---

Victor blinked his eyes. Once. Twice. What...? What was going on...? Where was he? What was he doing? He remembered Vlado channeling his will through one of the New Lifers, in order to negotiate with that... "Archer." Then, whatever primal madness the belligerent individual had forced backward through the connection, and then... here he was. Looking at a more-than-slightly-damaged workshop. He grit his teeth, seething. Ohh, yes. That fool would pay for trying to attack him at the heart of his territory. He turned to Vlado, to ensure his most faithful disciple had not been hurt in the midst of this nightmare, listening to the boy rant about something being stolen--

Victor froze, eyes wide with horror. Franziska...? He felt at the connection he normally possessed with his Firstborn. Or, rather, at the empty, hollow feeling that now occupied the place where his connection normally resided. The panic started to set in. Franziska...!? No. No, no, this couldn't have happened. She... she couldn't be gone. Even if she'd died, she should still be there. Somewhere. But this... this was...

Franziska!! Franziska, my dear, where are you?! Who was responsible for this? Who could've done this? The pressure built in his head, in his chest. The rage. The blind, seething, agonizing fury. Every cell in his body was baying for blood. For the head of whatever thief, violator, murderer had stolen his most darling daughter from him. His eyes, wide now with wrath, not fear, trained on the upstart who had robbed him, and his thoughts were consumed with one singular idea:

B L O O D

His hand snatched the crystal lantern from his hip, holding it aloft.

"That which gives life shall rob you of yours! AZOTH!!" A fountain, a geyser, a solid pillar of azure lightning erupted from the container, striking all around, suffusing, infecting, breathing into every inch of the workshop. First, it struck the New Lifers and Igors, carrying the Doctor's wrath along with it, granting them greater strength to do their new, grisly task, and the motivation to do so.

Then it struck the tools- the knives, saws, scalpels, and other assorted surgical implements, and the blades rose into the air at their master's bidding, ready to draw blood and tear flesh and sunder bone. It suffused the metals and materials next, channeling and charging and shaping with a roar, golems of stone and precious metal, forced into the crude form of a man, though precise enough to do this task.

...Then it went further. Deeper. Into the walls. Into the ground. Through stone and wood and metal, down to the dirt and rock and foundations. And with a mighty heave, the workshop- the entire compound- began to rise up. Outside, great limbs of stone began to erupt from the ground, planting feet the size of houses with a booming stomp, as the limbs sparked with lightning and began to bear up the complex, rising inch by inch into the air on the back of a colossus.

And Victor still wasn't done. He seethed, practically frothing at the mouth, as he glared down the interloper.

"Children!" he cried. "There is a thief in our midst! Not a thief of jewels or coin, no! But of something infinitely more valuable! Your elder sister, our Firstborn!"

The New Lifers present, which had been staring with a mixture of fear and awe, now froze... and in unison, fixed glares equal to their father's on the intruder.

"Yes! He has stolen her! Violated her! He must be destroyed, for daring to even think of stealing her away in such crude, puerile fashion!! KILL HIM! Peel the flesh from his bones! Grind his skeleton to dust! Sunder him to his constituent atoms!! ALL BUT HIS HEAD!! I want that for a trophy!! Teach him his mistake! DO IT!! KILL! HIM! NOOOOOOOOOW!!"

And with a bellow of rage felt all throughout the complex, the New Lifers- all 200 of them- and the dozens of ensorcelled Igors surged forward at the thief to carry out their father's gruesome command.

Again, he spoke of those rules. Again, Achilles felt odd, like remembering a half-forgotten dream. He brought a hand to his face and rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling his heart start to ache as whispers he could not quite make out and scenes he could not quite connect flashes in his mind.

Mental interference?

. . .No. To begin with, even without his armor, Achilles was one who possessed the skill, Bravery of the highest caliber, and compounded with his other abilities, it meant that he should be able to shrug off that sort of attacks without much issue. Besides, it felt different, more like he was trying to remember something that. . .

That. . .

Stop you moron, you don’t want to—

But then, Archer waved the bottle in front of him, and Achilles suddenly found his gaze transfixed in its form.

Ah. I have seen that before, indeed.

I wish I had not.

The dam broke, and it all rushed back in.

“Best way ta learn Pankration is hands-on, Ach.”

“Now, then, hand eye coordination by catching whatever arrows I fire at ya, for the next twenty-four hours. Fail once and we start all over, no breaks~”

“Oh, you’re taking a dip in those nearby whirlpools, objective’s ta escape before ya die. Eh? The chains? Well, you never know when ya have to escape stuff like this. Ya know there are always weirdos with a penchant for nonsensical executions.”

“Ey Ach, got Dio to lend me those mares of his! Time to work that cardio!”

“Now then, getting into the obstacle course, the arrow wall was gettin’ old, so I added a tightrope walk over the volcano and reduced the allotted time to five seconds.”

“Ach? Ach? Ah, damn, again? You’re lucky I trained Asclepius ya wuss.”

The color had already drained from his face entirely. Ignoring the bottle crashing against him, his eyes, wide like saucers, simply stared at Archer as though he were seeing him for the first time. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

“Get into the cave, Ach. Just like old times.”

A response finally arose from him, but rather than words it manifested in a full-body spasm following the word ‘cave’. His legs started to tremble, and he opened his mouth again.

The following instant, the hero’s figure had once again turned into that of a comet, but this time he ran at full speed from the direction he had come from.

“—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!”

Oh, had he managed to outrun his own shout this time?

Smashing against and through the wall of the building in his way, the hero made his gallant retreat toward Miyama.

---

He had, upon seeing his second wife standing before him, simply given her that smile and a comforting embrace. Such was his only reaction to her, that embrace of a husband he knew she long for more than anything without having to ponder on the matter. She who loved him so much as to steal him from his first, and most beloved, though tragedy has resulted from what she had done and how he'd gone along with it for her sake. Gudrun. Wielder of great magical power. His second wife.

Regardless, the reunion was cut short, as something was on the winds, the song of the birds, the world revealing information to him about what was going on. It was a problem, and after telling his wife she was welcome to come along for this he had set off towards the Wild Lands that now replaced the destroyed parts of the city that had been affected by that supernatural storm. It hadn't been a storm to simply destroy, as he knew full well, but something to "wipe the slate clean". So it was "that" man who had done it, then. Interesting. It had extinguished the fire, but....well, beyond that wasn't a good thing for this city at large.

So by the time he entered the Wild Lands, more was being told to him as well as other matters changed.

Ah.

This was familiar.

And more...troublesome.



So it made sense why doing "that" with his beloved armament was a bad idea in the first place. Though he had other means. Were this to spread, the scope would be.....limited if in wasn't eventually made worse by some manner. If the other servant didn't again spring into the foolishness of last night once more. Though if "he" tried to use "that" thing again, which planted the seeds for this in the first place, he would stop him. It would only get worse otherwise, perhaps.

So as he walked to the expanding forest's center, Sigurd drew runes upon the trees and ground as he passed, around foliage and about where the blaze would best spread. Fire. Each rune began to set things ablaze, to burn down this facet of a world long passed at rapid speeds with so many runes being drawn. This life didn't belong here, as much as it sought to thrive regardless in this special circumstance that had given it the chance to spring to life like a cancer. Such it was in the eyes of this age, but not perhaps in the eyes of the world and those who came from the same sort of time. As a hero, he could not let this stand, especially as one who had saved mankind and to save those around him whether they like it or not.

Though regardless of his own opinions he was a hero, and this was his work. Whomever had survived that storm, those he had helped even, should not have to lose all of their home again.

Flames burning about him, spreading like supernaturally fast wildfire as they liked at the wood and branch and such around, Sigurd finally made his way into the center of this New Old World that seemed to have started growing. Ah. That boy. So it seemed...yes, that made sense. He was inconsequential right now, but this "thing" wasn't.

Sigurd began to walk around the base of this forest's beating heart, drawing the same runes upon it that began to set it ablaze. Fire, purifying fire to commit the ultimate sacrilege against this nature. To burn the land back down now that the people were gone, and allow them to reclaim. Runes, runes, combinations of runes to spread the blaze fast and devastatingly. Spread them about the forest on the way here and upon this tree...this being whose nature was all too familiar to the blade he possessed. Of course he wouldn't be using the blade for this, too dangerous you see.

But he could burn, and dig up the base of this thing. So after setting it ablaze he would begin to quickly dig it up with his own two hands to remove this center of the forest, this beating, burning heart of something that had once been lost to make way for civilization.

Yet his ability to inscribe these things so quickly, something fit more for a Caster than a Saber, and use them with such power would hopefully rend this all to ash that it might rebuild from them and breathe new life into this city of man.



@Art of Fun@Red Alice

The theft was complete. The light faded, and by his side was a- a girl? Clothed in a white dress and a horn sticking out from her forehead, and a look of wonder on her face, he found himself looking at her a bit longer than he intended. Quickly recovering, he sends her a wink. No matter the circumstances, a thief without charm may as well just be a common burglar.

The increasing glow of the red seals on the hand of the magus draw the attention of Jack. The mouth of the kidnapper begins to move. Were this any other situation, Jack would have taken this moment to run. His target had been deprived of a prized possession, and any ordinary thief would have no desire to stick around and have their risk their neck.

Not this time. Not with the fate of innocents who had gotten kidnapped on the line, with a request from a man who promised something well worth Jack’s efforts. No, this time he wasn’t just the thief. He was the man who slew giants in their homes, in their sleep, and on the fields of battle when needed be.

In this case, he could act with the speed needed. A sprint from his position, to the master, fist cocked back coming in for a blow,

A tad bit late.

The blow blasts into the body of the magus, and then through him, the strength of a servant with his skills active, one of the Knight Class no less, striking the unprotected flesh of a human. To call it anything less than a complete victory in favor of Jack would be laughable.

But perhaps not so. Distracted by the appearance of the delicate girl and her appearance, he had moved a step too slow. The light of the seal glowed to a peak, before it stopped.

Turning aside from the Master with his torso blown off, Jack faces the Caster. He should fade now with his point tethering him to existence gone- but a surprise. The Noble Phantasm he was left with, the light of creation of Victor Frankenstein, the lightning bolts of animation lashing out everywhere to bring the workshop to life. Jack made to run, not willing to die from the final grudge of a Caster, but found his path blocked.

The girl who had been summoned to his side grabbed his arm. Smiling gently at him, she growled and faced the lightning, stepping in front of him, interposing herself and the lightning.

The errant bolts, flung out by the Caster and aiming to strike at the Workshop and bodies found themselves redirected to the girl who had been created and born as Frankenstein’s daughter- later called his ‘monster’.

The lightning faded into sparks, drawn into the girl and taken as her own. A smirk, no, a shit-eating grin spreads across Jack’s face as he says the last things Victor will hear.

“Thanks for the gift, dad.”

Durandal is swung. The light of greed shines once more on the dying body of the Caster.

The thief makes his exit.

Queen of Carthage
Forest Outskirts, Near Foreigners' Lowlands

Something was wrong. There was something nearby, a servant. Were they trying to hide? Surely they knew that wouldn't work right?

Avenger wasn't sure what the other servant wanted, but it couldn't be good. If something was going to happen, she'd be able to see it though. Using her future sight, she could see not just the attack, but where it came from. That didn't matter at this moment though. The explosion was trouble, for her master.

There wasn't time for words, only actions. Avenger had to protect her master, so she grabbed Christopher and pulled him in tight against her and shielded him with her body and flame. Christopher would be safe.
@BlueHelix @ManyThings

"There is room for improvement," the Guest intoned. Ana groaned, throwing his head back, legs dangling off of the branch of one of the new, fractal-appearing porcelain coloured trees, still close to his milestone. "Development is ongoing, but we believe that with further study, this territory could reach the heights of True Divinity."

Ana shrugged. "That's not really something I want, to be honest." He gestured loosely with a hand, crimson eyes looking off to the side. With every moment that passed, his connection with the Elemental Lifeform and its surrounding flora deepened in breadth and width. It felt as if the fundamental basis of his body had been improved by his creation of the Elemental Lifeform, elevating him a level higher in most respects. Yet, even still, he remained a strange thing. The Guest balked.

"Excuse me? Even with this, you do not wish to invest yourself?"

"Not particularly. It's my tree, sure, but I'm not going to force it to become anything more than what it is. When it stops growing, then it's perfect. I'll make a new seed and improve on that, but I won't torture its voice like that."

The shattered image of a person, seeming to have some weight behind its once-immaterial existence now, reeled back, face contorting into several versions of disgust and shock. "You utter child. It's within reach, do you not see?" umpteenth voices echoed out, "While not only purifying our dynasty, you stand on the verge of a supreme magecraft. With a little application of your talents, you would stand in a class among Magicians!"

It was pleading at such a point point. Despite the many voices which made up the Guest, one remained strangely silent.

"The Root is but a step away!"

Ana looked up at the canopy one more, spreading out further and further, blanketing the night sky with a second cosmos of life.

A fire burst to life at the base of the tree. An ineffective fire, consumed for its magical energy to fuel the Prime Elemental’s growth further, a delicious meal to further boost its rapid growth.

Three days in Fuyuki had been fun, but... only fun. Watching Berserker do the things he could never do, to see her consume life in all its facets to vividly, in ways that had been sealed off due to his upbringing and programming. It was a gift, yet there was another granted to him.

The creation of the Prime Elemental was a blessing. Not for the reasons of power, but rather for a sense of inherent, platonic beauty he saw in it, resonating with the principle which the rest of his being was built around.

He did not wish to use the tree to attain power, but to simply see it prosper. The role of a humble hobbyist gardener, and a tree surgeon.

But, to that end, it was indeed powerful. Beyond anything he could have created in isolation. Such a thing would only be a target for destruction and theft.

Ana grinned in a pure manner. "Ah, thanks. You reminded me!"

He did not even acknowledge the Guest's point. Instead, Ana tapped into his connection with the forest and its central point. His mental circuit, and the conditioned self-hypnosis, activated. His eyes shut, and behind the lids he pictured the still-growing territory from the perspective of an architect, blue lines drawing the layout of his newfound realm. His hands moved down to grasp the branch he was sat on, fingers digging into the resilient, otherworldly bark. The connection deepened. The voices became clear, fast and coherent. They spoke in an only vaguely familiar language.

"O Arawn Gwyn ap Nudd.
Four interlinked paths. One true route. Realms of the fair, roads of the whimsical, become madness of man.
Come, Cŵn Annwn. Companions of the Head. The hunters realm extends halfway. Water-blood feeds the roots and the pack.
Silverless land. Tarnished by worldly ambition. Value is value, and reason is absent -- circuit complete."

Ana's eyes opened.

The forest began to shift as if it were alive. Roots dragged their host bodies into position to fit the image of the relatively mundane act of magecraft its owner had conducted. Indeed, the act of warping the layout of a Workshop into something labyrinthine and challenging was one of the more basic skills under Ana's belt.

Yet, in this context, it took on new complexity.

While it would be inaccurate to call the shift in the forest's layout 'fae-like', it may draw that parallel to the uninformed. The trees themselves formed earthy roads, winding and confusing in their pathing. Going over them was an option, but obvious. Trying to go between the paths leads to its own complications. One could try and attack it head on with a sufficient amount of magical energy, possibly.

A maze-like arboreal fortress, filled with mystery laden pitfalls and 'dead-ends', fit to trap even a hero. The shifting demesne of white.

But, yet, as Ana turned the forest into something of a deathtrap for would-be invaders, another path was opened.

The construction of a deadly forest awakened the awareness of another. The blind hunger of a roaming beast stared into the curious soul of a 'descendent', all too aware of the food to be had.

And so too was Ana made aware of his 'ancestor'.

His eyes widened.

"Oh. Oh no. Oh no, no no."

"And with that which you reject, you could sever our fate, intertwined with that thing," the Guest said, looming beside Ana like a constant reminder. "You felt it, did you not? The thief of lineage."

"The Disembowelling Forest."

"Einnashe."

The realization made Ana look at the tree in a whole different light. For a moment, it acted as a beacon. Even with its destruction, a thought that briefly flashed across Ana’s mind, it was too late.

Ana hopped off the tree branch and moved past the milestone, back to the original forest he called his lair.

The White Forest was indeed part of his territory. He didn’t need to go to the Prime Lifeform itself to do what he needed to do to it, or to take what he needed to prepare for himself.

Both his own stores of magical energy and the stores of his trees restored, the mind of a distracted magus sharpened to a point.

---

It moved. The tree move, and the forest with it, as if it was a great beast waking from a mighty slumber. Wait....no, that's exactly what it was. A great beast, a living thing that would seek out and devour prey like a bear arising from a long slumber, or a dragon woken by a challenger before it could get a bite to eat. He had already set fires through much of this forest on his way in, at the speed servants are capable of. And yet, he could feel the mana cut off, and instinctively fled from the forest in a haste. As a servant, no mana was a death sentence. If Gudrun had followed him here, he knew for a certain she'd have left as well after feeling that, waiting for him just outside at least. That much he was confident in without a doubt.

Though he hadn't destroyed the larger center tree, which only seemed a bit singed at he moment, much of the forest was still on fire just fine and was spreading quickly. If nothing else, this being could be burdened by the fact its mass was on fire, and that fire was spreading. Maybe it could be driven to the ocean. Maybe it would stop for a time. There was only hope for what his actions could accomplish in the end, but he has seen a vision and gotten word on the winds and such about another thing. Another target. Something that almost made the hero grin ear to ear, if he wasn't so stoic as he was normally.



Yes, something that potentially more so than this forest would sly and eat without hesitation, a beast that was faster at least than this thing. A hero's work was never done, was it? It seemed not, but if he were going to defy the fate that could befall this place, then he would have to first take down this dragon. For now, he was at least out of the forest, but he knew where to go next without a doubt. He knew his wife would be there by his side, herself able to put up a fight as well. And they would need to work together for this task, as it seemed.

"Gudrun, my dear, there is a dragon."

That was all that needed to be said right now, truthfully. Such was the nature of a married couple who coukld read each other like an old worn book, such was the nature of the man who was Gudrun's husband that she knew so well and loved so deeply. A dragon meant great danger, a ferocious thing, something to be ready for. It was time to see if the legend of the King of Noble Warriors and his wife could add another page to it this day.

@Phonic

---

...And as the mouth closed the spear carried clean through and exited the back of Orochi's head, narrowly missing Shuten Douji herself as the great beast halted and crashed to earth. Shuten of course, did not just stop, her eyes flew wide as she was unceremoniously flung high into the air with all the continued momentum. Despite the obvious setback she was smiling, eyes full of laughter. "Silly Otou-san... You have such a big appetite fufufu~ It's not the Grass Cutting Sword you know~!" She called out with a giggle as the head she was riding previously crashed to the ground.

Of course that is one head, and there were eight. The difference, seven, had crashed into the shield with open venomous maws and bore down on it with all the force of an angry god. One by one the layers of Ajax's shield were breaking down under their might and the damage therein, while lessened, was transferred to him. "Oh I see, you've picked up a taste Ox is that it~? Fufu~But this one is all dried out~! You'll have tp really chew on it hard to soften it up first!" If the defense were to let up for even a split second he would be crushed nigh-instantly, an effective pin.

---

CLARIFICATION OF PREVIOUS POST'S ACTUAL OUTCOME AS PER GM RULING
IGNORE MARKED TEXT FROM NON-CANON "Shuten Oneshots Ajax" TIMELINE
@vocab

Information won wars, as Rider knew full well. He rather approved of his Master right now, all things considered. Scouting was something that he was an old hand at, and sometimes, enjoyed. It took him back to the better times during the war, when he and his men were out traveling through the jungles of Vietnam, waiting for the opportune moment to strike at the Yuan. It was better to think of the songs, the camaraderie, the better parts of the Đại Việt he knew, rather than the ashes and smoke that he could not save.

But, it was a beautiful day, and it would not do to dwell on such dark thoughts! He did find quite a few of his new neighbors, though he was not quite as his discreet as he should have been. Though he had lost some of his skill in stealth, his skill in observation was still as good as it used to be. At some point though, he would have to thank that woman staring at that one base, as he might have missed it otherwise.

Rider’s master was informed of the information, and for his final errand, he would have to… investigate a pub, hm? A rather odd establishment, all things considered, as it required inebriation for the safety of the patron before entering. It still wasn’t exactly the oddest thing he had witnessed, considering the army he had led were a bunch of sorry messes until he made men out of them, but…

Eh, the drinks offered to get him drunk weren’t to his taste. They were of fine quality, indeed, but he was just a little bit homesick. So while it was little more than swill in most examples…

Trấn Hưng Đạo, Commander of the Đại Việt and Great Lord of Hưng Đạo, knocked on the door of Pelion’s Pub and asked for rượu đế.

@Paradox Witch @Cu Chulainn



Why was Avenger embr-



Huh. This was surprising. He was alive, not blown to smithereens nor burnt to death, surprisingly enough.

And neither was Avenger. She… from what he could tell from being held in her arms, didn’t seem worse for wear after all. That meant that someone had probably attacked with some kind of curse. Which Avenger could laugh off, all things considered. Knowing that, Christopher made a snap decision.

“Avenger, engage the enemy. I’ll do my best to support you from behind, and provide you with some disposable allies, or short of that, ready projectiles.”

“Oh, and um. Please let me go first.”

@UndyingRegret @ManyThings

---

'Rider, we have an emergency. I am securing an alliance with the Tohsaka for this and the future too, but the situation for Fuyuki overall had spiraled out of control elsewhere. The Grail is most likely in danger if we don't get our heads together. Regroup at the compound, now, so we can formulate things. There are also multiple dangerous entities, do not approach them for the time being.

Should you run into dangerous entities on the way back, i give my permission to unleash your Noble Phantasms and such on them if only to get back here as soon as possible. Alive.'

She wanted to say more, but she had to be prompt about things if she was going to be able to communicate the sense of urgency better. And she had, in her mental communication to her servant, sent a strong sense of urgency and importance in this. A slight sense of desperation, even, leaked into the communication. A byproduct of her stress, and the situation that had....spectacularly devolved by now.

But at this moment-....

......-Hideyoshi. The master of the Tohaska, the man whose leyline had been hijacked, though the title of Second Owner he retained for this land regardless. She'd seen the man in the past during her Fuyuki visits when the city was still whole before this time. Handsome, charming amidst such things.....ah. It almost turned her circuits on to think about things. But this was a serious matter, and for many reasons.

This list of things that had added to the gravity of things in this situation were as followed:



Further there was evidence of unknown servants mulling about, and between the prior night's cursed fire and all of the chaos surrounding it one thing was clear. The Grail was in too much danger, and the war had gotten too chaotic in nature this time around. The Third Magic was great, but all of this.....? It was ridiculous. Incidents like this were popping up in a matter of days, and now today there was apparently the climax of this particular "cluster" of escalations that was getting worse and worse.

If it got even worse, this could turn out badly. If the Einzbern back home thought, especially that old man, this would work out well for them still it was foolish. Foolish to pretend to win, foolish to think this time around the Third Magic was worth losing the Lesser Grail to this madness. And honestly, she had finally gotten to the mental point where the madness of this was....enough. The sheer loss of life, the madness of the destruction, and if this escalated more they would all die. Behind closed doors this had weighed on her until this point, and now it had come to what seemed to be a head.

So as the Tohsaka had been coming here she'd drawn up a....certain contract. A geis, if you will. Something that would guarantee some benefits as well as some leverage in getting through this Grail War. So as Hideyoshi sat next to her in a chair, her guard maids with weapons standing about not too close but not too far just in case, Sophia gave a soft smile to her fellow master in this conflict. Ah, emotions likely lying underneath, but a wellspring of politeness even if forced on the cover. Like a good book to read in this case for her, but that was not the main point of this.

"You are correct, dear Hideyoshi, this war has....gone downhill faster than i'd care to admit. As much as i'd love to have a bit of tea, talk things over more, and maintain a more cordial atmosphere i must get to the point.

The Tohsakas and Matou have lost their homes, and between the cursed fire and how others did 'put it out' we are seemingly in a situation of continued escalation.

And since your journey here things have...escalated even more so.

Someone toyed with your leyline and has taken much mana, though it seems they were chased off.

Whilst someone else, whose location might be known, created another one of 'those' forests like the one made by the cursed Einnashe Family. A living forest that sucks all in is path dry. Even now it seems to be moving, and if it gets too close to things the Grail might be in danger.

More than that, Fuyuki could be wiped off the map if that thing gets to the Eastern side and other populated places. Much less, a dragon seemingly from Japanese legends has arisen, a god who seems to be tied to an oni-like servant.

So...i propose a contract, a geis between us, something to ensure this land's survival. Our survival as well, and survival through this war as well."

As the homunculus spoke her usually playful banter or harsh words or other normal moods seemed to wipe aside with the grave matter at hand. It seemed, as she informed her fellow member of the Three Families, that things had gone "right to hell" as was the Western Phrase for the matter. Besides, her connection to the network was a failsafe of sorts with her admin-level commands that could be sent to it. It was entirely possible to maintain control if the homunculi tried. Not that they weren't loyal to her, fufufu. Though this aside, the slender arm of the female homunculus, a sensual and far more perhaps human individual than any of her creators or fellow homunculi, extended the paper out for Hideyoshi to read.



Her name already signed onto the contract itself, waiting merely for the signature of the other party designated within. As Hideyoshi would see the contract, perhaps read it even, a deep blush began to form on the homunculus' face, and her cheeks puffed in a potentially rather adorable manner as her eyes looked to the side. It was like she was....nervous?! That was a rather interesting thing for the homunculus to feel, but in her case she was desperate. And sincere. Ever since those feeling, and the meeting with that other man, and this current situation she was willing to go through with this contract. With this...agreement that both secure her future and that of the Tohsakas all in one neat package.

One of the maids even walked over right after the contract was handed over to Hideyoshi, placing an ink and quill upon the small side table between the chairs Hideyoshi and Sophia were sitting in.

This was serious. A binding, compelling magical contract even.

"B-B-By signing t-this i can help you in this war, and you c-can h-help m-me, o-o-ok?!" Sophia said, her cheeks still puffed and her face turning red, a type of behavior that would be reflected in Japan's media all over the world over a century later.

@Kyoka@Cu Chulainn

The blade falls, and Jack turns. The smile drops from his face as he sees the distraught expression the girl has. The death of her father in front of her eyes. No matter how poorly the tale ended, the girl and her father had been living in a slice of the tale, the moment of birth, of joy and happiness. To destroy that dream, that happiness, could not be seen as something one could forgive nor justify.

And yet.

He would be the one to boldly say such words. To deny that happiness, with the knowledge that her fate was locked onto a path of naught but despair if the world was not changed.

The thief walked forward. This time, what was stolen was not a core, a blade, or one’s strength. No light appeared. It was the lips of the girl in despair, drowning in her heart from grief.

To say there was a Jack who had the privilege of a peaceful life, of a happy ending- one where he lived to the end of his days with someone -there was none. All he could be was a thief, and at best, a knight of guile. But a knight has his honor.

For once, he’d make a promise to keep. For once, he’d decide to stand by someone and stay.

Jack looked her in the eyes.

“I promise to make you happy.”

Seeing as Lancer anticipated his own attack, Rider felt as if this boy had the similar intuition of a warrior that he, himself, was blessed with. No, it’s even better… While Rider’s comes from his keen senses in battle heightened to a sort of future sight, his opponent’s can be likened to that of an outside force guiding him on exactly what to do. While Lancer’s gift is far more versatile, they essentially both amount to the same thing in combat. In any case, this was just going to end in a battle of attrition that will likely end in Rider’s favor; something Rider wasn’t too keen on happening so easily.

Digging his feet into the ground, Rider allowed Lancer’s punch to land, sending a burst of prana through his entire body to soften the blow. This, however, doesn’t stop Rider’s boots from skidding through the ground as he is pushed back from the force of the punch, dirt flying up into the air. Rider had underestimated this Lancer’s strength the first time, and he does not plan on doing the same thing again even if he’s allowing his opponent to strike him.

The kick to the face, however? No. Nobody gets that honor.

As soon as Lancer’s leg flew for him, Rider’s weapons disappeared from his grasp, fading away and leaving both his hands free. He instinctively ducked his head down slightly before launching his arms up and grabbing Lancer’s leg. With a quick spin in the same direction as the kick, Rider used his opponent’s momentum to toss him away, helping Lancer disengage from the melee. Rider wouldn’t dare allow some lowly peasant hero to strike him on his face, especially not with their feet. Not even if they happened to be a Paladin of Charlemagne or a Knight of the Round Ta-

… That armor!

Rider’s mood has changed. His impression of the opponent he is facing has changed almost opposite to how he felt just moments before. Now, he was excited that he was fighting another opponent in the same league as the Achaean. Indeed, to a prospective Master, all Knights of the Round Table are considered to be the “cream of the crop” when it comes to choosing a Servant. And to fight one that has been so near to the Grail, itself, in life…

”Percival…” Rider growled, his expression shifting into some sort of grinning beast. Feeling something flying over his head, Rider threw an arm up to catch it, his body not turning away from his opponent. Once it was in his hand, however, he had to look down at the spear in his hand, raising an eyebrow. ”What the hell… ?

“What’s with this piece of trash?! If you are truly Sir Percival, Knight of the Round, then show me your true Noble Phantasm! Show me that fucking spear!”

The piece of trash in question, however, seemed to glow rather ominously in Rider’s hand. As he looked over the spear, again, Rider could have sworn it was just a bit shorter than what it was moments before...

… And yet, it still continued growing.

The attack had worked, but not well enough. A single head fell, less a coherent form and more a mess of gore that fell and splattered across the flattened ground of the Foreigner's Lowlands. Past the incandescent glow of his shield, he eyed the Oni fly from on high, and yet her smile never broke. She was laughing and enjoying herself, perhaps in full confidence of her... "Otou-san". The hero held his ground, clutching the shield and steeling himself against the flurry of blows as his rampant and clouded mind ran through the situation.

His spear was gone, and he had no way to recover it without dropping the shield. His body groaned under the force of holding back the barrage of attacks, tearing in places as his preternatural strength coupled alongside the strain of Rho Aias cracking. One layer broke, and then another. He had no weapon. If he dropped the shield and tried to attack, he would die. What an amusing situation.

Ajax braced his hands against the shield, and with it stood up from the ground, the force of each head slamming against its form digging his feet into craters behind him. And he pushed, with every ounce of strength he could muster. Every fibre of his body screamed with strength much too far beyond human limits, only barely held together by whatever magic that Caster had weaved into him before the fight. And he forced the shield forwards.

No doubt the heads of the Orochi were moving at a great deal of speed. Should their great strength and momentum come to clash with an advancing shield backed with strength closer to that of a God, there was no telling the damage that would be inflicted upon them.

It came without warning. A lance stabbed upward from the kingdom below, a brilliant white spear that heralded the age of something that no longer had a place in this world.

“Eh~?”

And from the opposite side of the city, the homunculus toying with her menagerie of masks felt a coy grin split her face.

“Ehe, wow, that sure is something~ Hey, Elena, give me the specs on it.”

Turning towards the Atlas Alchemist in her employ, Carly-Beth’s grin only faded when she sighted the troubled expression that took up her companion’s face. Well, she was nothing but face, really, but that was beside the point.

"...that thing is skewing every calculation I've been drafting by a factor of five. It's...similar to Shaytanea, in nature. I wouldn't recognize it if she wasn't right here for comparison, but that's a world microcosm."

Elena’s voice was practically a low mutter, but even that much was enough to rouse the attention of the other masks, all the while their maker let out an exasperated sigh.

"Hmm? That's pretty annoying. Something like that's enough to tip the balance of the war a good amount. What're the odds it gets stronger?"

"If left unchecked? As close to 100% as you can get."

“...well then, looks like we’re going to check in on our newest friend. Don’t let me down, Ted-”

---

Now, Ted was just minding his own business, getting violated by rats as was typical for Ted in the time before he’d been turned into a mask, when he felt the world shake around him.

Eh, that was nothing special.

Typical Tuesday.

Was it even Tuesday?

Of course, an order from the Boss Lady came in moments later, so it looked like he would have to do something. He would have to talk to the rat-thing again.

“Hey, the Boss Lady’s wondering what you think about this tree shit and if you think it’s worth getting rid of.”

And talk he did.

---

"Hated it, it's a symbol of things I despise, not only it's hogging all of life itself and its ugly to look at, It has to go" Piper said through his messenger ratface, expressing his irritation about this fantasy tree, strangling Ted without knowing it.

"Oh, sorry about that, just got carried away."

---

Well! It seemed like their new friend also felt the tree was a problem, and he’d provided quite a lot of very interesting information. In light of that-

"Strategiiiist-"

The process was simple. Feeding the information from Ted into Strategist's mind was a trivial task. After all, if it was the task of 'relegating information between multiple sapient beings', Carly-Beth was confident she was the number one in the city in that matter. Even familiar experts likely didn't have her level of experience for dealing with multiple sapient minds in such a matter. In other words, it took a negligible amount of time before Strategist had a full grasp of the situation, and more specifically, of where she ought to aim her weapons.

Naturally, a litany of info was given in addition, in order to draw up a battle plan using Strategist’s Noble Phantasm. Everything from information on the fire last night to information on the tree as it was, with even supplementary calculations from their resident Atlas Alchemist, was filed in, and so a battle plan that had been perfectly optimized was prepared.

Right, they had to avoid attacking in such a way that Piper’s assault would only strengthen it, especially given their knowledge of the fire that had scarred the land it was built upon, and there were certain similar pitfalls to avoid, but with Strategist, the chance of their assault failing fell drastically.

"This thing's an eyesore, it's inconveniencing our ally, I'm sure the families you mentioned are against their land getting usurped like that, and it's undoubtedly taking advantage of a disaster which I'm pretty sure is a bad thing to do in the eyes of that Ruler guy we got the letter from. Sooo, let's get to it, shall we~?"

With that optimized battle plan designed through Strategist’s capabilities, the full plan was relayed to their ally through Ted, and so the order was given.

"Bombard that thing out of existence."

---

Ensconced over the map table as she poured over the details of the Miyaman coastline, Carly’s grey-haired Servant had little warning of the ‘info-dump’ heading her way until the ‘package’ hit her. She winced in pain, doubling-over, chin first, onto the table as concerned Marines and ship’s officers tried to steady her. As the information completed its transferal she shook off both their inquiries and any of their help, rising back up to her full height.

"This thing's an eyesore, it's inconveniencing our ally, I'm sure the families you mentioned are against their land getting usurped like that, and it's undoubtedly taking advantage of a disaster which I'm pretty sure is a bad thing to do in the eyes of that Ruler guy we got the letter from. Sooo, let's get to it, shall we~?"

“Aye, my Master,” Strategist chuckled to herself (and, through their link, to her Master). “Let’s be about it, then.”

Composing herself, she waved off concerns and wrenched a nearby communications telephone off the hook. In seconds, she was connected to the wheelhouse and the partially-shaded bridge.

“Bridge, this is the Admiral.” she calmly stated to Captain Reginald on the other end of the line. “There’s been a change of plans; I am moving us to battle-stations at once.”

”Battle stations?” the Captain added, understanding the order yet perplexed by the context. “Aye-aye, ma’am, though you do realise that if we go into action now-”

“We’ll be exposing ourselves; I’m bloody well aware of that, Reginald!” the Servant snapped. “Bring the ship to bearing 3-1-0 and stand-by on main and secondary batteries. I’ll be on the bridge in the next few minutes.” She slapped the receiver back into place and turned to the others.

“You heard me, gentlemen. To your stations!” she gruffly reiterated.

As the men hurried out of the room and charged through the exiting bulkheads, throughout the ship, nearly 820 men likewise snapped to orders. On the main deck, the ship’s alert bell was being violently rung by a Midshipman while the ship’s Royal Marines clambered into the seating and stations for the ship’s swivel guns. Deep in the armoured barbettes of the bow ‘A’ turret, the mid-ship’s ‘P’ and ‘Q’ turrets and the stern’s ‘X’ and ‘Y’ turrets, ratings worked in stifling conditions to load the main guns, hoisting cordite charges through armoured, fire-proof bulkheads onto lifts to the guns above, or shifting ramrods to pack the guns with the warheads and charges under the strict timing of their turrets’ command officers.

As she likewise began her ascent to the surmounting bridge, Strategist felt a slight smile tug at her cheeks. Her war might have been kicked off far too early for her liking, but regardless, war had finally come.

And she did not plan on letting her Master or her ship down now ...

---

Of course, there was something else to keep in mind. Defenses.

Carly-Beth had no doubt that the Pied Piper’s territory had defenses prepared, but she sadly did not. So, while the Servants prepared their assault, she made preparations of their own.

Nine magecraft-capable masks, and one homunculus. Ten magi, all in all, which was just the number that she needed.

Magic circles had been drawn, the ritual itself again optimized through Strategist’s NP, and so it began, timed perfectly to match up with when Strategist and the Pied Piper would launch their assaults. A defensive measure, using Shaytanea’s own world as the lynchpin, to ward off and swallow anything that the enemy attempted to bring to bear.

Ah, this was so much fun.

---

Pied Piper(Caster)

As soon as the false Yggdrasil shows up, The bard can feel the world shifting, and not in a good way, something is amiss, the karmic lines have been tempered and this is not the natural order of things. Something has to go.

This power, this energy...

It's so pure, so divine yet whoever is harnessing its core is not fully optimizing it in its true potential.

Why is that you ask?

Because Piper is here, and because this boy cannot compare to him in the realm of connections. His will reaches out, breaking the thread that connects the boy to the land.

"Foolish tree of life, you don't have the right to be here." He laughs manically at the thought.

"Let the old world die and into the new, There's no place for gods in this world. only man. I've seen it first hand when I led those hundred of innocent children into their demise, where was god to stop me? That's right! He has left and forsaken them!" Manifesting on top of the school's rooftop, a mystical bard screams at heavens, facial veins popping everywhere from his disdain.

Piper takes deep breaths and composes himself before continuing.

"Heh, how ironic, fate has brought me into this position once more, proving that we don't need an abstract creator who does nothing." Piper lets a half smile and presses his lips against his flute.

The symphony of destruction begins.

The academy warps itself into a fortress of mass destruction, the wails and echoes of the children in Piper's basement shriek in despair as if he's giving them the good succ, harvesting their lifeforce, almost leaving them drought in the process. Reality shifts around the school, the pleasant day was gone, and down comes the doom and gloom.

This place reeks of despair and grudges even an Avenger-class would be jealous of. Rats began to manifest all around the place, overflowing the corridors and every inch of the school, Souls began to ooze down the school's walls and ectoplasm runs wild in this place desperately saying "help us" only to fall on deaf ears.

The windows of the school open as multiple cannons are ready to be deployed. Ectoplasms line up only to get shot like some suicide bombers. This is the symphony of the Piper in its repulsive form yet, The wails of a thousand Grudges.

"Aim at that magical tree, its a symbol of things I hate, a false hope of the gods and life itself." Piper casually said, as the artillery cannons turn their attention to the direction of where the Yggdrasil lies. Piper's noble phantasm attack mode is on, with the grudges of souls at his disposal.

"This is the grudges of the ones you forsake! Let lose my children, let your voice be heard upon these pompous gods, Open Fire!"

---

On the slightly-open-aired bridge deck of her ship, Strategist lowered her set of binoculars, her yellow-hued irises set on the still-distant coastline of Japan. “That’s our objective, gentlemen.”

“The white-barked tree, ma’am?” CTN Bacon added, his eyes fixed through his own binoculars to the growing phantasmal flora.

“Aye. That ‘tree’ is a phantasm, a conduit for - from what I’ve been told - enemy magics and a living forest that, even now, is bringing ruin to an already-devastated Japan. Our orders are to reduce that monstrosity to splinters.” She glanced over her shoulder to the ship’s first officer. “Pass the order to the guns and firing control.”

As the officer hurried away, Strategist raised her binoculars to her eyes for a few brief moments, dimly aware of the metallic sounds coming from below as the ship’s turrets began to pan towards the coast. A twinge in the pit of her stomach briefly arose: would ‘Dreadnought’ be ready for any reprisals sent against her, or the consequences of what she and her Master were about to do?

’No, there is no doubt, she reassured herself, focusing her glasses’ lenses as she swallowed her anxiety down. ‘There is only duty.’

“Bridge, Wheelhouse. Course, 3-1-0.” a rating’s voice echoed up the voice-pipe that connected the wheelhouse to the bridge. CTN Bacon sent a curt reply back as Strategist lowered her binoculars once more, briefly glancing over her shoulder to the Captain.

A silent nod between them was the only signal either of them needed. All was prepared.

Turning back to the coastline, Strategist’s uniformed chest puffed up from inhaled breath before she let out a violent shout.

“ALL MAIN BATTERIES, OPEN FIRE!!”

The tree's master had been cut off from the land through the expertise of this Grail War's master of familiars. And so, with that obstacle negated and with the time of fire coordinated between the pairs, three acts simultaneously occurred in a declaration of war upon the tree of Fantasy.

-Strategist’s Noble Phantasm was released.

-The weapons of the Pied Piper blasted out.

-The Grand Ritual fueled by a World was brought to bear.

Through the network and preparations of the Pied Piper, the mind of Strategist, and the magecraft aptitude of Carly-Beth, an assault was made to bring the budding Yggdrasil down before it could spread its roots.

Time to be a hero.

Oh he had really dug himself in, Orochi really did have him pinned completely. His vain attempt to repel the phantasmal beast with raw strength was certainly amusing, but in a brute force contest of true strength versus strength no one would beat that thing. Still, even as an enemy Shuten deeply admired both that strength, even if it was insufficient, and the grit it took to stand your ground with such ferocity... It was a shame that he was too mad for even an Oni to befriend.

But her flight was almost over and there was no time for idle thought and fanciful consideration. As Shuten sailed through the air she turned a single flip and twisted her body as she sailed over Rho Aias. A quick brutal swing of her sword with all that ungodly strength shifted her momentum into a buzzsaw like down ward spiral. She streaked towards earth with terrifying speed and power, a whirling vortex of purple gold and silver that would quickly turn red as she cleanly bisected Ajax from crown to root.

She landed in a neat crouch as the blood on her sword sizzled and turned black. The enormous dose of poison delivered to the ajax-shaped cadaver caused the flesh to slough and melt off the bones as it fell in half, and then into more and more pieces as the tendons followed suit. The thunderous sounds of Serpent wailing against Shield ended abruptly as the shield dissipated, their connection informing the great serpent that there was no longer a need to rail against the proud but foolish mortal.

The Oni licked her lips. "The firmness is exquisite, I can tell just by looking, but I hope they have a pleasing texture..."

@Vocab

The world went black for the briefest of moments. One second, she wa stood on an open stretch of the world, decimated by fires, worlds, and storms, beside her Servant and Ally. They were working on something at the behest of the Caster, and she was there for bodyguard duty, effectively. And then the ear splitting roar of impending death came about, rendering her hearing asunder, as she looked towards the oncoming and steadily encroaching Noble Phantasm. And for a moment, she felt fear. Until the world went black.

The next second, not even moments after she saw the attack oncoming, she was gone. And back again. But this time, she was stood at the Temple. In the central courtyard of the Temple Proper, only a short distance from the Gate. From her vantage point above the city she could see the devastating blow the rocked the Foreigner’s Lowlands. An attack that should have killed her, Ajax, and Caster. Should have.

It didn’t. By some miracle she had survived, and by the state of the Command Seals on her hand, so was her Servant. Was this Caster’s doing? She couldn’t be sure. But as the nausea of instantaneous teleportation wore off, her eyes laid upon a familiar sight. Saber and Sofia, looking out across the city from the Temple Gate, watching the immensely powerful attack lay waste to what was once the city. And for a second, something swelled in her heart. A gratitude to be alive.

”Oh man, you are just the cutie I was hoping to see.” Serafina’s voice rang out across the courtyard as she ran up and hugged her sister, letting a desire to live for a while longer overcome her for the briefest of moments, ”And If it isn’t Saber herself? Perfect, listen you two, we have work to do. Berserker is kiiiiiind of about to get into a fight, with whatever Servant just blew up the wasteland.”

She let that sink in for just a second, before freeing herself from hugging Sofia, and facing the two head on.
”So, here’s the deal! We only win this war if both of you survive, comprende?” she pointed towards Saber, and then slowly moved the finger towards Sofia, So you’re gonna use a Command Spell to get Saber’s little butt over to the fight, and stop my Servant from getting utterly vaporised. Any questions?” a smile plastered her face as she spoke. This was their chance to wipe out a Servant, once and for all, honour and one-on-one duels be damned. This was a war.

There was no honour in war.

---

Up in the hills, on the front gate stairs to the Ryuudou Temple, a single girl sat waiting, a note clutched in her hands. For everything in the town that she watched with her pure blue eyes, she never once moved from her position.

Her sister had gone into Miyama with her servant, and told her to stay home; but that alone was not the reason she sat at the gate. There was something wrong; it felt like somebody was here at the temple, the leyline was theirs but it was going someplace else, if her eyes did not betray her.

Nonetheless, Sera told her to stay here, so that is what she did.

“I like your dedication and honesty to your sister, but look-” A cloaked Saber appeared next to Sofia with an arm outstretched towards the town, her activated pure eyes reflecting Saber while she sat down.

“The fights can’t be avoided, even though some certainly like to put on a show...but the fire, It’s chaos; We should have helped evacuate the citizens.” Saber calmly suggested.

“I...the fire is doused, it’s not going to hurt anyone anymore-”

“Now there’s this weird thing in the woods that I can’t explain.” She continued

“I can see mana coming and going in that place, so we ca-”

“And then there’s this ridiculous lightning explosion!? I mean it’s just madness.” Saber’s voice was audibly raised, a bit of annoyance found within. “We should be out there, ending this war as soon as we can, not sitting here waiting for anything to find us.”

“I’m sorry, but we can’t leave the temple unguarded, surely you’ve felt that something’s wrong.”

“Everything’s wrong in this tow-” As she finished her sentence, Serafina appeared behind her as if out of thin air. And her words were music to Saber’s ears. she gave a single glance towards Sofia, and Sofia nodded, pulling her sleeve up to reveal her command spells.

“We’ve been waiting for this far too long to delay it with questions...Saber-”

As Sofia chanted her order, Saber raised her sword above her head; and as it did, large amounts of mana and energy began to envelop the sword twirling around it in an effort to be released.

“With a command spell, I order you...Head to the site of the lightning explosion and help Berserker!”

Red light flashed from the marks adorning the younger sisters hand, spreading out and unto her Servant, before they vanished. For Saber, the world seemed to turn, and tear apart as she was dragged across the world in a mere instant. The next moment she appeared, atop the demolished land that once held the Foreigner’s District. You could see for miles. Miles of pure devastation. How many lives had been lost here, she had to wonder.

But now was no time for deliberation. Her eyes caught exactly what she was brought here to do. Before her sat the radiating, incandescent light of Rho Aias, the Noble Phantasm of Berserker, and past that, the seven heads of a Divine Beast lashed out at its form. Saber knew this beast. Not in life, but she knew it. And then there was the last being, a small girl, no doubt the summoner of that monstrosity. She leapt into the air, intent on tearing through her ally.

The path to victory was obvious. With her hood down, blue hair fell around the cloak, exposing her face to the sunlight. The winds coating her sword like a sheath dissipated violently, allowing the shimmer of day to glint off its impressive, reflective surface. But as the winds seemed to vanish, not moments later they picked up again, in a violent, tumultuous cacophony, surrounding the blade in its entirety. But this was not to obscure it. No, this was something different. This was a Noble Phantasm. The Servant raised her sword, and from her lips echoed a single word.



She swung the blade, horizontally, carving through the air as she went. The raging hurricane that surrounded the blade churned and twisted in what could only be described as nervous anticipation. This was the first time this attack had been leased this war, and at its very first enemy. Like a wave, the sheer wall of wind tore through the gap between the three Servants as the enemy Berserker fell from the sky. This attack would hit her, without fail, if she didn’t move from its path.

But perhaps that Servant wouldn’t. She had summoned that beast after all. That thing. Yes, Saber knew that thing. Yamata-no-Orochi, the eight-headed serpent slain by Susanoo. From its dead body was plucked the Grass-Cutting Sword, the Kusanagi. The very blade that swung now, at the Oni who could only be known as the child of that monstrosity. That beast would fall to its own blade.

For Saber’s Name was Yamato Takeru.

The draugr hopped onto the crashed debris with a surprising amount of nimbleness, lightning arcing across it's skin as it looked for that which it's Master sought. Tesla squinted through his monocle from atop the Church, scanning the debris for it's most likely location. Ah, there we go. If the train crashed in such a particular way that debris would end up in such a formation, the spear would have to be under that pile of twisted metal and flesh. Tesla frowned as he saw people struggling to crawl to safety, bleeding out in piles of bodies. Truly this war was a disaster on a scale unlike any Japan had seen. Regardless, the Draugr got to work as it lifted metal off of the discarded spear, grabbing it with one hand while holding up several tons of scrap with the other. Tesla nodded to himself as he scanned the horizon, vaguely noting the other familiars on their way there already. Two more draugr leapt from the Church towards the Railyard, they would be there within minutes. But until then, Tesla sighed as several invisible red lines appeared all around the trains. A child clung to his deceased mother, crying as he knelt on his unmangled leg.

The lines disappeared, the mortar cannons retreating into the Church as the draugr began heading back. All it needed to do was make it back to the fence, after that the spear was theirs. And so the draugr leapt towards the Church to rendezvous with it's fellow corpses, meeting up with them in the middle and preparing for battle as they retreated.

No sooner than her blade had sunk in did she hear the sound, the echoes of a single but familiar word and the air-rending sound of hurricane force winds. Rho Aias shattered and Shuten was sent tumbling into the air end over end, saved from the fatal onslaught of the new foes attack by her own slain enemies shield but not from the enormous afterblast of pure wind... And thus deprived of her meal!She shrieked in raw fury as she tumbled away end-over-end and towards the river...

But she recognized that attack too, and even now as she was flung bodily through the air she was smart enough to know full well this was not something she could easily trust Orochi to deal with unsupervised. It would be better to dismiss him now than to let him be slain. "OTOU-SAN, AWAY!" The enormous beast exploded into greasy black smoke, twisting and writhing through the air like a million tiny snakes before fading away. All that was left behind was eight little drops of Shuten's own blood, their divinity consumed by the summoning. A catalyst not entirely mundane, for it was the blood of an oni, but far less potent than if it had been straight from the source- or Orochi himself.

She crashed into the water like a tiny missile, sinking nearly to the bottom of the riverbed. She would not come up, her form astralized before it ever left the water. It was time to go check up on Ana, and figure out what this new tree nonsense was about. Maybe he would have some good news to cheer her up after this awful little farce of a battle!

---

<moving to the river, then if no interference back to the Lucus Workshop>
@vocab@addamas@Art of Fun

Oh.

Ach had fled.

Damn.

Well, he'd be back.

They always came back.

At any rate, the arrival of his newest guest in the wake of his second-best student's flight caused the Archer to offer a drunken grin in response. Without warning, a gallon-sized bottle of the requested drink manifested in his hands, to be passed off to the new arrival.

As expected of Chiron.

"Drink up, kid. When ya head starts spinnin', come on in. Lotta crazy stuff happenin' lately, but here at Pelion's Pub? Stability, trust, family, blackouts, that's what ya can expect."

With that said, the Archer moved to reenter his bar, as all the solicitors were finally chased off.

"...oh, huh."

It seemed like the kid from earlier had poofed off. Poor bastard, looked like he'd gotten shanked while dealing with Chiron's punishment. Eh, that was life for you.

Also apparently there was a tree? He couldn't really bring himself to be excited about that, though. Let the humans do their shit.

---

It arrived.

In the first place, its travel speed and initial distance to the site made such things trivial.

In the second place, its master had been watching the proceedings from their first occurrence.

Thus, it was only natural. It was only natural that he would realize that what had arrived here was a perfect opportunity for it, in the same way that he had realized that it posed a perfect opportunity for himself, albeit in a different way.

It was only natural that it would be sent to retrieve the object that had resulted from a battle on the other side of the city.

Its master's familiar network made such things as locating it trivial. In the negligible time needed for it to arrive, it was already aware of where its target was.

In the first place, its speed was leagues ahead of those other trifling familiars being sent for the target. As such, well before the arrival of the draugr, it was there.

It located the spear.

It grasped the spear.

Take.

And so it departed.