was a simple reason, after all, nothing worth examining.

What was the word he was looking for, then?

Ah, that's right.

Entertaining.

There was no doubt that, if their strength as Servants were compared, Archer would lose out to the being before him ten times out of ten. If they were to fight, then one would imagine Archer's odds of survival to be rather poor. Achilles himself could surely tell this; the Servant he stood opposite had a 'radiance' that could only be called lacking, especially when compared to that hero that Achilles had the chance to spar with earlier in the war.

And yet, the rotund man stood before the great hero, a cocky grin splitting his face.

"What'll I do ta stop you, and who I am, yeah? Heh, Ach, you're still green. Those questions've got the same answa'. Rules numbah three through five: analyze, plan, execute. You're skippin' three, so you're cockin' up four an' five."

As he spoke, the nonplussed Servant materialized an opened bottle of wine in his right hand, raising it to his lips and proceeding to down its contents in a single go, despite that given the neck of the bottle, that should have been impossible.

Yes, there was no doubt that the space of Troy was somewhere inexorably bound to Achilles as a Heroic Spirit. Achilles fought in Troy. Achilles raged in Troy. Achilles killed in Troy. Achilles died in Troy. This was the heart of his legend.

...however, that didn't mean there were ways of crushing that piddling rage.

"Well, if ya wanna try an' break down these walls, then be my guest. Give it a shot, try an' kill the kid. The river here's too far away ta' kick the shit outta ya, even. Problem there is, ya gotta step inta my cave to get ta the gates."

The now-empty wine bottle was tossed forwards at the Servant. The strength behind it was nothing significant, even for a normal human. It was nothing more than a friendly toss, inviting the other Servant to catch it. Even if nothing was done, it would clink against that divine armor without even the barest trace of possibility for harming Achilles.

...nonetheless, it could be said that the throwing of that bottle was the 'strongest attack' that had been released in the Holy Grail War thus far, exceeding that cursed blaze, exceeding the lightning that split the sky, exceeding all else, and the moment Achilles laid eyes upon it, his fate was sealed.

-Because, that wine bottle was a weapon which surpassed such concepts.

-Because, that wine bottle was a weapon that could bring the greatest of heroes low.

-Because, that wine bottle was something Achilles had seen before.

"Go on, get in the cave, Ach. Just like old times."

Hideyoshi tightened his fist on the handle of the bag. It felt incredibly light despite the considerable amount that had been packed into it. He had been silent for the rest of the journey to the Einzbern manor. Perhaps it was more apt to call it a holiday home, a resort used to comfort the representative of the family as their servant partook in the Holy Grail War. Far out of the way there must have been little worry of an assault on this almost fortress like place. The natural defences of the forest alone may have been enough to deter potential enemies. Perhaps he felt a little anger at the Einzbern family, perhaps it was envy of the position that they had. But that was useless. It was all useless. A manor would do no good for him now. He had tried being passive and it had brought him ruin. That time was over, indeed. There would be no more tragedy, no more ruin. It was time for the Tohsaka head to gather his spirit and take to the field. For a moment the life had left his eyes, for a moment he had felt despair for all that was lost. But the fire had been rekindled, not by any outside factor. But by his own will. "Thank you. All of you." Hideyoshi spoke to not only Rider who was making his leave but to his own servant and his old master

Before them were two of the Einzbern maids, standing dutifuly by the entrance of the manor. Hideyoshi stepped forward from the party and respectfully bowed towards the maids. "I am the representative of the Tohsaka family for this Grail War. You may call me Hideyoshi. I would be very grateful if you would lead me to the representative of the Einzbern family." After briefly introducing himself he followed the Einzbern maids inside of the manor, along with those who had followed. Much that he knew about the Einzberns had come from his grandfather, he was familiar with their magic only by hearing about it. The same could be said for their history. This was a rather unfortunate case, for the Three Families had been so closely tied. Yet a falling our had made strangers out of colleagues. But of course he had travelled here to change that. There was no need for the Three Families to be at odds.

Hideyoshi respectfully followed the maids until they had reached their destination, where two more were standing at either side of a door. The maids that he had followed here made their way back to the entrance as Hideyoshi entered through the door on front of him to meet with the representative of the Einzbern family. Immediately he could recognise the effort that had been spent on making a positive and friendly impression. The tea with snacks, the comfortable furniture and even how the room.was arranged. Upon entering it was only fit that he first delivered a courteous bow to the Einzbern master along with a "Thank You. Perhaps if he had cane here earlier he would have been able to proudly display a warm and confident smile to his potential ally. But his faced had been forced into a stoic expression. If any expression were to rise above that surface it would be a rage filled sadness. But still he continued the best he could. "I must apologise that it has taken me so long. The Grail War has taken such sharp turns in such short time... But it is a pleasure to finally meet you Lady Einzbern. I hope that together we may be able to settle this chaotic mess."

Hideyoshi peacefully walked towards a seat near the Einzbern master. There was no hostility to be found in his movement. Nor in his thoughts. He hoped that this would prove to be a strong and natural alliance. He put his trust in the Einzbern master, believing that she would not betray him despite the fact he did not know her nature.