Haruka & The Great Holy Grail War
At Yggdmillenia Castle, Fiore and the other Masters were slowly coming to terms that their most prized possession was now gone.
"The Greater Grail was stolen by the Red Faction while we were preoccupied with the battle… smart bastards…!" Gordes growled as he punched a wall.
"Uncle Gordes, I know how you feel, but please refrain from damaging more of the castle." Fiore tried to soothe the older mage, but her voice was tight with worry. Caules could only stand back as he watched his sister try and reason with the enraged Musik, silently checking on Frankenstein's condition via their mental link.
Gordes growled. "On top of that, that stray homunculus has the gall to return and free the rest of them! How are we supposed to continue our battle after this?!"
On another side of the castle, Roche sighed mournfully as he gazed at all the destroyed golems. "Teacher's golems were no good against Servants… but that's what we anticipated, though. Alright, I'll go make more for him when he gets back! We'll need to replenish our numbers as fast as possible!"
Finally, on the outer field, a very angry Celenike was confronting Astolfo. Sieg could only watch on as Arthur hovered close to him, wary eyes on Celenike and Siegfried. For his credit, Siegfried seemed more cautious of Celenike than Arthur, and was slowly retreating to where Frankenstein was watching the exchange curiously. Surprisingly, he hadn't been ordered to accompany Vlad to the Hanging Gardens, but instead told to keep guard on what was left of the castle with Frankenstein and Astolfo. He hadn't minded the order, but deep down wished he could have clashed with Karna again.
The two Sabers snapped out of their thoughts as Celenike raised her hand, a command seal flashing as it was used. "Rider, I command you to kill this homunculus!"
"Master, please!" Astolfo cried, struggling against the order. "Don't kill him!"
"Good; there's the face I wanted to see! All twisted up with despair!" Celenike shrieked, her eyes wide and crazed.
Astolfo's large lance materialized as he swung it at Sieg, but Arthur blocked and knocked the Rider back. "Saber of Black, get him away from here!"
Siegfried nodded and pushed Sieg behind him.
Celenike tched and another command seal glowed. "I order you once again. Kill that homunculus, Rider!"
"Master, please!"
Boosted by two command seals, Astolfo still wasn't able to compare against Arthur's skill and instincts, and was being pushed back.
Sieg clenched his fists. "Can't we do anything to help?" He asked Siegfried.
Siegfried shook his head. He kept Balmung at the ready in case Celenike decided to approach Sieg herself, but she seemed to prefer watching Astolfo fight Arthur. "The easiest way to solve this would be to kill Celenike, but that would sever Rider's connection with the world. The other way would be to kill Rider, but…"
"He saved me. I don't want him to die."
"Uuu…?" Frankenstein pointed at Sieg.
"What is it, Berserker?" Siegfried asked.
"Ha… nd…" Frankenstein pointed at Sieg's hand.
"Are you asking if I could contract with Astolfo?"
"Uuu!" Frankenstein nodded.
"I would, but I don't have Command Seals…"
"I am curious, though… your Saber considered to be a rogue Servant to us in the Black Faction. If he rescued you, then who is his Master…?"
"The same one who diverted Arthur's mana consumption to me. His Master has the command seals and can contract with Astolfo, but I doubt they would be able to at this moment." Sieg spoke carefully, making sure not to reveal Haruka's identity to Siegfried. While he really did want to trust Siegfried with the information, now was not the time.
"Your rescuer seems to be a skilled magus. What did they want with you?"
"I wouldn't know the full reason why… but you may be able to ask them later."
For now, the homunculus and two Servants could only watch as two other Servants fought with their all.
***
The Black Faction and Jeanne arrived at the chapel to witness a stare-off between Haruka, Karna, Semiramis, Amakusa, Achilles, and Atalanta.
To be precise, it wasn't really a stare-off. Semiramis wasn't staring, but instead glaring at Haruka, who had a disturbing expression on her face. It was caught between a grimace and a smirk, with some regret mixed in. Karna was glancing worriedly at his Master, while Achilles and Atalanta were glaring daggers at Amakusa.
Semiramis spoke first, directing her question at Haruka. "You meant to betray us all along, didn't you, girl? You've helped out the Black Faction far too many times to call you a loyal Master to the Red Faction."
"Oh? What makes you think that?" Haruka replied in a steady tone. She was still holding onto Karna for support, but she stood tall, fearlessly staring back at the Assyrian queen.
"Answer me, girl."
"Who said I was on your side in the first place? I play for one side and that's my side. Our goals happened to coincide so I got you to help me out. I told you I was from the future, wasn't I? Amakusa Shirou Tokisada's wish will bring humanity to ruin, and as a Master who works for the preservation of humanity, I will not let that stand."
"Preservation of humanity…?" Jeanne breathed.
"Assassin, you can eliminate her later," Amakusa said, a pleasant smile on his face as if he was talking about the weather. "As we had said earlier, we had an ultimatum for the Servants on this Greater Holy Grail War. We have control of the Greater Grail. I address the Black Faction here: surrender."
Vlad laughed, a dangerous edge to his voice. "You think we would give up so easily? There is no clear advantage that I can see surrendering to you."
"Oh? Brave words from one who is trapped in a belly's beast," Semiramis commented casually.
"Let's hope it doesn't turn out to be a boulder in its stomach," Chiron retorted.
"Avicebron, let's hear your opinion," Amakusa said.
"How about no," Haruka cut in, Black Key portals materializing around her. "Solomon ibn Gabirol, Master of Golems, your wish is to complete your Noble Phantasm, Golem Keter Malkuth. To do so, you will betray the Black Faction and contract with the Red Faction, and betray your own Master by sacrificing him to be the golem's core. You don't need the Holy Grail for your wish at all."
"You know too much, girl," Avicebron replied after a few moments of stunned silence.
"I'll admit this war hasn't been going the way I wanted, but if you die here then one of my headaches will be over."
"Caster, do you really dare to betray us?" Vlad inquired, his voice low and angry.
"I will work for whichever faction will help me achieve my wish."
"Then fall," Vlad spoke simply. His actions spoke louder though, as multiple stakes shot up and impaled Avicebron's body where he stood. One stake, in particular, had gone through his heart to shatter his Spirit Core, and Avicebron fell to his knees, blood pouring out of his wounds even as he began fading.
"So this… is… my end…" Avicebron choked out as he faded. "Let humanity… fall…" He disappeared.
In the silence that followed, Haruka closed her portals. "Well, one Servant down." Her voice was detached and hollow. "What do you want now, Amakusa?"
"My earlier wish remains. Surrender or die here."
"I'd rather not surrender or die here, thank you very much. Not when your wish is the subjugation of humanity under the guise of salvation."
"Oya, it looks like my wishes have been revealed to you all," Amakusa said without any shock in his tone. "I have been waiting 60 years for this moment—I cannot die here. Do you really think you can defeat us all here in our own territory?"
"Of course not, but if you'd let me say something—"
"Denied," Semiramis hissed poisonously.
"You didn't let me finish," Haruka said petulantly, crossing her arms. " I have the power to end you right here and right now, even without the Black Faction's power."
"What?" Achilles asked in surprise.
"Here's what I'm seeing right here, right now. On Amakusa Shirou Tokisada's side, we have a Ruler-class Servant, an Assassin-class Servant who controls this entire territory, and a Rider and Archer both with great power thanks to their lore and under Amakusa's control thanks to him taking their Masters's Command Seals. On the Black Faction's side, there's a Lancer-class Servant with authority over the land, and an Archer-class Servant with high Divinity and strength. There's another Ruler with no affiliation to any faction. And then, there's my side, and I'll temporarily ally myself with the Black Faction for now. I have a Lancer-class Servant with great conceptual lore. However, I do have a trump card." A wide grin stretched across her face as she held up her hand, Command Seals flashing. "By the power of my Command Seal, I order you. Arthur Pendragon, King of Knights, come to my side."
In a flash of red light, Arthur appeared at Haruka's side, Excalibur unsheathed yet still hidden behind Invisible Air. "Master."
Everyone besides Karna gaped.
"Wait, wait, you're the rogue Master?!" Achilles exclaimed.
"You—how are you able to contract to two Servants?!" Jeanne cried. "The Greater Grail would not have allowed this!"
"Yeah, that's the problem: Arthur and Karna here weren't summoned by the Grail. I summoned them into this plane of the Kaleidoscope via the contracts I have with them in my world." And Haruka grinned wider, showing off her remaining Command Seal. "I did a little bit of research and turns out I can summon any Servant I'm contracted to back in my own world with just one Command Seal . I have over 100 Servants contracted to me—some who would love a fight. Would you like me to summon Gilgamesh here, perhaps? Or maybe a goddess like Ishtar or Quetzalcoatl? Or maybe a Grand Servant like the First Hassan? And by the way, my Command Seals replenish themselves and my contracts don't break even if I use them all, so I can summon as many as I want. Right here, and right now. I can easily call them here to kill you and wreck this place. Shall I demonstrate for you?"
"All the better to kill you now, girl," Semiramis hissed, chains shooting at Haruka. They were deflected immediately by Karna and Arthur before they even got within a few metres of her, and were destroyed by blasts of wind and fire.
Semiramis gritted her teeth, glancing at Amakusa for orders. Achilles and Atalanta continued to stare at Haruka silently, something akin to respect in Achilles's expression and shock in Atalanta's.
Haruka slowly raised up her hand. "By the power of my Command Seals, I order—"
"Enough," Amakusa interrupted. "I will allow you to retreat here. But bear this in mind—do you really think you will be able to win the war when we have the Greater Grail no matter how many Servants you summon?"
"When there's a will, there's a way. And to quote Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." With that, Haruka calmly walked out the door with Karna and Arthur trailing behind her, but everyone could hear an explosion after a few seconds, indicating that she had blasted her way out.
"Lancer, what should we do?" Chiron asked.
"We have no choice but to withdraw here. Will you come with us, Ruler?" Vlad asked.
"It seems I have no choice since the rules for this war appear to have been completely overturned," Jeanne said with a sigh. She turned to Amakusa. "Know this, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada—-I swear by my flag that I will not let your wish come to fruition."
The three Servants rushed out of the room, leaving behind a contemplative Amakusa and seething Semiramis. Achilles and Atalanta faded into spirit form to leave the two be.