Fate/Extra: The Midnight Sea

[ItsaRandomUsername]

Welp, gonna have to re-read this because I don't remember a thing. Now I have a convenient excuse to do so.

[Xyphos]

Unfortunately I don't think my lecturer will accept writing this as a good excuse for not doing my coursework (I wish it was though).

If anyone has the time, how was the crap romance with Shun and his girlfriend? I must admit it was the first time I've tried writing this sort of scene.

[Kishou the Badger]

It was cute and humorous, IMO. Would love to read more of those, and possibly with Saber as the focus sometime too.

[Xyphos]

Act 1: Scene 7

3 Days Remaining

Afternoon
_______________

"It's weird..." A voice muttered as Mihara entered the library. Looking around, he noticed the Librarian NPC at his desk, still engrossed in his video game. Then at the opposite end of the room from the entrance, a Master sat at a desk, pouring over a book and muttering to himself.

"Why isn't Tousaka taking me seriously?" The Master fumed, evidently not aware that his words could be heard from a fair distance away. "Seriously, this is really getting on my nerves." He ruffled his head furiously, as though to emphasise the point to himself.

‘I hope you can leave with your dignity intact.' Mihara couldn't help but comment wryly as he watched the Master for a few more moments before heading deeper into the library. ‘If you can survive in the first place.’

"Damnit, I'll show her." The Master's last words managed to reach him as he was walking away. "I'll show her just how much of a dirty bastard I can be."

"Good luck with that." Mihara couldn't help but mumble. While he didn't know Rin Tousaka's true strength, he certainly wasn't partial to the idea of being paired against her, especially for the first round.

Regardless, he pushed the thought out of his head as he approached the 'Folklore and Mythology' section of the library, the library's second largest following 'History'.

“Let’s see now…” Mihara muttered to himself as he pulled out a book and sat down on a nearby table to read. “The Knights of the Round Table… I should be able to find something useful about Sir Gawain in this book.”

Wasting little time after his trip to the Chapel, Mihara and his Servants had headed to the second floor of the school. When he was done with his research, the Master intended to recall his Servants via their mental link, before going to the Arena to train.

‘I probably shouldn’t spend too much time focusing on him.’ He thought. ‘There’s another more immediate opponent to worry about after all.’

“One of the major Knights of the Arthurian cycle, and even thought by some to be King Arthur’s nephew.” He began murmuring to himself. “With skill rivalling that of Sir Lancelot, perhaps one of the strongest Knights of King Arthur’s Round Table, the two had at best a discordant relationship due to Sir Lancelot’s slaying of both of Gawain’s brothers. Due to Sir Gawain’s overwhelming nobility and youthful impetuousness, he placed his family ties above all else.”

‘Well, that’s not really much of a surprise there.’ He thought to himself wryly. ‘Sir Lancelot huh… I hope I don’t end up encountering too many Knights of the Round Table here. Come to think of it, it'd be terrifying if King Arthur was here too!’

“It was however, Sir Gawain’s hatred of Sir Lancelot, that eventually led to his and King Arthur’s downfall. And at the Battle of Camlann, Sir Gawain was slain by Sir Lancelot.”

He sighed to himself as he thought about what he had just read. Again, the information that he had picked up was quite general, and pointed to little other than the Servant’s personality.

‘He doesn’t seem at all like what this book describes though.’ He thought, remembering the towering Knight in White. ‘Well, the 'overwhelming nobility' bit is true, I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to change the 'youthful impetuousness' part of him, in light of what had happened in life. Either way, this won’t be of much help to me for the moment.’

Just as he finished his thought he felt his terminal vibrating in his pocket, having managed to turn off its volume beforehand.

Taking it out of his pocket, he noticed the words forming immediately on the screen in a plain, glowing blue font:

The second cipher key has been generated on the second floor.

‘Hmm, I remember that priest saying something about this.’ He thought as he read the words one more time. ‘Still, since I’m here I should probably try and find a little bit more about Gawain before I head down to the Arena.’

With that thought he stood up again, walking over to the shelf and replacing the book. And just as he was about to look for another book, a familiar voice called out to him.

“Hey, look what the cat dragged in!” Mihara heard, before he turned around from the bookshelf to find Shinji standing nearby. ”Ha, I never expected to run into you here!”

“I think we both know that’s a lie, Shinji.” Mihara replied, initially lost for words.

“Yeah who am I kidding huh?” The blue-haired magus laughed, the sound of his voice echoing in the otherwise-silent library. “The library’s the best place to find info on enemy Servants. Since we’ve been pals during the prelims I know all about you, so I expect you won’t let up easily.” He cocked his head to the side as he noticed Mihara’s recent rummaging on the shelves.

“Still though, it looks like you’re having a hell of a time trying to find the book you want.” He commented.

“Well, about that-” Mihara scratched his head as he glanced back to the shelves.

“Unfortunately for you, I’ve taken every book about my Servant and hid them!” Shinji continued, cutting Mihara mid-sentence. “Hey, I know what it’s like being stuck in a library reading nothing but junk day-in day-out, so I thought you’d have more fun this way.”

‘I wasn’t actually looking for a book about your Servant, but…’ Mihara thought.

“You’re serious, Shinji?” He asked instead, slightly shocked that someone could actually do that anyway.

“Hey, you’re looking at the best of the best anyway.” Shinji replied, his ego clearly inflating again. “I’ll even give you a hint since I’m so nice: I stashed them somewhere on the Arena’s Second Floor. Still, I wonder if a weaksauce Master like you’d be able to find them anyway!” At this the blue-haired hacker started laughing again as he turned away.

“Aw, shaddup!” A familiar voice yelled from across the library, cutting off Shinji’s laughter as a thick leather-bound book came flying across the corridor with surprising speed.

“Buh!” With an almost sickening thud, the spine of said book smashed straight into Shinji’s smug face, sending him reeling backwards with a grunt.

“Oy!” He shouted through the pain as he steadied himself, his eyes scanning the room for the culprit. “Who the hell threw-“

“A library’s s’posed ta be a place fer silent study.” A black-clad NPC cut him off mid-sentence, his green eyes glaring at the magus, his left hand still held firmly onto his game console. “Honestly, first you’s makes off with one o’ my books, then comes back just ta start a ruckus?!”

“Oh shut up you stupid program.” Shinji replied with a smug smile despite a thick, distinct red mark appearing down the middle of his face from earlier. “If you actually paid attention to your job you would’ve caught me anyway.”

“Oh ho, now you’s insinuatin’ I can’t do my job properly now eh?” He replied, an eye twitching as he turned to a neighbouring bookshelf and pulling out the thickest book he could.

Just as he did Mihara noticed that almost all of the books on the neighbouring shelves also pulled themselves out automatically, the cacophony of scratching wood ominously ringing in the now-silent library.

Turning his head back to the stunned magus with a chilling smile, the NPC started heaving the book in his hand, the swarm of books surrounding him following his actions exactly in concert.

“Now, you’s dare say that again and I’s promise," the NPC threatened, jabbing the book at the wayward magus. "You’s won’t needs no grave ta be buried with, ‘cause you’s be buried under a grave of my books!”

“Eek!” Shinji gave a strange shriek of terror, before bolting out the door at the thought of so many books being launched at him.

“Tch, Jesus.” The NPC spat as he watched the door for a few moments before placing the book in his hand back on the shelf in its appropriate position, the swarm of books near him following suit.

“Still, what’s I gonna do ‘bout those books he swiped?” He thought out loud as he turned around, biting his nail as he went back to the counter at the front of the library, some Masters staring at him in shock. “The SERAPH’s gonna ‘ave my ‘ead for this if I don’t bring ‘em back sharpish.”

“If I want to try and find those books Shinji’s hidden, I should probably leave now.” Mihara muttered, also staring at the NPC’s back as he returned to his desk, apparently still in thought.

“Saber, Caster, can you hear me?” He asked through the mental link, closing his eyes.

“Loud and clear, Master!” Caster answered first.

“Yes, Master.” Saber’s voice came in second. “Are we ready to continue with today’s training?”

“Mmm, sort of.” He answered. “I’ve just met Shinji at the library: He’s just tried to hide some information related to his Servant apparently. I’m guessing he couldn’t delete said information and shoved it into the Arena instead.”

“Hmph, then it falls to us to reclaim it.” Saber answered with her usual assuredness. “Do we have any indication of where he may have hidden it within the Arena?”

“I believe the second floor of the Arena’s just been generate today, right?” Caster piqued.

“Yes, it should have, by what Father Kotomine said before.” Mihara answered. “That and I also received notification via the terminal a bit earlier. Shinji also said he’s put it down there somewhere.”

“We’d better go and get that stuff soon then.” Caster said. “The Arena is usually purged of data on a semi-regular basis. Thought I doubt it’ll do it so quickly after being generated, it never hurts to act quickly: A bird in hand is worth two in the bush after all!”

“My thoughts as well.” Mihara nodded automatically, though his mind was still focused on the mental link. ”We can also try and grab the second Trigger as well. I’m going down to the Arena now, I’ll meet the two of you there.”

With a final confirmation from his two Servants, the Master terminated the mental link and left the library, the doors sliding closed behind him softly as he made his way to the Gym outside the school.

_______________


Evening
_______________

“Second floor today, isn’t it?” He asked himself as he fished out his terminal, looking at the panel embedded into the wall next to the School Gym.

Just like the other times he entered the Arena before, he held up his terminal towards the panel, receiving a beep in response. Unlike the previous times however, the door did not automatically open, instead his terminal activating itself with two lines written on it in a plain, glowing blue font:

Go to the First Floor?

Go to the Second Floor?

“Well, that explains it.” He murmured to himself as he selected the second option.

Immediately, he heard the metal clink sound from the Gym doors in response, telling him that the path was now open.

“Very good, let us make haste Praetor.” Saber’s disembodied voice spoke as he nodded in response, stepping forward and pushing the doors open.

Just like the first time he had entered the Gym, he was greeted by a small, pitch-black room. Without flinching he heard the doors slam shut behind him as he began to wait once more.

A few moments passed, before he began to see something form from within the gloom.

A floating cube, each of its six faces slowly pulsating in a different colour as it rotated sluggishly in midair.

As more seconds passed by, the cube began to pick up the pace in its rotations, while smaller cubes began to pop out and circle the larger cube. Far away in every direction he could see, strange blue lines were being etched into what he presumed to be a wall of some sort.

Abruptly, a flash of bright light shot out from the cube, blinding Mihara's vision with pure white. But as quickly as it came, the light disappeared, revealing that the area had transformed from what it was a few moments ago.

Instead of the black abyss from before, Mihara noted that he now stood upon what he could only describe as a gigantic galleon; the immense wooden warships of the 16^th-17^th century. Its state was far away from what he would have expected it to look like during it’s heyday however. Patched and torn sails, broken masts, gaping holes in the deck, moss and barnacles growing almost everywhere, he almost felt a sense of pity seeing such an immense ship being left to rot.

Regardless, he still could not help but be impressed by its size, and yet when he looked over its edge he was absolutely stunned. For the galleon had not sunken to the bottom of the ocean floor as he had expected.

It was actually suspended halfway in the deep waters, overlooking a veritable ship graveyard. Broken husks of ships lay deposited upon the sandy ocean floor below while chips of wood, planking, broken crates and masts were scattered around high and low like leaves on a stormy day.

And just like the ship he stood on, in the gloomy distance he could again see several more impressive galleons, floating in the water half-sunken.

“Hmm, this is quite an impressive vessel, if only in terms of its size.” Saber observed as she looked up and down the deck. “’Tis a pity that I was not alive to see this behemoth in its full glory, sailing upon the oceans.”

‘Speaking of Oceans, I guess I’m no longer surprised at the fact that I can breathe underwater…’ Mihara thought wryly, watching small bubbles float up from the depths below past him and onwards up.

“Hmm, but with sooo much stuff everywhere, it’ll be easy for someone to be hiding in wait for us…” Caster noted, apparently not as impressed by the sight. “And for one, I can definitely sense that slimy punk somewhere around the area. His little sidekick and both their Servants are probably here too actually.”

“She speaks the truth.” Saber acknowledged. “I too can sense… an unpleasant presence somewhere nearby. We should quickly get the information we seek and leave. It would be disastrous if they decide to strike at our backs halfway through our search.”

“Easier said than done.” Mihara commented, still stupefied at the graveyard below him. “For that matter, how are we supposed to get off this ship and down there, let alone those other ships still floating?”

“To begin with he may have simply placed it on this ship somewhere.” Saber answered. “We should at least finish searching this ship before moving elsewhere, although even for someone as dim as him, leaving it so close to the starting position would be an exceptional case of laziness.”

“You may also want to check the map your terminal-thing has as well, Mihara.” Caster added. “Some of those ships are probably just part of the scenery.”

“Yeah, good idea.” Mihara nodded in response as he reached for his terminal. “It’d also be a good idea to try and get a feel for the area, I’m guessing we’ll be frequenting this, ‘floor’, more often now.”

Quickly he brought up his interface, the white holographic screen floating before him as he opened up the map of the floor that had already been installed.

“Yeah, you’re right Caster.” Mihara nodded again as he analysed the image before him. “Apparently we can only reach these ‘floating’ wrecks; the wrecks at the bottom aren’t displayed on the map at all.”

“Very good, Master.” Saber nodded as she stepped up next to him to take a look herself, Caster doing the same on his opposite side. “So it appears we have four different shipwrecks that we may attempt to investigate.”

“Yeah.” Mihara confirmed her observations. “That, and each shipwreck seems to have about four explorable decks each. It seems like a lot of the original ship structure’s been lost, there are a number of sizeable holes in some of those decks.” He continued speaking as he played around with the map, a 3D image of each shipwreck being generated as he did.

“I believe it would be prudent if we were to set about exploring this wreck first.” Saber declared. “In the meantime we should also establish how we are meant to traverse such a chasm as that, before we think about which wreck to explore next.” She gestured to the open sea between the wreck they stood on and the vague silhouette of the next wreck, a fair distance away.

“Wouldn’t you be able to jump that far?” Mihara asked as he looked at her, remembering their jump up the cliffs two days ago during their first encounter with their opponents.

‘Come to think of it, that cliff wasn’t all that high actually.’ He thought, remembering the day.

“Even though that Aozaki woman has managed to re-establish some of my former glory,” Saber began, crossing her arms as she looked at the distant wreck. “I am still at only a fraction of my full strength. I must admit that crossing such a vast distance like this would be beyond my current capabilities.”

“I see…” Mihara grimaced at this, remembering again the significant disadvantage he had been put at.

“Well I’m sure the SERAPH’s put some sort of passage that’ll let us get over there.” Caster said as she continued to observe the map. “It’s probably just a matter of trying to find it.”

“True... Hmm?” Mihara began as he turned back to his map, before noticing something that stopped him. “Wait a minute...”

At the bottom right corner of the holographic interface he noticed a white envelope suddenly appear, blinking at a medium pace as he felt the terminal in his hands begin to vibrate.

“Hm?” Caster murmured as she tilted her head. “Mail?”

“Well, I wasn’t expecting anything…” He replied cautiously as he stretched his free hand to touch the icon.

As he did, the map of the Arena was quickly replaced by a square screen. And on it appeared a familiar blond, black-clad NPC, a bookshelf behind him.

“Howdy Mihara!” The NPC said, waving a hand.

“The librarian NPC…” The Master muttered, more a question than a statement. As he did, he felt his Servants quickly disappear from sight, probably in response to the sudden appearance of this second party.

“Yep, the one ‘an only!” The man on the screen replied energetically.

“Well, what can I do for you?” Mihara asked hesitantly, unsure what to make of this sudden call.

“Straight ta the point, right?” The NPC asked with a smile. “I like that ‘bout you’s ya know? Well, anywho, I remember seein’ you’s round the Library earlier, correct?”

“Yeah, I was.” He answered, still not completely used to the NPC’s strange accent.

“Right.” the NPC nodded his head in confirmation. “You’s be paired with that snitch, Shinji, I’m thinking fer your Elimination Match if I be rememberin’ proper, so I need ya ta do me a favour if you’s be free and in the Arena right now.”

“Yeah, I’m in the Arena right now.” Mihara confirmed as he understood the nature of the call. “Get the books that Shinji stole from the Library back?”

“Yep, you’s got it bro!” The NPC nodded his head again with a wide grin on his face. “Honestly, the SERAPH’s a real slave-driver, y’knows? They don’t tolerate nothin’ from us NPC’s, s‘pecting everything ta be spick ‘n span two-four-seven!”

“Well, I don’t mind getting it back for you, since I myself need the information Shinji’s put down here, but-” Mihara interrupted, not wanting to wait around much longer than necessary, what with Shinji and his Servant lurking somewhere nearby.

“Nah, ‘o course I ain’t gonna let you’s run my errands without some kinda reward.” The NPC cut him off while giving a grin, returning to the subject on hand after badmouthing his ‘employer’. “That, an’ I betcha’s havin’ a mighty hard time tryin’ ta find where that slimeball stashed the goods, right?”

“Yeah, unfortunately we don’t have any idea where to start looking for them, what with the four shipwrecks here.” Mihara replied, looking around the area and re-counting the floating hulks.

“Well, right now I’s be in the Library usin’ a program one ‘o my predecessor’s been testing.” The NPC continued. “It be a mighty fine piece ‘o work this, except fer them few flaws I took care of just a couple ‘o days ago. Anywho, seems like this piece ‘o machinery can pinpoint the location ‘o them ‘Item Folders’ fer ya.”

“Really?” He asked, surprised that such a tool existed. “Wait, how do you know he’s going to put it inside an Item Folder? Can’t he just leave it lying around somewhere? It’d be much, much harder if that were the case.”

“Naw, that snitch can’t do that.” The NPC shook his head. “If he did, the SERAPH’d recognize it’s presence and have it sent back ta me, y’know? He’s gotta have to stash them books in an Item Folder somewhere in the Arena. Anywho, ta make yer job easier I’ll send over them points fer ya to take a look at.”

“Okay, thank you very much.” Mihara answered, processing the information with relief. Searching through these four wrecks for a single item was going to be hellish at best if said item had nothing to indicate its presence.

“Well, they ain’ gonna be able ta tell you’s what’s in them folders, but you’s won’t needs ta look high ‘n low fer em.” The NPC conceded, rocking his head side to side. “Still tho, as compensation fer doing my work fer me, how’s about I give you’s a copy ‘o this ‘ere program?”

“Eh? Seriously?” Mihara asked, caught off-guard by the offer before remembering what had happened earlier that day with Taiga Fujimura.

“Sure I’m sure.” The NPC nodded again. “It be tha least I can do fer you’s. Unfortunately us NPC’s ain’t allowed into ta Arena, you’s know? Needs ta send one ‘o our errand boys out there instead, tho they ain’t the brightest bulbs in the shed. Easier if we could git one ‘o you’s Masters ta help out.”

“Yeah, I understand, thank you.” The Master nodded in acceptance. “I’ll have a look around these wrecks for you and the book. When I’m done I’ll bring them back to the library for you at the end of today.”

“Nice.” The NPC said with a grin. “I’ll ‘ave that program fer you’s ready fer pickup by then. You’s saved me a lotta trouble man, thanks again.”

“You’re welcome.” Mihara replied. “We’ll get the book back for the library, but, I’ve noticed that all these shipwrecks seem to be completely separated from each other.”

“Oh, ya.” The NPC snapped his fingers on the other side of the screen in realization of something. “Ya, I should’a told you’s that earlier. There be a few hidden paths here ‘n there leading between some areas ‘o the Arena. Different floors may have differing numbers ‘o them paths too, so some you’s get none, some you’s get a few, some have the entire floor made ‘o them paths. Kotomine, came up with ‘em fer this tourney, S’posed ta make it trickier fer Masters he said.”

“Why am I not surprised…” Mihara rolled his eyes in exasperation.

“Anywho, them paths ain’t gonna show up on the standard map unless you’s finds ‘em.” The Librarian continued with his explanation. “You’s gonna have ta experiment a wee bit, though there usually be some sign that there be a secret path ‘ere ‘an there if you’s be payin’ attention. Well, you’s could do that, but then my program could also map out them pesky paths for you’s too!”

“Wait, seriously?” Mihara asked incredulous. “You could’ve mentioned that from the beginning.”

“Heh, sorry ‘bout that but as I said, this ‘lil beaut’s still got some kinks ta work out first.” He answered. “Some ‘o them paths might not show up, and then the opposite too, y’know?”

“Ugh, okay then.” He shook his head as he accepted the explanation. “Either way, we’ll start looking for the books when you send over that map them.”

“Sure will.” The NPC nodded again. “I’ll send ‘em over once this call’s finished. You’s really pullin’ my ass outta the fire today Mihara, I appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it, see you soon Libra.” Mihara replied, before noticing the screen blanking out after a few moments of waiting, a white phone laid flat appearing.

Closing the window he took another brief look at the map again, before noticing another envelope had appeared on his screen. Opening it, he noticed it contained a copy of the map he already had with him, except dotted around the 3D image were small yellow boxes. Presumably the location of the item folders scattered around the area.

And criss-crossing to the ships and across the holes in their decks were new white lines, presumably the ‘predicted’ locations of hidden paths within the Arena.

“Hm, that man is an interesting character.” Saber noted as she looked at the screen, having reappeared along with Caster. “Still, his programs will be of great use to use in the future, I would recommend being on good terms with him.”

“Well that probably hinges on us managing to find the book for him.” Mihara replied as he continued looking at the map. “We should probably look for places where Shinji might have tried to hide the book first before starting to move. I’m not too interested running around aimlessly in a place like this…”

“No kidding.” Caster commented as she took a closer look at the map. “While I do enjoy a good amount of exercise, this is really just excessive.”

“Indeed, there is a lot of ground to cover.” Saber concurred as she looked between the floating wrecks and the map. “It appears that there are three different wrecks arranged in a triangular formation, with another wreck placed equidistant from the three, at the centre of the triangle.”

“Yeah, that seems about right.” Mihara confirmed as his hands flowed across the screen, bringing up a separate map for each of the four wrecks. “Apparently the middle shipwreck also has a larger number of Item Folders present as compared to the three outlying wrecks too. We appear to be on one of the outlying wrecks here. The map that the Librarian provided has a couple of paths connected between the wrecks too, which we can’t see with the naked eye.”

“Umu, very good.” Saber nodded as she stepped closer to the map. “With this new information, where would that lowly bit-player hide his books… I suspect somewhere on the central wreck.”

“I would probably head there as well.” Mihara gave a wry smile as he moved the 3D map towards the wreck in question. “It looks as though this one has more holes than solid ground, though at the same time there’s a lot of hidden paths covering them.”

“It is a perfect place to hide something from us, if we did not have the benefit of this program.” Saber nodded. “We should remember to give our thanks to that NPC. Either way, with this new information at our disposal I am of the opinion that our search should begin there.”

“Agreed.” Mihara nodded as well as he zoomed the map out to try and find the closest hidden path that the Librarian had found for them.

“I just hope that NPC’s got his facts straight about those paths.” Caster said, looking over the edge of the ship dubiously before turning to the map. “I’m not really a fan of dropping from such insane heights…”

_______________

“That’s the seventh one.” Mihara muttered as he touched the floating blue cube in front of him.

"Ooh, what's in this one?" Caster asked, looking around him.

Having successfully found the 'secret path' connecting the wrecks thanks to the Librarian's map, Master and Servants were now slowly going through the large number of Item Folders scattered on the central ship. Having done a quick sweep of the top deck, the three had moved to explore one deck below.

"... No, this one isn't it either." He answered after a pause, shaking his head as he heard his terminal beep in acknowledgement of a new item. "Looks like a healing item instead."

Unfortunately up until now they hadn't had any luck in finding the book that Shinji had stolen.

"Hm, bad luck again then." The foxgirl replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, although it's proving to be like finding a needle in a haystack, don't you just love that feeling of anticipation just before you open one?"

"I have mixed feelings about that." The Master replied with a wry smile.

"At the very least, these items should prove useful in future battles with our opponents." Saber commented as she surveyed the deck, tilting her head slightly to look out of a square gun port, the cannon that previously occupied it long gone. "Regardless, we must keep moving and find that book quickly. That extra is still lurking around somewhere."

"Agreed, Saber." Mihara nodded as he brought up his terminal and the map once again.

"We should also continue be prepared for any of the SERAPH's programs." Saber added, still keeping watch. "We have encountered comparatively few numbers of them during our exploration of this vessel. There was a larger density of hostile programs on the first vessel we were on. I would have presumed that this vessel, at a confluence of paths and with a larger number of Item Folders present, would be better guarded."

"That could indicate that that jellyfish's been through here recently though." Caster answered, looking at the map over Mihara's shoulder. "Since the SERAPH's programs usually take a while to repopulate an area after we've gotten rid of them. Good riddance too, those low-res designs are an eyesore!"

"That does make sense actually." Mihara nodded his head as he checked the immediate area on the map. "I guess it's sort of like tracking the trail of an animal?"

"Yep!" Caster piqued. "And this little fox knows a thing or two about tracking!"

"I can guess." Mihara mumbled with another wry smile. "Still though; it seems like there’s another room with an Item Folder somewhere nearby. There's another large hole in the deck separating us from there, but the Librarian's found a hidden path for us. It could have been used as a storage room or crew quarters before."

"Umu, that sounds like another place that third-rate player would hide something of value." Saber nodded. "We should make haste."

With a nod of confirmation the three began moving again, Mihara leading the way with his Servants close behind, map at the ready.

"Well, even though I'm comparing it to tracking an animal..." Mihara began speaking again as the three moved through the creaking wooden decks. "I'm confused as to why Shinji's left all of these item folder scattered about untouched."

"The Item Folders are randomly generated for each Master, you know?" Caster answered.

"Really?" He asked, surprised.

"Yep." The foxgirl nodded. "The Arena actually has 'nodes' for these Item Folders to appear, and each Master gets a different item from the same node should they manage to access it."

"Huh, I guess that adds a bit of dynamic to it." Mihara nodded. "That would explain why those Item Folders we've found still had items in them. Shinji's probably already taken the items the SERAPH's designated for him." At this he couldn't help but think at the sort of randomization procedures the SERAPH has to go through, if this same system was applied to the 400 or so Masters in the Grail War.

“Wait…” Mihara began again as a question came up. “If that’s the case, then how did Shinji manage to plant the item in the Arena? Aren’t all these nodes automatically generated by the SERAPH? He wouldn’t be able to make a node by himself, can he?”

“No, that sort of stuff’s far beyond what that brat could know.” Caster scoffed. “He probably hacked into one of those nodes and replaced the item inside it with that book he stole. Unfortunately hacking the node like that would mean the SERAPH can’t designate the item within as ‘belonging’ to any one Master to pick up, like other Item Folders. A Security Measure just for times like this, otherwise a Master could hide something really powerful from his opponent without fear of discovery.”

“Hmm, I see.” The Master nodded his head, thinking the information through. “The SERAPH’s really thought things through, but… Actually, how do you know all this, Caster?"

"Eh?" The foxgirl jumped slightly.

"I mean, how did you know about how the Item Folder system works?" Mihara clarified, ignoring her startled reaction.

"Well, umm..." Caster began fumbling slightly, caught off-balance with the question.

"Such matters would probably be best discussed when we have returned to our Private Residence, Mihara." Saber cut in. "In the meantime, I believe we have arrived."

"A-aah! Yeah, gotta be careful not to step into that empty pit to who-knows-where!" Caster spoke again, switching the conversation as the three observed the giant hole in the deck, spreading from one side of the ship's hull to the other.

And beyond said gap, was a single shut door, flanked by two wooden, partially degraded staircases, one of which lead up to the main deck and the other one deck below.

"Yeah, that looks like the Captain's Quarters for this ship." Mihara confirmed as he focused on checking his map again. "Now, the hidden path should be about... Here."

Taking a deep breath, he positioned himself carefully along the area where the path would be according to his map, and took one, hesitant step into the black abyss before him.

And instead of falling down as one would expect to, his feet met hard ground, a white shimmer erupting from the point of impact, lighting the way forward across the chasm.

"Geez." He exhaled as he recognised the path appearing before him. "I'm losing hair every time I do that."

"Yeah, the SERAPH's being mean, making the Arena like this." Caster complained with a pout. "We could've just used a piece of junk lying about but nooo, these silly paths only react to a Master or a Servant. Even those stupid programs steer clear of these areas just to mislead us..."

"Either way we'd better keep moving." Mihara shook his head in exasperation as he stepped forward, the path shimmering beneath him as his Servants accompanied him.

Slowly the three walked up to the closed door before them, a strange feeling of anticipation coming over the Master as he gripped the cast-iron door knob.

Fortunately it wasn't locked, although he had no doubt that his Servants would have been able to break open the door regardless. Still, with a loud creak, the doors opened on its rusting hinges, revealing a spacious room.

“By looks alone, I would class this as a storage space of some sort.” Saber noted, stepping forward first carefully. “This place appears to be clear of Programs or traps.”

The room was dark, with only several small, circular cutout windows to the left and right, iron latches holding onto various wooden remains of what were presumably window covers. In the dim light, Mihara could still make out the presence of a large number of tattered cloth bags and broken crates lying around.

“This should be the bow of the ship.” Mihara muttered, checking the map again. “Seeing it up-close, it's as you said Saber, it was probably a storage room, maybe holding spare gunpowder and shot while the ship was in use.”

“Item Folder, spotted!” Caster shouted.

Turning to look, Mihara noticed a familiar glow emanating from a cluttered stack of crates nearby, obscuring the actual box itself. There was something slightly off though.

“An orange glow?” He asked, noting the unusual colour as he stepped forward to navigate around some of the scattered crates. “One of the rarer boxes then, this may be it-!”

Quickly reaching the glowing Item Folder, Mihara reached out and touched it’s edge, a familiar click sounding in the area as the box opened, a leather-bound book being revealed within.

“Yeah, this looks like it.” Mihara nodded as he stepped back to his Servants quickly. “This looks like the book Shinji was so desperate to hide.”

“Hmm, it’s reeeally old though.” Caster commented, looking at it. “While I doubt stuff like that can disintegrate in the Moon Cell, you can’t be too careful.”

“Yeah, you’re right, Caster.” Mihara answered as he carefully opened the book, his eyes slowly going over the faded, yellowing pieces of parchment. “Well, while it won’t disintegrate, much of the ink has faded but… There’s a name here at least.”

“…The Golden Hind?” He continued after a pause, trying to decipher the book’s faded contents. “It looks like there’s a number of islands mentioned here too, plus mention of other ships that had been successfully boarded, and their cargo seized.”

“Hmph, that sounds just like the Pirate I expected her to be.” Saber scoffed as she listened. “It is a pity that her True Name is not legible, but this will give us valuable information to deduce it.”

“Damnit!” A familiar voice echoed suddenly within the small storage room. “I didn’t expect you to find it so easily, Mihara!”

“Shinji?!” The Master shouted automatically, his body whipping around to look at the entrance to the storage room.

Yet there was nobody there.

“Surprised?” Shinji’s disembodied voice continued speaking. “You didn’t think I’d just leave that book there and be done with it, did you? I made sure to place surveillance programs in the area to keep a good eye on it! It’s more than easy for me to project my voice through those same program nodes as well.”

“But enough about my genius.” Shinji continued, apparently finished gloating. “I went through a lot of trouble to get that book down here out from that Library, and I’m not going to let you just walk off with it now either!”

“Mihara, what is our plan of action?” Saber spoke, bringing Mihara back to his senses.

“I’d prefer to get back to campus without a fight.” He answered, shaking his head briefly to clear his thoughts.

“It may be impossible to avoid confrontation with that boy.” Saber continued.

“If that is the case...” He answered hesitantly while the book dissolved into pixels as he held it over his Terminal’s screen. “Then, well, there’s no helping it. I promised that NPC that I’d bring this book back to him. We just need to distract them for three minutes so we can get back.”

“Umu, very good Praetor.” Saber nodded in confirmation.

“I wouldn’t mind giving that shrimp a piece of my mind for stalking us either.” Caster added, knocking her fists together.

“Alright, let’s go.” Mihara confirmed.

With a brief nod from both his Servants, the three rushed out of the room, the creak of wood and footsteps accompanying them on their escape as they went up several flights of stairs to the ship’s raised forward deck.

However, as soon as he set foot upon the ship’s forecastle, Shinji’s voice called him out.

Turning, he could just make out Shinji’s form, standing on the raised Quarterdeck at the back of the ship. His head of blue hair standing out in front of the dark ocean, and the dour brown of the ship’s creaking wood.

And beside him stood his Servant, a gun drawn and ready in each hand.

“You’re not going to get away, Mihara.” Shinji shouted next to the navigation wheel. “Not with that book in your possession at least. So, why don’t we just keep this simple: Give me that book, so you can run away without getting hurt.”

Gritting his teeth, Mihara’s eyes began scanning the ship’s layout, trying to see if escape without confrontation-while keeping the book-was within his possibilities.

‘As expected though, it’s not possible.’ He thought to himself as his eyes continued looking. ‘We boarded this ship from the Quarterdeck, directly behind Shinji. There’s probably more secret paths leading to the other two wrecks surrounding this one, but trying to find them is going to take too much time. That, and Shinji can probably cut us off on the way too. We’d only just be delaying-’

“Oy!” Shinji shouted. “Are you going to give me an answer? Or are you just too shocked by everything to answer me?”

“Tch.” Mihara clicked his tongue and nodded his head at his Servants. Immediately the two of them made ready, their weapons appearing by their sides.

“Sorry Shinji, but the Librarian NPC’s asked me to deliver this book to him.” He answered properly. “And I’m loathe to disappoint him so quickly.”

“Heh, fine, have it your way.” Shinji replied, shrugging his shoulders with a condescending smile. “I’ll just take it from you by force then. Shun, are you ready there yet?”

“Yeah, we’re ready.” Shun’s voice grunted from the Main Deck, walking out of an open doorway that lead into the Quarterdeck’s interior. “Fuck man, why the hell did you interrupt my date with Manaka for this?!”

And there following behind him was the imposing, muscular form of his Servant, a hand grasping his customary composite bow by his side.

“Why are you still worrying about her when you have your own fight to worry about?” Shinji shouted back. “I told you last time already; she should be able to take care of herself! Trust me already and go beat that bastard instead!”

“Tch, fine.” Shun replied, irritated. “I’ve already found out a good amount of info about her opponent, should have enough time to go through that info later. Archer!”

“Ready, brother!” His Servant answered.

“I’ll just take my frustrations out on you then, Mihara.” Shun said through gritted teeth.

Immediately after he finished speaking, the sound of a thunderclap echoed in the Arena. Quickly following it, the wreck in its entirety from stern to stem was immediately surrounded by a green light that, within moments, switched to a haunting red.

And once again, written upon it in bright, blinking red were the words:

Attention: Hostilities between Masters will be terminated within three minutes.

No outside forces may enter, and no forces may escape until the full period is complete.

"Come on already!” Shinji shouted, pointing at Mihara and his Servants. “Use your cannons and blast them to Kingdom Come!”

“Oh ho, energetic today then are we?” His Servant said with a grin. “All hands!”

With her shout, Mihara noticed four strange squares appear in mid-air next to her, the air shimmering around them just as the barrels of four black cannons suddenly jutted out from each hole.

“All hands: Fire at will!” The enemy Servant shouted again. “Blow them out of the water!”

“Crap. Take cover!” He shouted instinctively, quickly jumping down the hatch he had emerged from minutes earlier alongside his Servants.

Almost as soon as he finished speaking the boom of cannon fire erupted on the ship, a cloud of fire and thick smoke erupting from each of the opposing Servant’s cannons.

And almost as soon as his feet hit the floor of the lower deck, he heard the sound of splintering wood, followed by a torrent of wood chips raining down around him through the hatch above.

“Those shots probably took out the ship’s forward mast.” He muttered to himself, remembering the layout of the vessel. “It’d be really bad if we got hit by any one of those cannons.”

“Indeed, Master.” Saber concurred. “Still however, I must confirm with you: What did you manage to deduce from that book we picked up earlier?”

“Eh?” He asked, caught slightly by surprise. “Erm, it looked like a sort of diary, belonging to a sailor definitely. It could have belonged to an Officer even.”

“A Navy Officer then?” The swordswoman asked. “In that case, judging by those weapons she had just used, her class is definitely that of a Rider, and not of an Archer as we had thought previously.”

“A Rider?” Mihara repeated.

“That class of Servants are well-known for their ability to use mounts or vehicles.” Caster answered this time. “Still, can we discuss this more when we aren’t getting shot at?”

“-Second volley, Fire!”

Almost to emphasise her point, another resounding boom echoed, the sound of splintering wood blaring around them as parts of the walls was blown out, cannonballs flying around them at random.

“See what I mean?” The foxgirl continued. “Getting hit by one of those is equal to a definite bad-end!”

“Hmph, how inelegant.” Saber scoffed. “Regardless, what is our plan of action, Master?”

“Ugh, we need to take away her ability to use that gun battery.” He began, looking at the holes her cannons had made in the walls. “Okay then…”

_______________

“Hurry up! Fire again!” Shinji yelled.

“Oya, oya.” His Servant shook her head, the mouths of her cannons still smoking. “While I myself enjoy a good broadside, I don’t exactly have unlimited ammunition, you know? Especially since I haven’t been paid yet.”

“Tch, you’re still on about that?” The Master asked. “I already told you I’d pay you once I see their dead bodies right? So hurry up and hit them again! I know you’ve got more than enough energy for this!”

“Aye, aye, roger that Skipper and whatnot.” She confirmed, twirling her pistols before taking aim at the front of the ship. “All hands: Second volley, fire!”

Once again the boom of cannon fire erupted around the ship, acrid smoke engulfing the immediate area as Shinji heard the unmistakeable crack of splintering wood again.

“Come on already, Mihara!” He shouted again after the smoke had dissipated. “If you aren’t going to put up more of a fight you’ll end up just boring me out!”

And almost as though in reply, he noticed a piece of paper shoot out from the damaged ship like an arrow, aimed straight for his position.

Only to be shot mid-flight by an arrow from Shun’s Servant, Archer, promptly exploding in a ball of fire.

“You’re going to have to try harder than that!” The Servant bellowed moments afterwards, before a glint of silver heading straight for his neck caught his attention.

In that instant a curved scimitar materialized in his free hand, the man swinging it with precision to deflect the incoming object.

A clash of metal rang out in the Arena, the Servant feeling the impact yet only getting a brief glimpse of the mirror that had been thrown at him.

“Come now; do you intend to fight me with only a mirror?” He taunted, holding both his weapons ready.

“With your scruffy look, I thought you’d like a mirror for some personal grooming.” The foxgirl answered him from a few metres away, the mirror in question floating around her. “Well, I didn’t expect the monstrosity that you are to understand the idea of beauty in the slightest.”

“This is how I and my brethren would normally look upon the battlefield!” He replied. “I have little use of beauty that you speak of on the field of battle where blood, arrows and steel reign supreme!”

“Geh, this is why I said you Mongols are barbarians, the lot of you!” She said, lashing out with her mirror several times in quick succession. “It’s no wonder your empire fell under its own weight, not even able to look proper outside of a fight. You and your kin couldn’t even manage it for more than two generations!”

“Haha!” He laughed, his scimitar moving automatically to parry the foxgirl’s attacks. “I’ve met many other Generals and Kings, Leaders and People who said the same to me, yet at the end of the day they were the ones cowering in fear!”

“My sword at their necks, their men dead at my feet, their so-called ‘beautiful cities’ torched and burned to cinders as the howls of their women and children sang all around us!” He shouted with pride, stringing his bow and letting loose with several volleys of arrows during a gap in his opponent’s attacks.

“Ugh! You’re worse than a barbarian, you’re a Monster through and through!” She shouted in disgust, leaping between the ship’s riggings to dodge his attacks. “Even I – I mean, even the Demons of Yomi would balk at the sight of you!”

“That was but the fate of all those who would dare defy the Great Khan!” He replied defiantly, parrying another attack. “I am his Arrow! I exist to pierce the heart of his enemies and all that would resist him until the day I die! That was my pledge of loyalty to him!”

Just as he had finished his sentence, a single ping echoed in the Arena, the words written on the makeshift wall changing in tandem…

Attention: Hostilities between Masters will be terminated within two minutes.

“Less talking and more fighting!” Shinji shouted alongside the notification’s appearance just as the familiar boom of his Servant’s cannons erupted again, iron cannonballs flying towards the female Servant, still in mid-jump and unable to dodge.

Only for one of the cannonballs to explode abruptly mid-flight, scattering the remaining three off course as smoke blanketed the area once again. Splinters of wood erupted around the ship, yet it was clear that none of Rider’s cannonballs had struck their intended target.

“Nice hack there, Master!” The foxgirl shouted with glee, throwing a paper charm at Archer who rolled out of the way just in time before an inferno engulfed his position.

“Rider!” Shinji shouted in surprise as he made out the foxgirl’s form through the chaos and smoke, iron shrapnel and wooden splinters now littering the deck. “What the hell just happened?!”

“Over there, Skipper!” She replied, pointing her pistol at the opposite end of the ship.

Turning around to where she pointed, the blue-haired Master noticed Mihara’s figure through the black smoke, standing on the opposite end of the ship near its edge. And arrayed before him was a white holographic interface, a circle made of code clearly imprinted upon it.

“Tch, so this is what you’re actually capable of-!” He muttered, gritting his teeth. “Nevermind. Rider! Shoot him!”

“Oya, isn’t that against the rules though?” She asked, turning her head to him with a raised eyebrow.

“And since when have you ever cared about the rules?!” Shinji shouted. “Just hurry up and blow his head off!”

“Well I admit as a Pirate did I have a tendency to flout the rules.” She replied. “But that’s only when I know I’m not going to get caught for it. That being said though, I’m also known to bend rules too!” As she finished her guns began rotating ever so slightly, training their sights on the area around the solitary Master.

“All hands, send him into the briny -!” She began, before a clank of wood echoed from behind the two on the quarterdeck, stopping her mid-sentence.

“You will do no such thing!” A new voice shouted immediately afterwards, Rider spinning around on her heels to catch a glimpse of a red swordswoman jumping out from one of the many holes carved into the deck.

“Oh ho, hello again lassie!” Rider shouted with a grin as her pistol was already flaring, the crack of a fired bullet ringing around them as the cannons at her side dissipated into the air, unable to sustain themselves. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“I will not hear that from the likes of you, pirate!” The blond replied with a flick of her crimson sword to deflect the bullet, her body coming down from the air straight on top of the pirate as another one of the foxgirl’s charms exploded behind her.

“Temper temper my dear!” The pirate replied with a laugh as she rolled out of the way, coming back to her feet and turning to meet the swordswoman who had just landed nimbly on the ground, her sword impaling the deck. “Still, I see your Master’s getting the hang of fighting, sending you scurrying under the decks after me back here with himself as a distraction!”

“I do not ‘scurry’.” The swordswoman replied, pulling out her sword and raising it to her side, another explosion erupting on the lower deck behind the blond. “If anything, it is you and your Master who has been scurrying around like rats, refusing to fight us in the open.”

With her challenge issued, the blond Servant launched forward for the attack, crossing the distance between them within the blink of an eye.

“Heh, you’re a bit faster on your feet today too, lassie.” Rider noted as she parried the first strike away with a flick of her pistol, before lashing out with her booted foot. “Still, your strength is all I expected from that petite size of yours!”

“Cease your provocations already!” The swordswoman shouted, dodging the attack before unleashing a sweeping strike with her sword.

“Ha, make me!” Rider shouted in defiance, jumping backwards out of reach at the last moment on purpose. “Look, even your sword’s excessive size isn’t enough to make up for you!”

“Argh!” The swordswoman yelled in annoyance, leaping after the pirate in hot pursuit.

_______________

“Geez, that was close.” Mihara gasped, cold sweat soaking his hands as he saw Saber leap out at Rider on the opposite end of the ship. “Lucky shot with that Code-Cast there. Don’t think I’d be able to do it again if Rider had shot at me.”

‘Well, I just hope my luck can hold out for a while longer…’ He thought wryly as he surveyed the battlefield.

‘Shinji’s cowering in a corner now while Rider and Saber are fighting it out; Caster and Archer’s engulfed in, well I guess a-!’

His body moved on instinct as he noticed the fist coming at him from the right, his Interface closing on its own as he rolled away, landing on his feet in a crouching position.

“-Shun!” He muttered in realization as he recognized the person who had just attacked him, Caster’s spells in the background casting faint red glows around his figure.

“I’m not exactly one to sit back and watch.” The man replied as the background clashing of steel accompanied his voice. “Well, though they say Masters have no chance against Servants, who’s to say they don’t have a chance against other Masters during a fight?”

He accompanied his rhetorical question with a knowing grin, before stamping his foot onto the ground. Within moments, lines of code began appearing in a ring around his body before quickly converging around both his feet and hands like bracelets of some kind.

“You’re allowed to attack other Masters?” Mihara asked instinctively as he stood up, not bothering to take out his Terminal as he felt his heartbeat quicken, preparing for a fight even as he tried to play for time.

“What?” Shun replied, confused. “You don’t know that even at this stage? Tch, amateur. I don’t understand why Shinji seems so edgy around you. To answer your question though, yes we are within the Arena, just as Servants are allowed to attack each other. Servants aren’t allowed to attack Masters no matter the time or place, but the reverse isn’t true. Well, I’m sure even someone like you would know what’d happen if either of us tried that.”

“Anyway, good work dodging that by the way.” He added as he readied himself, another explosion from Caster’s charms only adding emphasis to his words. “I thought you’d be too distracted to pay attention. Instead, let’s see you dodge this!”

Within moments the enemy Master had crossed the distance between the two, lashing out with a series of punches and kicks that Mihara was just barely able to dodge.

“Caster, can you lay off the spells a little bit?!” He shouted frantically through a hastily established connection with his Servant as his body moved to defend himself. “Don’t run out of energy too quickly.”

“Sorry Master!” The reply came back positive. “This guy’s being a real pain in the butt; I can’t get him to stay still long enough to hit him, not to mention all those arrows shooting at me!”

“That’s great and all Caster, but I’m a little busy here myself now!” Mihara said through the link as he felt the connection suddenly loosen, one of Shun’s blows just grazing his ear. “Shun’s trying to pick a fight with me.”

“He’s what?!” Caster shouted in reply, clear rage in her voice. “How dare that cowardly little rat! Master, give me a minute, I’m gonna come over and blow that-“

“No, I’m fine here for now Caster, just focus on keeping Archer off your back!” The Master said, cutting her off as he rolled under another attack.

“Okay, fine then, that’s it, his little lapdog’s gonna to get it in his stead!” Caster replied as another explosion erupted in the background, before the connection was abruptly cut.

As though to remind him of the fight at hand, a sudden ping echoed around the ship as Mihara caught fleeting glimpses of the new words written on the red holographic wall:

Attention: Hostilities between Masters will be terminated within one minute.

‘Damnit!’ Mihara clicked his tongue as he parried another punch. ‘Managing two different fights while in melee wasn’t in the job description! Wait, when was I hired for any job in the first place?!’

His sarcastic remark however meant that he couldn’t avoid the sudden uppercut Shun made, connecting squarely with his chin.

“Gah!” He yelled in pain as he stumbled back, seeing stars for a few long moments as an ominous crack emanated from his jaw alongside excruciating pain. “Argh!”

‘That wasn’t a normal punch!’ He thought alarmed as he righted himself, flinching as his quivering hand carefully touched the already-swelling injury, the taste of metal permeating his mouth. ‘There’s an unusual amount of power there, I think he even broke something! For now I’ll just be glad I didn’t lose a tooth. Shun definitely knows his way around a fight, but how-’

“’Didn't you trust me to be able to protect you!’” He repeated to himself with another flinch of pain, remembering the conversation he had overheard between Shun and Manaka earlier that day.

“Heh, though I’m pretty new at this hacking stuff, I do know my way around street fights.” Shun said as he flexed his fists, the bracelet of code gone from his hand. “Gotta say though, what Manaka taught me feels really good!” Stamping his foot down again, code quickly reappeared on his free hand before he began another charge.

‘It seems like he’s enhanced his limb’s impact power, but not his speed, with a Code Cast of some sort.’ Mihara thought to himself, spitting out a glob of blood before quickly ducking under the next set of attacks. ‘This isn’t good; I can’t use my Interface like this to return his attacks!’

“Guh-” He grunted again as he absorbed another blow to the side with his arm.

‘Shit, I’ve got to do something here!’ He thought to himself as he dodged another punch, his mind attempting to shut out the burning pain in his jaw and the chaos surrounding the rest of the ship. ‘I’ve got to get some distance between us!’

And abruptly, he noticed another kick headed his way, aiming to ram itself straight into his chest.

In response, almost as though in slow motion, he quickly twisted himself to the side, letting the attack now just barely graze his chest.

And immediately, his hand moved to immobilize Shun’s outstretched leg.

Without even a moment to think, Mihara’s leg lashed out to knock his opponent’s remaining leg out from under him while his body twirled in place in an attempt to throw Shun over his shoulder into the ground face-first.

“Oof!” Shun’s muffled grunt of pain told Mihara his instinctive counterattack was successful, his eyes rapidly refocusing on Shun’s prone body in front of him, his hands still gripped firmly onto his leg.

‘What just happened?!’ He couldn’t help but think as his body disengaged from the area, a hand automatically moving to hold his throbbing jaw. ‘I remember… I remember doing some crazy stunts back in the Preliminaries too, but…’

“Ugh, you’re pretty strong to throw someone like that!” Shun’s panting stopped his train of thought as Mihara noticed the enemy Master get up unsteadily, rubbing his nose gently as a trickle of red leaked from his hand. “Ow, wow, the SERAPH even replicates injuries like this huh? Agh, Manaka’s not going to be happy with me when she sees this.”

“Payback for earlier.” Mihara muttered under his breath sarcastically as he spat another glob of blood, flinching in pain from his jaw’s movement before a pang of guilt stab his heart at Shun’s mention of his girlfriend.

‘I wonder how the hell am I going to repair this sort of damage to myself though.’ He thought, making ready to defend against Shun’s next charge.

“I’m not going to lose though Mihara.” The man said, flexing his fists before another voice entered the fray.

“So this is where you were then, Shun!” The voice shouted as Mihara’s head snapped to see who it was, his jaw protesting at the sudden movement.

“Shinji-!” He couldn’t help but mumble despite the pain as he recognized the blue-haired Magus, apparently finished with hiding and had now come after him around the Servant battles raging across the rest of the ship.

“Heh, I should have thought of coming after you myself, Mihara.” The Master noted as he summoned his Interface with a sweep of his hand. “Still though Shun, looks like you’re having a bit of trouble here; let me show you how a Genius does it.”

“Oh shut up, Shinji.” Shun spat, shaking his head gently to refocus, ignoring the pain in his nose. “At least I wasn’t busy cowering behind some barrels like you were.”

“Wha-!” The blue-haired Magus balked. “Where the hell do you get off calling me a coward, you- you third rate Hacker! Your nose looks crooked too!”

“Shut up about my nose!” Shun retorted. “And third rate my foot, at least I don’t interrupt people’s dates!”

“Caster, how much energy do you have left?” Mihara asked through a re-established connection with his Servant as he realized his opponents were too busy bickering to focus on him.

“Huh?” The Servant asked, caught by surprise slightly as he registered several clashes of metal could be heard from the main deck below. “Erm, I think I still have quite a bit more after I started saving earlier, why?”

“Shinji’s showed up here now too.” He answered, slowly creeping towards an open hatch leading down below deck.

“Eeeugh!” She cried in disgust. “Those two clowns are trying to pick on my beloved Master! I just cannot let this stand!”

“Well you might get your chance.” He answered wryly. “Ignore my previous request; distract Archer as quickly as possible then climb to the highest point of the ship. Afterwards-”

“Ooh, I know what you’re getting at!” The foxgirl replied, glee suddenly entering her voice. “We should have done that from the very beginning; I love a good fireworks show!”

“Yeah, no, not with Shinji’s Servant’s bullets flying everywhere.” He shook his head mentally. “Hurry, we just need to distract them for a bit longer!”

“Shinji!” Shun shouted as the bickering Masters redirected their attention to him, another explosion rocking the area.

“Where the hell are you crawling off to like the slug you are?!”Shinji shouted as Mihara’s connection again cut abruptly from surprise. “Just give me that book already!”

“Shit.” The Master cursed under his breath as he quickly switched his connection, now turning around to run straight for the hatch.

“Saber, get under the deck as quickly as you can!”

“Master, what is it?!” The Servant asked, her voice strained somewhat.

“A last minute distraction, no time to explain, quickly!” Again, the connection cut out he made a final leap into the hatch, a ball of electricity just grazing the back of his head.

But while he was safe from Shinji’s Code Casts for a while, the haphazard nature of his escape meant tumbling down the wooden stairs out of control.

And for an unknown amount of time he continued tumbling, definitely past one floor of the ship before his body hit the hard oaken deck with a cry of pain. Gasping in agony the Master forced his body to turn over to look back up the stairs he had just fallen down from, hoping fervently that his Opponents weren’t following him.

And mere moments after, his view of the top deck was engulfed in fire with no trace of his opponents, his body feeling the heat even from so many decks down.

And accompanying that, was another ping that echoed around the Arena, signalling the end of the fight.

His eyes scanning the area for a way to help prop himself up, he noticed the wall of the ship’s hull blink once to a bright red, then a bright green for several moments, familiar words written on them:

Attention: Hostilities between Masters will now be terminated.

Further fights for the duration of this day are prohibited.

Failure to comply will result in action taken by the SERAPH.

‘Well, maybe that last firebomb from Caster wasn’t actually necessary.’ He thought with a wry smile before grunting in pain. ‘Damn hard to tell how much time passes in the middle of a fight.’

“But, agh, I don’t think I can move anymore…” He mumbled to himself as he felt the energy and adrenaline suddenly dissipate, leaving his body limp on the floor. “Ouch, I’m going to be so sore tomorrow, not to mention my jaw.”

“Mihara.” A new voice suddenly cut into his damage analysis from behind him.

“Huh?!” He gasped in shock as his body twitched, pain shooting through even with so little movement, before he realized who it was.

“You can create some really peculiar strategies during the heat of the moment.” Saber continued as Mihara felt the Servant kneel behind his body. “Are you injured? I sensed you were engaged in a fight with whom I presume were the opposing Masters.”

“Well, I’ve been better.” He groaned with a half-hearted smile as he turned his head to look at his Servant. “I might want to go visit the Nurse’s office after we leave though, Shun might have broken my-wait, Saber, you’re bleeding!”

Indeed, hanging limp by her side was her left arm, a bullet hole ripped through the sleeve around in her bicep as the already crimson cloth took on an even deeper shade of red.

“It is nothing serious, and nothing I cannot bear Mihara.” She brushed off his worries just as before. “I had managed to return the favour in kind today as well, but I believe your condition warrants our attention.” Slowly her right hand reached out towards him, his body remaining immobile as he let her hand touch his swollen jaw.

Before grunting in pain at her touch, at which point she automatically withdrew her hand.

“Yes, I believe we should leave quickly and see the Nurse after this.” She replied with a nod before standing up, her good arm outstretched.

“Thank you.” He mumbled before grasping it, pulling his body up to a sitting position with a grunt. “Sorry, Saber, give me a moment, my legs have turned into jelly.”

“Understandable considering what you have succeeded in doing today.” Saber acknowledged as she kept his hand gripped in her own. “I am surprised your martial prowess was sufficient enough to hold your own like that.”

“It felt mostly like instinct though.” He murmured, keeping his jaw as still as possible to minimise the throbbing pain. “I guess the ‘me’ before entering the Grail War knew what he was doing.”

“Only more unanswered questions to fuel one’s curiosity then.” Saber stated, raising an eyebrow.

“Goshujin sama!” Another familiar voice cried out from above them as Mihara slowly craned his neck up to see Caster bounding down the stairs towards the two.

‘She’s gone back to calling me that embarrassing title again…’ He thought, flinching while a wry smile crossed his face.

“Goshujin sama, are you alright?!” Caster asked frantically as she reached the bottom of the stairs, kneeling down automatically to take a closer look at her Master. “Are you hurt? You’ve been hit haven’t you? Where does it hurt? Is anything broken? Who did this to you? I swear, I’m gonna torch whoever did this to you to a cinder and spread his ashes over Inari’s rice fields!”

“Please don’t do that Caster.” Mihara mumbled again even though he felt a strange warmth in his core at her words. “Well, Shun broke my jaw during the fight, but wounds can only be expected anyway, and at least they’re gone now. Aren’t they?”

“If you insist, Goshujin sama…” The foxgirl answered, toning down slightly. “Yeah, I saw those two blobfishes limp away through the smoke just now. Archer’s Master was clutching his nose pretty tightly when he ran off, something about getting back to his date and hoping his girlfriend won’t complain too much at him. The other Servant, I think I saw her holding a wound in her side while hauling her jellyfish of a Master out of the fire.”

“That would be my handiwork.” Saber puffed with pride.

“Yeah, well her Master didn’t fare better from me either!” Caster jumped with glee. “He was screaming about his hands getting burned in the fire just now. After all that hot air about beating you up for that book he ran off pretty quick after the battle ended.”

“And, what about the other Servant, Archer?” Mihara asked as he took another look over Caster, breathing a sigh of relief after noting she didn’t receive any serious damage.

“Ugh, we both were running around a bit too much.” She pulled a face. “Neither of us got a good hit on each other, though I think he got scorched a bit in the flames while rushing to grab his Master.”

“That’s fine.” He muttered again before pulling himself up with Saber’s help. “Let’s get out of here and take care of our wounds.”

_______________

Night

_______________

“Hmm, yes, this is quite satisfactory.” Saber nodded her head as she surveyed her newly-refurbished room, tapping her foot on the floor. “Yes, much better than that drab wood from before.”

‘Well, calling it ‘refurbished’ might be a bit of a stretch.’ The Master thought with a wry smile, his white holographic interface still floating before him. ‘Still, Saber looks somewhat pleased with the new flooring and walls at least.’

‘Come to think of it though, this is the first time I’ve been in Saber’s room.’ He thought to himself, looking around. ‘Well, I haven’t been in either of their rooms to date. It would be pretty bad manners to intrude on their privacy, even if their room is just as… sparse, as my own.’

His eyes downturned, he began tracing the intricate sun-pattern of the mosaic flooring, the warm-coloured marble chips shining in the moonlight filtering from the window in the roof.
And yet, when he raised his eyes he felt somewhat jarred by the blank-grey walls of the room; bland, smoothened concrete with neither paint nor wallpaper adorning it.

“I have already said, Mihara.” Saber began speaking as she noticed him staring at the blank walls in confusion, hands on her hips. “I desire to paint my own murals upon these walls for my own comfort. While I appreciate that woman’s program and the various designs it offers, I will simply not be satisfied unless my own handiwork was present within my personal quarters.”

“In that case, the floor?” The Master couldn’t help but ask, looking pointedly at the mosaic in question.

“That will take more time and work for me to finish an appropriate design.” She answered as she slowly paced the room. “And of course, when such a time comes about I will request your presence here again to implement said design via the program.”

“Well, as long as you’re happy with this.” He shrugged before closing the terminal.

“For the time being it is satisfactory.” She nodded in affirmation. “Still, if that woman requests help again, make sure to give it. I look forward to seeing as to what else she has to offer.”

“Well, as long as her requests aren’t too unreasonable I suppose.” He replied with a wry smile.

“Very good.” She said, turning around and sitting in her velvet couch, her legs crossed.

‘I still can’t get over the fact that her skirt’s see-through.’ He thought wryly, making sure not to stare.

“Still though, how is your injury now?” The swordswoman asked, refocusing the conversation. “After that sort of impact, I am surprised she was able to repair it so quickly, even with the SERAPH operating as it is.”

“Yeah, that kind of surprised me as well.” Mihara answered with a wry smile, rubbing his jaw without pain. “Sakura said that there was a clear fracture from my chin up to my teeth, with smaller fractures around it. It’s kind of strange, being able to talk like normal after that sort of injury, but she asked me to come by again tomorrow for another checkup.”

“We should remember to do so then.” Saber said, crossing her arms. “Either way, our fight today was at the least mildly successful, though you must be wary of that Master who assaulted you today.”

“Yeah, I know.” He nodded. “I would hate to think of what would happen if he landed a hit somewhere else.”

“Indeed, you should take a good night’s rest tonight, Mihara.” She continued. “Continue with the same diligence as you have done so far, and victory at the end of this week will come easily against these opponents.”

“I can’t exactly share your optimism after coming out of that fight with a broken jaw, but I will take your words to heart, Saber.” He said before turning around. “Goodnight Saber, see you tomorrow.”

“As to you, Mihara.” Nodding her head, she bid her Master goodbye as he closed the doors to her room.

_______________

“Well, that’s one room done.” Mihara said to himself as he took a few steps down the corridor, before stopping at the room next to his own.

“Caster, are you ready?” He shouted in front of the door, knocking several times.

“Yep, Mihara!” Caster answered in her usual bubbly voice from inside the door. “The door’s open, please come in.”

“Thanks, Caster.” He said, opening the door and walking in, terminal in hand.

Just like Saber’s room, Caster’s room was still quite empty. After all, it consisted of only two futons laid out on the burnished wooden floor at the base of the left wall, and a single kotatsu in the middle of the room. On the far end of the room he noticed a sliding wooden door, likely the same wooden door leading out to the small garden next to his room.

“Well, I don’t want to keep you awake too long tonight after that fight today, so let’s get started.” He continued, suppressing the pang of guilt he had before activating his interface.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.” The foxgirl said. “I said so this morning, just seeing you makes me feel all charged up and ready for action! Of course, I mean that in more ways than one if you’re free tonight…” She added.

“I’ll have to decline.” He answered quickly at her flirt, before bringing out the program that Taiga had given to him, an array of wallpapers and floor styles appearing on his terminal.

“Oh boo.” She muttered at his rejection. “Well, my room is always open if you ever need some, companionship, at night.”

“Yeah, we’ll see when that does happen.” He answered with a wry smile, trying not to think about it too much. “Still, what sort of flooring would you like?”

“Oh, is this what that strange NPC gave you?” The foxgirl asked, switching gears.

“Yeah, apparently it lets us pick a wall and floor design.” He replied, cycling through the options. “Well, which one takes your fancy?”

“Hmm…” She murmured, watching the images cycle by. “Let’s try this one.”

With a touch of her fingers, the wooden flooring of the room began to shimmer, pixels of white quickly blotting out the floor, before disappearing almost as quickly, leaving behind a soft, brown mat.

“Ooh, this reminds me so much of home!” Caster cried with delight as their feet sunk slightly in the soft tatami mats beneath them, a familiar scent enveloping the room soon after.

“Yes, this is perfect!”

“Well, that was fast.” Mihara commented, raising an eyebrow. “Well, that’s good. Next up is the walls…”

Unlike the flooring, this option took a few more tries, before Master and Servant settled on a panelled white wall, with the door leading out to the house corridor and garden replaced with a sliding panelled rice-paper door.

“Yes, this is much better.” Caster nodded to herself energetically as she surveyed the room again. “Thank you, Mihara!”

“It’s not like I did that much though.” He shrugged to himself, closing his interface. “Rather, I should be thankful that you continue to put up with me.”

“Oh, don’t be silly Mihara.” She shook her head. “I enjoy every moment I’m with you! Well, it’d be far, far better if we didn’t need to worry about that red shrimp and those other two jellyfish.”

“Haha.” He gave a half-hearted laugh. “Well, I guess this world in the Moon Cell would be pretty interesting if we didn’t need to worry about everything else. Though, Caster, about today…”

“Yes, Mihara?” She asked, kneeling down on the futon.

“Well, about today in the Arena, I admit I’m still curious as to how you knew so much about how the Arena seemed to work…” He began.

“Hmm…” She murmured, tilting her head slightly before giving a mischievous smile. “Well, if you’re interested we could always have a nice pillow talk together.” She patted the futon next to her as though for emphasis.

“...Nevermind me asking then.” He replied quickly after a sharp breath, a slight heat rising to his face. “Anyway then, I’ll see you tomorrow Caster.”

“Oh well, goodnight Master.” Caster replied, looking slightly depressed at his second rejection of the night. “Though, when I say goodnight I do hope you actually plan on sleeping tonight.”

“Ugh, yeah, I will Caster, don’t worry.” He gave a weak smile before seeing Caster raise an eyebrow. “Goodnight, Caster.”

With a soft swish he slid the new door closed, his silhouette disappearing quickly before Caster gave a sigh.

“Master’s still not going to sleep properly tonight.” She said to herself. “I wish he could join me, but, well, maybe he wouldn’t get any sleep that way either.” She chuckled to herself for a bit, before Mihara’s last question came to mind.

“Yeah, I can’t tell him about the last War I was in, can I?” She murmured to herself after a few moments, a strange sense of dejection seeping into her voice as she stood up from the futon.

Moving to the garden door, she slid it open before kneeling down again, her eyes looking up towards the digital moon as she let thoughts of past lives run through her mind.

_______________

“Still though, this is quite odd.” Saber murmured to herself minutes after her Master had left the room, a hand on her chin.

‘While I was not there to see the fight between the two, I doubt the sort of wound Mihara had sustained could be inflicted by an amateur.’ She thought, staring at the door. ‘And yet somehow he managed to hold his own in such a situation.’

“It is unfortunate that he has lost his memories.” She murmured. “I could only imagine his competency otherwise. Well, seeing such a small flower grow to full bloom will be interesting in it’s own right.” She continued with a slight smile.

“And yet, something else is troubling me…” She continued, the smile dissipating from her face as she returned to her thoughts for several more minutes. “Hmm, that nurse. Something about her, yes.”

“She went against her programming by repairing Mihara’s wound.” She continued muttering after another period of silence, having reached her conclusion. “That is even stranger still as to Mihara’s performance today.”

“She is only allowed to repair wounds sustained outside of Arena and Coliseum fights, yet somehow this has happened.” The swordswoman continued, thinking back to what had happened the day before when Mihara first went to the nurse’s office.

“This should not be possible.” She said to herself. “A program breaking the SERAPH’s rules is not possible.”

_____________________________________________

A/N
Yay, another chapter! And it only took me a month. The fight scene probably can't score more than a 5/10, but... yeah. I should probably read one of GB's fight scenes for practice. Peppered in a couple of extra things at the end too.
Commentary on anything is greatly appreciated, and I know Laith is still busy double-checking and reading some chapters for me (take your time my friend).

[Laith]

oh guilt trip me why dont you

[Xyphos]

Well the question here is whether it's working or not
I could always spam your profile page with messages as well if I were really impatient...

Either way, it's not like there's that many people reading this unsightly wall of text, so as I said feel free to take your time.

[nitewind]

The fight scene works well. Could "always" be better but it could also be a lot worse. I would suggest talking to some of the other authors around here if you are worried that much though. Interesting to see the conversations during the night.

[Xyphos]

Act 1: Scene 8

2 Days Remaining

Morning
_______________

Mihara gave a long sigh, a hand reaching up from his white Interface to rub his forehead out of exhaustion. Opening his eyes, he observed the transparent concave wall of hexagons and pentagons in front of him for a few moments, before it crumbled into pieces as he watched, the sound of shattering glass echoing in the area.

‘This ‘shield’ still isn’t working.’ He thought to himself wearily as he shook his head, his eyes turned downcast at the sand that covered the garden just outside of Saber’s room. ‘I’m just far, far too tired for this. Still, I need to get a grasp of the basics at the least, otherwise Shun’s going to crack my skull open next time in the Arena. Or Shinji’ll be blowing a limb off with his own Code Casts.’

“Damnit.” He cursed, gritting his teeth before rubbing both his temples. “I’ve got to find a way to maintain it for at least five minutes, or find a way to build it faster than I can currently.”

“I see that you are attempting to counteract the threat you had encountered yesterday.” A familiar voice said. Turning his head around towards the house, he found his Servant, Saber, approaching him, the light swish of her red dress gliding gently over the barren sand.

“Good morning, Saber.” He greeted. “Yeah, I’m not exactly partial to the idea of getting my jaw smashed again. Unfortunately I don’t seem to be having that much success, it seems to be much more difficult than just shooting something.”

“That is unfortunate.” She replied, continuing to speak as she approached. “One must find a way to nullify the threat posed by that Master. A broken bone would be a severe disadvantage, even if it may be your jaw and not one of your limbs. The pain is a distraction from the fights we will inevitably encounter, and it will not disappear easily.”

“Although I’d rather not suffer injuries like that again, I could just go back to Sakura to get a quick repair, can’t I?” He asked.

“I would recommend against doing so, Master.” She replied, stopping in front of her Master.

“What’s wrong, Saber?” He asked. “She’s just an NPC of the SERAPH, isn’t she?”

“There is definitely something about her that irks me ever since yesterday.” She answered, crossing her arms. “You may have forgotten her explanation from two days ago, so I will point out that her words are in conflict with her actions. Her programming should permit her to only repair the injuries sustained by Masters outside of Arena and Coliseum fights. Hence my recommendation now that you do not speak with her more than necessary, subsequent to today’s appointment.”

“I guess I see what you mean.” He answered slowly after taking a few moments to digest her words. “But, well, I’d think the SERAPH must have some sort of repair mechanism right? If what you’re suggesting is true, then her program might just be faulty somewhat. Couldn’t the SERAPH take care of that?”

“Admittedly, I know little about the intricacies of the SERAPH’s operating procedures.” Saber said. “That fox Caster might know more, considering her descriptions yesterday.”

‘She probably does.’ Mihara thought wryly. ‘But I’m not exactly willing to go into that territory to try and ferret out that information.’

“Hence, whether such a repair system is present or not, I do not know.” Saber continued “But I do know that the SERAPH takes almost disproportionate measures against those it deems to be in breach of its rules. For that NPC, I cannot say she will walk away freely after this.”

“Well, I guess I can’t say anything about that, with this place’s penalty being death and all.” He muttered, his heart sinking slightly at her words as he reminded himself to go see Sakura Matou later in the day.

“You still forget that this is a War, Master.” She reminded him, her face bereft of emotion as she stood before him, hands crossed. “Still though, I stand by my recommendation until there is evidence that the SERAPH has attempted to correct the issue.”

“Alright, got it Saber.” He sighed, not willing to argue the matter.

“Moving on, what is our plan of action for today then, Mihara?” Saber asked.

“We still need to collect the final Trigger.” He began listing the things to do for the day as he raised a finger. “We kind of ran out of the Arena before we could find it, and I’d like to grab it today if possible. The same goes for Taiga’s request in the Arena too.”

“Indeed, I am quite interested in what else she has to offer in terms of rewards.” Saber said with no small amount of enthusiasm.

“Though before that I need to head back to the Library today.” Mihara continued. “Since we had to go to the Nurse’s Office first, and the School NPC’s were starting to rotate shifts I didn’t manage to go and hand the book back to the Librarian NPC and collect the program he promised.”

“I’ll probably want to spend some more time there looking at information about the enemy Servants too.” He added. “That book Shinji took mentioned the ‘Golden Hind’, so I want to have another look through the Library. Plus, Shun’s Servant mentioned something that might be key yesterday. Something about being the Great Khan’s ‘Arrow’, I think.”

“Yes, I do recall that barbarian said something along those lines.” Saber confirmed. “His statement fits well with what we had previously deduced. I presume after your research is done we can head to the Arena to continue with our interrupted search from yesterday.”

“Yeah, after going to the Nurse’s office and the Library we can head to the Arena for training and grabbing the Trigger and Taiga’s item.” He nodded in acceptance.

“Umu, very good.” Saber nodded. “Since our planning for the day is complete, come with me to the kitchen.”

“Huh?” He asked at her demand.

“I am interested in sampling that ‘Watermelon’ fruit you had bought earlier in the week.” She continued. “Since I have had no experience with such a fruit like it, I must have you serve it to me.”

“But, I-” He began, still confused as to her sudden demand.

“Is there something the matter?” She asked after his half-completed sentence, turning to look at him.

“Ugh…” He groaned as he looked to his holographic Terminal, still floating in mid-air.

‘Actually I don’t think I’d be able to do anymore today with trying to get that shield to work.’ He thought quickly. ‘Maybe I should take a break, before heading out for the day…’

“No, there’s no problem Saber.” He finally answered, closing his Terminal and turning to look at her. “I’ll come find you in the kitchen and get some watermelon ready for you.”

“Umu, very good.” The blond woman said, turning around and walking back to the house, not waiting for him to follow.

“How very abrupt.” Mihara muttered, raising an eyebrow as he saw her disappear around the corner of the house. “Well, I guess I needed a break anyway.” He rubbed his temples before taking steps forward through the sand, following his Servant.

‘…Maybe this is her way of telling me to take a break?’ The thought hit him as he stepped back into the house, although he shook his head vigorously in denial afterwards.

“Nah, that can’t be it.” He gave a wry smile before heading to the kitchen and his waiting Servant. “She’s probably a little hungry again…”

_______________

‘Okay, she’s more than just ‘a little’ hungry.’ Mihara’s dumbstruck mind thought as he knelt at the dining table, watching Saber on the opposite end quickly devour a slice of watermelon.

“I’d recommend you suck the flesh a little bit after biting.” He said as he noticed several dribbles of red juice flow down her chin. Automatically he picked up some tissue he had prepared, leaning forward to hand it to her.

“Hrm, this is quite a difficult fruit to consume.” She noted, dabbing her chin.

“It takes a little bit of getting used to, I guess.” He answered. “Just need to remember that there’s a lot of juice that needs to be sucked out after every bite, otherwise it’ll get everywhere.”

“I see.” She murmured, observing the half-eaten slice of fruit in her hand before going at it again. He just barely supressed his amusement as she made several slurping sounds as she did, before adapting herself after several more bites.

“You seem to like it, Saber.” He began speaking hesitantly as she moved to the next slice.

“I admit, it is quite different from the sort of fruits I have had during my time.” She replied after another bite. “The amount of liquid within these slices is beyond what I’ve had before, for one. The sweetness within each is another that could only be rivalled by the finest vineyard fruits my people could produce. In short, yes I do seem to be developing a liking for this.”

“That’s good…” He nodded, returning to silence out of reluctance to interrupt her meal.

‘This feels… a bit awkward.’ He thought absent-mindedly as he watched her. ‘Well, I still know very little about her actually come to think about it. The only reference points I have is Ancient Rome, the possibility of her being a person of importance, and the fact that she loves eating.’

‘But I don’t think it’s a good idea to mention how dangerous it would be to her waistline to eat so much. Wait, can Servants actually get fat?’

“You should not be so reserved, Mihara.” She spoke again after picking up another slice. “Enjoy some of this fruit as well. Opportunities to rest now and in the future should be used to the fullest, to at least let yourself relax after exerting your full capabilities.”

“Well I don’t exactly know where said capabilities come from.” He muttered under his breath, recognizing her reference to yesterday’s combat. “And that’s one of the many things troubling me.”

‘Another thing troubling me is who you, and Caster, are.’ He couldn’t help think as he took a slice of watermelon for himself per her suggestion.

‘The list of questions just keeps on growing and growing.’ He continued as he took a bite. ‘Who am I? What’s up with the fights I’ve been in? Why did I join this bloodbath of a tournament in the first place?’ He shook his head gently before looking at his slice of watermelon, then taking another bite.

‘So many questions and so few answers, the biggest of all being who are these ‘Servants’ that call themselves my ally?’

Immersing himself in his thoughts once again, he let his eyes wander as a strange silence descended upon Master and Servant as they sat at the table. For several minutes only the occasional faint crunch echoed in the room as one or the other bit into their ‘meal’.

“Master.” Saber spoke abruptly after swallowing, the man in question jerking slightly in surprise.

“Y-Yes, Saber?” He stuttered, stopping himself from taking another bite.

“It is quite difficult for me to enjoy my meal if you were to keep staring at me so.” She began.

‘Ugh, she noticed…’ He groaned inwardly.

“If there is something that concerns you, speak.” She continued, putting down her slice of watermelon to turn her full attention to him. “As I said, opportunities for rest must be utilised to the fullest, so such distractions are more than permissible.”

‘Well, one valid question would be why her skirt’s see-through actually, but asking that seems a bit absurd right now.’ He thought deadpan as she spoke.

‘Well, more importantly she said she wouldn’t tell me who she was when we first met, four days ago but… My curiosity really is starting to get the better of me now that I actually have a little bit of time to think without ‘something’ trying to kill me. And since she’s asking right across from me…’

“Alright, I may as well then.” He murmured softly, reaching a conclusion before speaking up. “This might sound a bit crude, but, who are you actually, Saber?”

“This is surprising.” The blond said, a smile crossing her face. “So it seems not knowing my True Name is putting you on edge?” Seeing him nod in reply she continued.

“I see… Hmm… While it is all well and good to worry about who I may be, I would have thought your worries would be more concerned about the fights ahead of us. After all, even you yourself must admit that our group’s strength is woefully pitiful.”

“You didn’t have to add that last bit in did you?” Mihara muttered under his breath.

‘Maybe I should have asked why her skirt was transparent…’

“Regardless, it is the privilege of those of import to answer the queries of those around them with answers.” She continued with her proud smile, ignoring him. “And as we share an oath of Fealty, I will tell you.”

‘Well, this is unexpected…’ He thought, pricking his ears and leaning forward attentively. ‘She seems to have forgotten her earlier claim to silence. All the better for me I guess, she really does like to talk about herself, though it might be a problem if an enemy overheard her…’

“Firstly, I will tell you about the name given to me as a child.” Saber spoke after a brief pause. “Listen well! During my childhood, I was known as Lu-”

…

“Hm?” Mihara couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in confusion, several seconds after her half-finished sentence.

Another second passed by, the blond’s mouth frozen still, partway through forming her words as though she had suddenly remembered something of grave importance.

The next second passed, the tick of the room’s clock echoing in the sudden silence, as though emulating the thoughts ticking within Saber’s mind.

Then another as Master and Servant continued to stare at each other awkwardly from across the table.

And finally another-

“Guh, no, that was close-” The swordswoman suddenly spoke, jerking her head back, a hand over her mouth as though to seal it. “That was dangerous; I nearly spoke of it-!”

“Grr, I told you already didn’t I?!” Saber turned on her Master moments afterwards, a tint of red in her cheeks. “I would conceal my true name for the time being, so falling into this verbal trap you have set will not happen!”

‘Having said that you almost fell for it though.’ He couldn’t help but smile at her embarrassed tantrum, reminding him somewhat of a child.

“You will learn of my True Name in due course.” She continued, her face growing redder as she noticed his wry smile. “So for now, restrain yourself. And remove that smile from your face! You have yet to actually gain anything from this conversation!”

With her comeback spoken she quickly picked up her half-eaten watermelon and buried her face into it, as though trying to mask her flushed cheeks with the red watermelon juice.

That, and to probably block her mouth from saying anything else she might not want to say.

‘Close, but not close enough.’ He thought, trying to follow her demand with his smile as he returned to his watermelon. ‘I guess it’s still a bit too soon for me to prod there.

‘Well, at least this conversation was a nice distraction, albeit at Saber’s expense. I should probably try and make it up to her with something later …’

_______________

“Come to think of it, I should be grateful Caster didn’t show up during that conversation.” Mihara mused as he walked through the city centre, before turning into a particular street he had singled out. “Well I made sure to cut some for her as well so it’s fine…”

Once again he and his Servants had split up upon entering the city, deeming there to be little threats possible. But while Master and Servants had little money to spare on luxury spending, both Caster and Saber seemed quite eager to window-shop at least. And he wasn’t one to deny them, having other things he needed to take care of.

Over the last few days he had noticed this street seemed to have a higher proportion of Masters as compared to the rest of the town. While their numbers were still dwarfed by the NPCs going about their scheduled daily lives, he thought there must have been a reason for this.

And very quickly he found out why, with the very first shop he came across selling Code Casts to be used in the Arena by Masters.

‘A ‘magic shop’ then.’ He concluded. ‘Geez, the gap between RPG game and this world is growing smaller by the day.’ Sighing to himself he continued onward.

‘With things like they are, it’s difficult to remember that… we’re all literally gambling with our lives in this tourney.’ He grimaced as the image of those dead bodies during the prelims reared itself once again in his mind. ‘I’ll end up like one of them soon if I can’t pick up the pace, but, ugh, I lack even the basic knowledge to put up a proper shield. The only thing I can do right now is fire an explosive shot. And even then it takes a good thirty o so seconds to set up…’

“There’s got to be something around here to help me brush up.” He shook his head as the thoughts continued, before his thoughts were interrupted.

“Ah, it’s big bro!” A somewhat familiar voice called out to him as he turned around to see some little girls before him.

Almost instantly, Mihara recognized them as the same one from the last two days of the preliminary period, Alice. It would have been difficult to forget those sad, lonely eyes that gazed upon him in that corridor with his friend.

Of course he couldn’t forget the poofy skirt she wore either, as though they had come from the Victorian era. That alone was quite odd when he met her so many days ago.

And yet, the more he looked, the more he realized something was exceptionally odd about the two girls in front of him now.

‘There are… two ‘Alices’ now?’

He couldn’t help but blink as he made this realisation, before remembering that the little girl was supposed to be a ‘Ghost’, according to what he remembered of the preliminary period.

‘Hold on… Does this mean Ghosts can multiply?’ He thought awkwardly. ‘Or were there always two of them, and I only just met the one? In any case, are they supposed to be NPC’s of the SERAPH?’

One of the two was the exact same little girl he met during the last two days. Another one, while dressed in an identical manner, had a completely different colour scheme for her poofy dress: Complete black, instead of the blue-and-white frills of the original.

“Hello, Alice.” He greeted the two apprehensively, confused at her multiplication.

“Ah, big bro remembered our name, Alice!” Alice exclaimed.

“Yep, Alice, even Yamada’s starting to forget our names already!” The girl in black replied, turning to look at her twin. “Well, I think they’ve got a hole in their head somewhere too since they’ve started forgetting their own name too!”

‘That’s pretty serious.’ Mihara thought sceptically. ‘Then again I shouldn’t be surprised. This System makes some interesting NPC’s, so I’m guessing their ‘playmate’ is one of those.’

“Wow, big bro must be really good at remembering names, huh Alice?” Alice said, returning her twin’s gaze.

“Wait, Alice and Alice… Could it be?” He asked haltingly, even more confused at the situation.

“Oh, big bro hasn’t met Alice yet, has he?” Alice asked as she turned to look back up at the Master. “Well, Alice is Alice, just as I’m Alice, and big bro is Mihara. I hope we can all be good friends!”

“Yep!” ‘Black Alice’ nodded in response. “Alice hopes to be good friends with you too big bro!”

“Having a looot of friends makes everything fun!” ‘White Alice’ said after their introductions were finished before switching topics. “Big bro, have you seen Yamada around here?”

“Alice, I don’t think big bro knows who he his.” Black Alice said, looking at her twin.

“Oh yeah, big bro and Yamada haven’t met yet, have they?” White Alice asked.

“No, I’m afraid I don’t know who you’re talking about.” He shook his head, confirming their suspicions.

“Hrm, Yamada’s not really good at playing hide-and-seek.” Black Alice said, putting a hand to her chin. “He hasn’t found us even after we went hiding yesterday.”

“That’s mean of him, isn’t it big bro?” White Alice asked, pouting.

“Leaving you two alone overnight?” Mihara asked confused, though he was certainly quite shocked someone, especially an NPC, would do that to these two.

“Yeah!” Black Alice said. “It’s not nice for a guy to leave a lady all alone.”

“Even after he promised he would play with Alice…” White Alice continued, sulking slightly.

“We should go play something else now, Alice.” Black Alice said.

“Yeah, I don’t think Yamada’s going to find us until the end of the week.” White Alice replied. “Maybe he forgot more than just his name now. Still, Alice, what should we play?”

“Ah, I have an idea, Alice!” Black Alice piqued after a brief period. “Big bro, are you free for some tea right now?”

“Ah! A Tea Party, a Tea Party!” ‘White Alice’ clapped her hands together in excitement. “But where are we going to have tea?”

“Don’t worry Alice, we saw a nice shop earlier remember?” Black Alice answered. “The one with that nice old man and lady taking care of it.”

“Oh, I remember now!” White Alice confirmed, nodding her head. “You’re really smart you know, Alice. I hope big bro can come, it’d be so much fun together!”

“Well, I…” He began as he tried to think up of a reason.

“Please, big bro?” White Alice pleaded as she looked at him imploringly.

“Haah, I guess I have a little bit of free time right now.” He replied after a pause and a sigh.

He just couldn’t say no to the two of them, not when one seemed so excited about the excursion, and another was pleading with him like that.

“Yay!” The two Alice’s jumped for joy at his reply. “You’re the nicest, big bro!”

He couldn’t help but crack a tired smile as he watched them.

‘Perhaps Caster was right.’ He thought as he began following the two Alices who had already begun skipping down the street. ‘I’m too easily pushed around. Even though Shinji and Shun threaten to kill me at the end of this week, I still can’t turn them down…’

‘Especially… After having seen her before during the Preliminaries.’

…That’s right. After meeting her again, he just couldn’t forget those sad, lonely eyes that gazed at him during the last two days. If he could, he would rather avoid having to witness the same scene again, at least for the moment.

_______________

Noon
_______________

“Hmm…” White Alice murmured as she stared at the small cake on her plate before her, a face drawn on the icing.

“What’s wrong, Alice?” Mihara asked, taking a sip from his teacup.

The Master and two little girls were sitting outside a small coffee shop being run by an elderly couple and what seemed to be their young daughter. On the cobbled street next to them, the large throng of NPCs passed them by without a second glance: An outing by an ‘older brother’ and his two ‘younger sisters’ barely warranted any attention after all.

‘Yeah it’s almost like I’m growing older by the second.’ He thought as he watched the two Alices stare at their food. ‘I just hope nobody thinks I’m old enough to be their father, now that would be scary…’

“It’s kinda difficult to eat them when they have such cute faces drawn on them.” White Alice said, her fork poking the icing on the sides, not willing to destroy the face on its surface.

‘And that’s half the reason why I didn’t order one of those cakes.’ Mihara thought wryly, drinking again as he watched the two.

“Oh, don’t worry Alice.” Black Alice said. “Just imagine the cake is looking forward to get eaten!”

“That’s a good idea, Alice.” White Alice said. At this, Black Alice gave a large smile before holding her knife over the cake.

“No! Stop, please!” She began wailing in a mock-voice, the knife in her hand getting closer and closer to the cake. “Please, don’t eat me! Someone, help! Kyaaa!”

“That’s mean, Alice!” White Alice cried in dismay as her twin cut the cake cleanly in half.

“It’s not good to play with your food you know, Alice.” Mihara said, pointedly looking at Black Alice, giggling as she lightly knocked her head.

“Yes, big bro.” The two said in unison, White Alice losing her inhibitions as the two soon began eating their cake.

“Such a strange pair…” He shook his head as he whispered, before pouring a cup of tea for the two and taking a sip of his own.

After several minutes of peace however, he began feeling something, or perhaps someone, boring holes into his back.

“Big bro, that lady over there’s glaring at you.” White Alice said innocently, confirming his suspicions as she pointed her fork behind him.

“The strange guy that’s with her is staring at you too, big bro.” Black Alice added.

“It seems like this is happening quite often to me now.” He sighed, the two Alices tilting their heads together at him in confusion.

“Hey, hey Manaka, don’t do anything rash.” A familiar voice said behind him, his eyes widening slightly as he turned around to see his opponent as his girlfriend approaching them.

“You’re the guy that broke my honey’s nose, aren’t you?” The blond young woman said as the two reached his table, more a statement than a question.

As Mihara turned to look at Shun, he couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows in surprise as he noticed something about his face.

‘His nose…!’

“Surprised?” Shun asked with a smile, a hand snaking around his girlfriend’s shoulders and pulling her closer to him. “Manaka’s very good with all this hacking stuff in the Moon Cell, something like repairing a broken nose is nothing for her.”

“Honey, I’m the one asking him questions.” She pouted, though willingly leaning into his side.

“Sorry, sorry Manaka.” Shun said with a smile. “I just can’t help showing you off after all.”

“Anyway, you are the one who broke my honey’s nose right?” She asked again after giving her boyfriend a beaming smile.

Wordlessly Mihara nodded, still very confused as to what’s happening.

“Apologise.” Manaka said after seeing his answer.

“Huh?” The seated Master said, in shock and confusion.

“You heard me; apologise for breaking my honey’s nose.” She said, crossing her hands as she glared at him.

“But, I… what?” Mihara stuttered, completely lost for words at this.

‘If anything, Shun’s the one that’s supposed to apologise to me for breaking my jaw-!’ He thought.

“Big bro, did you do something to the strange guy?” White Alice asked, tugging at his sleeve from across the table.

“Strange?!” Shun balked as he heard the little girl.

“Ugh…” Mihara grimaced as he heard the little girl speak before turning his head around. “Well, let’s just say he broke, ‘something’, of mine and I ended up breaking something of his.”

“That’s not good!” Black Alice said. “Breaking other people’s things is what bad guys do!”

‘True, especially when that ‘something’ is a person’s body part.’ He thought, unwilling to elucidate the point to the two little girls.

“Wait, I broke something of yours?” Shun asked, slightly confused now as well.

“You broke my jaw.” Mihara said matter-of-factly. “That time when you hit me over here.” He pointed to the section in question for emphasis.

“Oh… Oh!” His opponent said in realization. “So that’s the crack I felt when I punched you.”

“Honey, you didn’t tell me about this.” Manaka said, looking at him.

“Sorry Manaka, I didn’t realize that happened.” He said with a sheepish grin while scratching his head. "He didn’t have any visible damage yesterday or today, so I thought that hit didn’t do anything.”

‘If you did, Caster wouldn’t have been very happy.’ Mihara thought sarcastically.

“Big bro, you need to apologise to the strange man!” White Alice began again in earnest, now standing at his side while tugging on his sleeve again.

“You should always say sorry if you broke someone else’s things, big bro!” Black Alice joined in, standing on his opposite.

‘Why am I still the bad guy?!’ He thought, growing even more confused.

“Honey, you should probably apologise as well.” Manaka said, sighing.

“Yeah, that’s true.” He gave another sheepish smile before bowing his head.

“Sorry for breaking your jaw yesterday, Mihara Hakuno.” He said sincerely with closed eyes.

Mihara groaned inwardly before standing up, bowing his head.

“Apology accepted.” He began. “And, I’m sorry for breaking your nose yesterday, Shun Fukui.”

“Now, make-up so we can all be friends together, big bro!” White Alice urged as she and her twin watched.

Mihara held out his hand in response to her prodding, Shun taking hold of it a few moments afterwards as the two opponents gave each other a firm shake.

“Yay!” The two Alices shouted in unison as the two disengaged.

“Now the strange guy and the lady can be big bro’s friends!” White Alice said.

“I hope they can be our friends too!” Black Alice continued.

“You’ve been calling me the ‘strange guy’ for a while now…” Shun said, slightly annoyed.

“Oh come on honey, they’re so cute!” Manaka said, apparently content with the apology the two opponents shared as she kneeled down. “What’s your names then, little girls?”

“I’m Alice!” White Alice said with a beaming smile.

“I’m also Alice!” Black Alice said with an equally large smile.

“Ah, so you’re twins then!” Manaka exclaimed. “How adorable!”

“If you’re free lady, we can all have a tea party together!” White Alice continued.

“The strange guy can also join us too!” Black Alice added.

“I have a name you know, you two.” Shun said darkly.

“Hmm…” White Alice murmured with a hand to her chin. “Alice, do you remember his name?”

“Hmm…” Black Alice also murmured, mirroring her twin. “I’m afraid I don’t, Alice.”

“Yeah, strange guy’s easier to remember anyway!” White Alice said with another big smile.

“Alright then you little munchkins…” Shun said, his eye twitching as he cracked his knuckles. “I’ll just have to drill my real name into your heads!”

“Ah, we made the strange guy angry Alice.” Black Alice commented.

“Yeah, the strange guy’s angry now.” White Alice concurred.

“We should run away Alice.” Black Alice added.

“Yeah, far away so the strange guy can’t catch us.” White Alice said in agreement, the two quickly running away through the tables of the café, laughing merrily.

“Come back here you two!” Shun shouted, playing along as he began giving chase, Manaka laughing as she placed an order with the café’s waitress.

Mihara, having felt the danger passed, returned to his seat before taking a deep drink from his cup as he watched his opponent ad the two young girls play around with a smile.

Yet even as he sat there watching his opponent chase after the two little girls, a dark thought kept tugging at his mind, just as Alice had done with his shirt a few minutes ago.

_______________

“Well, that was interesting.” He said, reflecting on the events from town as he made his way over the School Courtyard and into the main building.

His opponent had left a little while ago, and the twins had left only a few moments ago after finishing another cake he had bought for them.

‘I didn’t expect to be sharing a meal with my opponents like that.’ He thought wryly. ‘They’re quite nice people actually. I would say normal, but that’d be a bit strange coming from me…

‘Although, I guess I should be grateful that Shun was busy collecting information on his ‘darling’s’ opponent, instead of my Servants.’ He thought, remembering the conversation he overheard between the two.

However, before he could continue his thoughts was interrupted by a familiar voice that sent a chill clambering up his spine.

“Goshujin-sama…”

‘Uh-oh…’ He thought wide-eyed.

“Don’t tell me you’re interested in-”

“It’s a misunderstanding.” He said to his invisible Servant, cutting her off.

“A misunderstanding?!” Caster cried incredulous.

“A very very big misunderstanding!”

“Explain to me what part of this is a misunderstanding!” The foxgirl wailed. “I just saw you having a date with two little girls I didn’t know about! I didn’t know your preferences were like that!”

“That’s exactly what you are misunderstanding here!” He shouted, trying to ram home his point.

“And here I thought you were more interested in mature girls with big breasts…”

“I do-” He began shouting, cutting himself off as he realised there were at least a dozen people that were staring at him shouting at nobody.

‘I’m digging my own grave here!’ He thought, taking a deep breath, even as his face heated up while imagining the foxgirl tantalisingly lift her breasts.

“Goshujin-sama, please don’t tell me it’s true?!” Caster cried after a few seconds with no reply.

“I am not going to fall for that trick Caster!” He said through a quickly established mental link, his body standing rigid.

“What trick?” She asked innocently.

“I will not shout out my preferences for the entire world to hear like that!” He replied firmly.

“Oh boo.” She muttered, realising she had been caught.

“Regardless, I am not interested in dating little girls Caster, and that’s final.” He continued.

“Really?” She asked.

“Really.” He confirmed. “Now, please, stop jumping to conclusions so quickly like this, Caster.”

“But, but, but if I don’t I’m afraid you might end up giving other girls all the wrong signs!” She replied. “You’re supposed to be my husband Mihara, and nobody else’s! Or do you want me to leave my ‘scent’ on you instead to ward off those ugly leeches?”

“I do not-argh!” He groaned, realising he was slowly beaten back as his felt his face get even hotter. “Caster, there’s a lot of other things I’m worried about, and… that… is definitely at the bottom of the list!”

“Aren’t you a bit young to be, ‘drying out’ now, goshujin-sama?”

“Anyone would be ‘dry’ if their lives were on the line Caster.” He replied matter-of-factly, trying not to think about her words too much. “Either way Caster, this sort of conversation is not meant to be discussed in broad daylight, so let’s call it over, alright?”

“In that case, expect a visitor to your bedroom tonight…” She whispered, a strange mix of ominousness and seductiveness within it.

“Caster!” He shouted, trying not to let desperation sink in.

“Oh boo, fine.” She replied finally. Despite her invisible form, Mihara could easily imagine her pouting at him. “If I went any further we’d be going over our set T-ratings anyway. Still, I’m going to make sure I keep a good eye on you to make sure nobody else tries to lay even a finger on you!”

“I definitely don’t want to know what you mean by T-ratings, but as long as we can drop this subject.” He answered in relief, rubbing his temples. “I’m guessing Saber’s not with you now then?”

“Fortunately she found something that caught her eye in town, so she’s off looking around on her own leaving us two alone!” Caster shouted with glee.

“Okay, fine.” He shook his head. “I’m planning to go back to the school grounds now that it’s almost noon.”

“Then I’ll be right behind you, goshujin-sama!”

‘Ugh, now I know how Saber felt like.’ He groaned, rubbing his forehead as he disconnected the mental link, acutely aware of his Servant’s presence next to him.

‘I had better talk to her about calling me that absurd title as well while we’re walking.’

_______________

“Honestly, they were like that to you?” Caster asked incredulous, her form still kept invisible.

“Yeah.” Mihara nodded as he entered the School Courtyard.

“Wow, they really aren’t taking this seriously.” She said. “Though if I were her I wouldn’t let whoever did that to my darling Master get away with just an apology.”

‘Am I the only one here stressing out?’ He couldn’t help but think, his mind turning over the earlier meeting in his head.

‘Or are they the ones that don’t understand this situation? If it’s the latter, can I really just kill Shun like that? Without him even realising the sort of hell he and his girlfriend have signed up for? In the first place, I don’t even know if the SERAPH’s rules about killing people is actually true! For all I know it may just be all a sick joke to knock people like me off their perch…’

“Master.” Caster said, bringing him out of his dark study just in time to avoid running into another person.

“Geez, you really should pay more attention to the road, Mihara!” She chided as the two continued through the School Courtyard. “I wouldn’t want you to get hurt so quickly after what had happened yesterday. Even if that suspicious Nurse is around to help take care of you.”

“Yeah, thanks for the warning.” He shook his head wearily in reply, his eyes wandering to look at the other Masters and NPCs flitting about the School grounds.

“It seems like most of the Masters here are getting more focused at least though.” Caster commented. “The atmosphere’s a little bit more serious than it was earlier in the week. Just a little bit though.”

“I’m guessing it’ll change quite a bit come in three days?” He asked quietly.

“Significantly, Master.” She answered him after a pause, her words only serving to reinforce his expectations as the two continued on for a little while longer in silence.

To his relief, the two soon afterwards reached the Nurse’s Office. Sliding the door open he took several steps inward, before noticing that Sakura Matou was not present.

“Hmm, that girl’s gone and disappeared.” Caster observed as her Master slid the door closed behind him.

“Seems like it.” Mihara nodded in confirmation as he looked around the room. “I guess she went out for a little while, maybe she’ll come back in a bit.”

“I’d rather we get this over and done with quickly though.” She said, disgruntled as Mihara moved to the central table, taking a seat. “Something about her is reeeally suspicious for one. That, and she’s a definite potential rival I need to keep off my dear Master.”

“She’s just an NPC though, isn’t she?” Mihara asked, turning to look at the door as he ignored her last sentence. “Saber told me her suspicions earlier today, but I’m not sure I can fully comprehend it still.”

“Well you are talking about a program which is going against the program rules set out by the SERAPH after all.” She pointed out. “Well, I admit I’ve met my fair share of NPCs who didn’t obey their programming to the letter either.”

“NPCs who didn’t obey their programming?” He asked, growing even more confused.

But before he could continue the doors to the Nurse’s office slid open suddenly, a familiar figure walking in accompanied by a black-clad NPC.

“Ah, Mihara.” Sakura Matou said as she recognized the seated Master. “I’m sorry, were you waiting for long?”

“No, no, just a short while.” He replied as he stood up.

“Hrm, so this was the guy you said you were expecting?” The new NPC beside her asked, stepping forward to look at him carefully. “Heh, yeah I thought I recognized you.”

“Have, have we met yet?” He asked, slightly confused.

“Nope, but I’m sure you’ve met my sister though.” She answered before she held out her hand. “The name’s Arina Ikuya; I’m in charge of managing the Arena with my sister.”

“Oh… Oh yeah, I remember now.” Mihara nodded his head as he took the NPC’s outstretched hand.

“I gotta say though, you’re making a surprising amount of progress from what we’ve been observing.” She said with a grin. “Unfortunately my wager with my sister still stands, I honestly doubt you’ve got it in you to get past the first week.”

“Your words hurt me more than you’d know.” He muttered gloomily.

“Anyway then, my job here’s done, I’ve got my real job to do now.” Arina declared. “Honestly though, where are those Maintenance NPC’s? Kotomine’s got us running around trying to fix up all those anomalies popping up everywhere because those lazy bums haven’t shown up yet.”

“Maintenance NPCs?” Mihara couldn’t help but ask.

“Yeah, they’re supposed to help correct the anomalies we end up finding one way or another.” Arina answered. “Yet for some reason the SERAPH hasn’t generated them this round, and the NPCs that are around have to go running about like headless chickens to do their work for them!”

“…Good luck then.” He answered hesitantly, unsure whether it was appropriate to console a program.

“Anyway, Sakura.” Arina said, addressing the Nurse as she knocked a fist to her shoulder. “I’m expecting the final report to come in several days’ time. When it does I’ll come find you to tell you the results, and enact any modifications necessary.”

“Yes, thank you very much, Arina.” The purple-haired nurse said, bowing in gratitude as the latter walked out of the office, waving a hand goodbye.

“Corrections?” Mihara couldn’t help but ask as he saw the NPC close the door behind her.

“Yes, actually.” Sakura said, turning to face him. “It seems like there’s a number of… strange events happening to me, and I asked one of the other NPCs to run a full checkup on my programming.”

“Ah, I see.” He nodded in confirmation.

‘Maybe she realised what had happened yesterday seemed off?’ He thought.

“However, it seems as though the others haven’t found anything wrong with my programming.” She said, before quickly continuing. “Although Arina isn’t a dedicated Maintenance NPC, she knows how to work the Arena, so I would trust her judgement.”

“I see, alright.” Again he nodded slowly, processing what he had just heard.

“So it seems that yesterday’s issue wasn’t a problem?” He asked through a quickly established mental link.

“If the SERAPH didn’t detect anything off, then I guess there shouldn’t be any problem.” Caster responded. “Still though, my fox-senses are tingling with danger. Or perhaps that’s just my female intuition kicking in.”

“Do I want to know what that means?” He asked. “Actually, no, never mind, forget I said anything.”

“Oh boo, you’re a really hard nut to crack Master.” Caster moaned.

“Either way, I probably shouldn’t push my luck by asking her about it.”

“Anyway then.” Mihara said after terminating the connection. “Erm, are you still free to finish with yesterday’s checkup?”

“Oh, yes.” She said, moving over to the rows of beds at the side of the room. “I was waiting for you to come back before Arina came to find me for my requested checkup. I’m sorry I couldn’t finish the procedures completely yesterday, the NPC programs operate on a regular rotation, and it was almost the end of my shift during the day you see.”

“Ah, I see.” He nodded his head as he followed her. “The other NPC nurse is…?”

“Her name’s Caren Ortensa.” Sakura replied, gesturing to an empty bed, her patient dutifully moving over and sitting on its side. “She takes care of the Nurse’s Office during the night shift, so unless you’re here during those hours it’s unlikely you’ll see her.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.” Again he nodded before lying down on the bed, breathing gently as he relaxed his muscles, keeping himself still.

“I’m going to take a quick scan of yesterday’s injury, before repairing any damage that I didn’t manage to take care of.” She said. “It should be the same procedure as yesterday, unless I find something else wrong.”

“Alright, that’s fine Sakura.” He answered, turning his head to look at her as a violet holographic screen appeared in front of her, lines of code passing over it at breakneck speed.

Almost immediately after she began he noticed a slight hum, as though a machine had been started within the room. Soon afterwards he also noticed the surface of the bed begin to pulse several times with a white glow, his eyes closing instinctively due to the brightness he saw.

Remaining motionless for another minute or so, he opened his eyes again as he heard Sakura’s voice through the intermittent hum, the glow having dissipated somewhat.

“Hmm, yes, it seems like the damage has been taken care of yesterday, though it would probably be good for me to double-check after yesterday’s quick operation.” She reported, a hand on her chin as she examined what appeared to be an x-ray photograph that had appeared on her screen.

“I’d assume this’ll be a bit easier to take care of as compared to yesterday?” He asked, looking at the photograph with anxiety, though he couldn’t see the injuries she spoke of from the bed.

“Yes, this should only take a little bit of time…” Sakura answered, biting her lip before working on the screen again.

Shortly afterwards he began seeing lines upon lines of code arch over his face, travelling from both sides of the bed to the other.

‘I don’t think I’ll get used to this anytime soon.’ He thought as he observed the lines, keeping his body as still as possible. ‘Well, at the same time I hope I don’t need to use this that frequently either.’

As he watched, he began to feel a strange itching sensation erupt in his jaw, around the same area where yesterday’s wound had occurred. Stopping himself he kept still, knowing from yesterday that it was just a side-effect of the healing process.

“It’s really strange seeing your jaw light up like snow like that, Mihara.” Caster commented, evidently watching the procedure. “Even though I know it’s supposed to be a healing process I still can’t help but worry when I see you like this.”

“I’ll just have to make sure I don’t get wounded in the future.” He murmured quietly, trying to keep his jaw still while hoping Caster could hear him.

“Alright, all done.” Sakura said after several more minutes, closing her Interface. “You shouldn’t have anymore problems with your jaw now, Mihara.”

“Okay, thank you Sakura.” Mihara said as he sat up, giving her a grateful smile as he did so.

“You really do need to take better care of your health though, Mihara.” She continued. “You only have one body here after all.”

“I wish I could have a taste of that body myself though…” Caster murmured, having remained silent up until now during the procedure. “Well, at least she didn’t try anything with your defenceless self this time.”

“As though she’d actually want to try anything like that.” He answered, before noticing Sakura give him a confused look. “Oh, sorry Sakura, I was talking to my Servant just now.”

“Ah, I see…” She nodded with a smile. “It must be nice, having a Servant to talk to on a regular basis.”

“…Well, I guess so, yeah.” He said, a tired smile appearing in his face.

“What was with that pause just now, Master?” Caster asked, suspicious.

“Anyway!” He began again, ignoring Caster. “Thank you for helping me out Sakura, I really appreciate it.”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing.” She said with a smile. “It’s my duty to look after all the Masters after all. Though, I guess you have to go again now?” She added, her smile disappearing quickly afterwards.

“Yeah, I’m sorry Sakura…” Mihara answered.

“Oh, please, don’t be, it can’t be helped after all.” Sakura said, shaking her head as she put on another smile. “It’s near the end of the week after all, and so close to the Elimination Fight that, well, I guess everyone’s going to be very busy at this time.”

“Yeah, I’ve been getting busier and busier everyday as the week draws to a close.” He gave a sheepish smile as he stood up before giving a short bow. “Either way, thank you again. When it’s not so busy, hopefully I can pay you another visit under better circumstances.”

“Then, well, I look forward to it.” She began, moving over to the central table while watching him move to the doorway. “Just, please take care, alright?”

“I’ll try at least.” He replied, giving her a wave goodbye. Seeing her return the gesture he slid the door open, stepping out.

“It is very strange though…” Sakura murmured to herself as she sat down after waving Mihara goodbye, her smile wilting away. “How come Arina couldn’t didn’t detect anything wrong with my program, even after… what happened two days ago…?”

“It’s strange, but, I guess I’ll have to wait until the full report comes in from the SERAPH’s Diagnostics subsystems later. Yeah, I just have to wait here for that report, and someone else to come visit…” She continued, before looking around the Nurse’s Office.

“Though I said it couldn’t be helped, I do wish he could have stayed a bit longer…”

_______________

As Mihara stepped out of the Nurse’s Office, he happened to notice a familiar figure run down the corridor, shoving past a number of Masters in his way.

“Shinji.” Mihara noted, immediately recognising his opponent’s blue hair.

“Hmm, what’s that jellyfish doing?” Caster asked. “Was he skulking around here just now?”

“Don’t know.” He shook his head in reply as he closed the door. “It doesn’t seem like there’s anything out of the ordinary here…”

“Well, who cares what he’s up to.” Caster said nonchalantly. “Definitely not me! After yesterday’s fight I’m more than willing to scorch him a bit with my curses! Oh, though not directly though, the SERAPH’s put a big no-no on that. Let’s just say he got caught in the cross-fire…”

“The SERAPH seems to be pretty loose on that rule doesn’t it?” Mihara asked, remembering Shinji’s Servant and her guns aiming at him yesterday.

“Yeah, though with most other things it isn’t even nearly as lenient.” Caster complained. “Well, what’s our plan now then, Mihara?”

“I need to go up to the Library to hand over the book we got yesterday.” He began counting his fingers. “That, and to check up on our opponent’s Servants, so I may be in there for an hour or two. Afterwards we can head straight to the Arena.”

“Alrighty then.” Caster replied. “I think Saber should be showing up before you finish in that case, we’ll just wait in the area for you to finish and give us a call.”

“Yeah, will do Caster.” He nodded as he walked down the corridor, content with the plan for the rest of the day.

_______________

“Well now, look who’s finally decided ta show up!” A now-familiar voice called out to the Master as he stepped through the doors to the Library.

“Yeah, sorry I didn’t show up yesterday as I said I would.” He replied sheepishly, stepping up to the counter.

“Nah, don’t sweat it.” The NPC said, waving an arm as he gave his attention to the Master, though his free hand was still fiddling with something below the desk. “Well, as long as you’s here and got the goods with ya that is!”

“Yeah, I have the book Shinji took from the library yesterday.” He nodded his head before bringing out his Terminal.

“I’m guessing you’s already taken a good look into it fer the info you’s needs yeah?” The NPC asked as he watched, his hands still busy.

“Yeah, I had a read-through of it yesterday when I got home.” He replied as a leather-bound book appeared in front of him above his Terminal.

“Glorious.” The NPC said with a smile, a hand reaching out to take the floating book, before bringing up his game console from beneath the desk. “Now, fer my part ‘o this bargain.”

“Wait, you were busy playing with that?” He couldn’t help ask surprised, a complicated shooter game playing across the screen as the NPC’s in-game character dodged bullets left and right.

“It’s damn boring bein’ the Librarian you’s knows!” He said grumpily, one hand playing the game as another began typing into a holographic screen that had appeared floating above the game console, his eyes also focused on the holographic screen. “Well, at least the SERAPH wasn’t bein’ too big ‘o a bitch when it let me take this ‘ere console with me. Useful since it acts as my Interface too.”

“I see…” Mihara couldn’t say much more as he watched the NPC multitask in perfect form, not even dying once as a new chip solidified itself on the floating holographic screen.

“Right, there she is.” The NPC said finally, gesturing to the floating chip with a smile. “Use ‘er well, I’m sure she’ll prove ta be more than useful fer one such as yerself. You’s can try slottin’ ‘er into your Terminal and give ‘er a spin now if you’s wants.”

“Right, thank you.” He nodded, taking the chip and doing as the NPC suggested. Just like yesterday, the small piece of plastic quickly disappeared afterwards, as though being absorbed into his machine just as with Taiga’s chip from yesterday.

And within moments the screen activated itself, showing a familiar map of the Second Floor Arena in full 3D. Freely rotating it, Mihara quickly noticed the maze of hidden pathways criss-crossing between the four shipwrecks, some of which he didn’t see in yesterday’s map and some which were absent as well. Very quickly, he also noticed the small yellow dots scattered around the map, a red line crossing out what he assumed to be opened Item Folders.

“I updated the software a teensy bit from yesterdays.” The NPC said. “Should’a be a bit more accurate than the one I gave you’s yesterdays.”

“Yeah, this’ll be very useful for me, thank you Librarian.” The Master said with a smile, pocketing his Terminal after a few more minutes.

“No sweat, it’s my payment fer savin’ my bacon after all.” The NPC replied, watching him even as his fingers still worked on his game. “Right, now I’m sure you’s still gots a lot of info ta be searchin’ in this ‘ere Library. As long as I’m ‘ere, this Library will always be open to ya.”

“Well, for this week at least I think I’ll be using this place a bit more.” He said apprehensively.

“Heh, still cautious as always eh?” The NPC said with a smile. “Anywho, I won’t keep you longer, now git out there and start killin’!”

“Thanks, see you later Librarian.” He said after a pause, before turning around and entering the forest of books.

‘Well, I can’t say I’m looking forward to the slaughter in two days.’ He reminded himself. ‘But at least I should do my due work and finish researching my opponents.’

_______________

Evening
_______________

“Well, this seems quite fruitful.” Mihara muttered to himself as he scanned the table he was sat at, looking closely at the three books he had laid out before him. “Definitely much more useful than my last search for information about my own Servants, strangely enough.” He gave a wry smile at that.

Remembering what he had read from the faded yellow journal yesterday, Mihara had found a book that talked specifically about 16^th Century warships.

“’The Golden Hind.’” He murmured, reading from the book aloud. “'An English Galleon best known for her circumnavigation of the Globe between 1577 and 1580. Passing around the coast of South America via the Strait of Magellan, the Golden Hind continued up the Western American coast before sailing over the Pacific Ocean. During its passage around the American coast, the Golden Hind was known to have challenged and hijacked a number of Spanish shipping interests.'”

‘I guess this is the bit that ties in with the ‘Invincible Armada’ that Shinji spoke of before.’ Mihara thought to himself, looking up briefly to rest his eyes. ‘The British and the Spanish at the time were definitely not on the best of terms. Hrm, I wonder…’

“'Reaching the Indonesian Archipelago, the Golden Hind continued onwards straight to the southern-most point of Africa, before sailing upwards and returning to her home port of Plymouth. Originally named ‘Pelican’, the Golden Hind’s Captain renamed her mid-voyage in 1578, in honour of its chief benefactor, Sir Christopher Hatton. Sir Hatton was Lord Chancellor of England at the time, and his armorial crest was a golden ‘hind’, or female deer.'”

‘So that would explain the odd name.’ Mihara thought to himself as he closed the book. ‘The Golden Hind’s Captain, is probably also the Servant who I am dealing with. They should also have had some involvement with the defeat of the Invincible Armada by Britain, so I should double-check that. Still, something seems quite… off, about this but I don’t exactly have much time to find out what or why this is the case.’

“Either way, next up…” He continued murmuring after shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

“'The ‘Arrow’ of the Mongolians.'” He began reading aloud again. “'It is a title given to one of Genghis Khan’s Four Dogs of War, his four most prominent Generals during his conquests of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. It is believed that the two men first encountered each other as enemies during Genghis Khan’s unification of the Mongolian tribes. In 1201 during what was known as the Battle of Thirteen Sides, Genghis Khan was wounded by an arrow to the neck.'”

‘Gee, that puts my broken jaw to shame.’ He thought sarcastically. ‘I definitely wouldn’t survive if I had something rammed into my neck.’

“'Genghis Khan’s vassal Jelme, another of his Four Dogs of War, was present at the time to treat his wound by sucking out the poisoned blood. Upon completion of the battle, Genghis Khan asked the defeated about an ‘arrow that broke the nape of my yellow warhorse’ from a ‘mountain top’. One of the defeated answered him, saying he had shot Genghis Khan, and not his horse.'”

‘It takes a brave man to own up to something like that.’ Mihara thought grimly as he closed the book. ‘Still, these two books basically tell me who I am expecting to fight come the end of this week.’

“This is not going to be an easy fight.” He murmured to himself, his hands rubbing his temples slowly. “But, well, I guess I can’t worry too much about that right now. If I don’t get the Trigger, hard fight or not I’ll still be dead.”

“Caster, Saber, can you hear me?” He asked through the mental link as he began shelving the books.

“Loud and clear Master!” Caster replied.

“Yes, I am here.” Saber answered. “Are we ready to head into the Arena now?”

“Yeah, I’ve finished with my research now, we’re free to collect the Triggers now.” He answered. “I’ll meet you both outside the main building.”

With a confirmation from both his Servants he finished replacing the books and began moving to exit the Library. Just as he slid the doors open however, he began to hear a conversation from two familiar voices somewhere down the corridor.

‘Now what?’ He couldn’t help but ask wearily as he shook his head. Despite that however, he still began listening in, trying to remain as discreet as possible.

“My my, did he actually manage to do that to you?” One voice asked. “It seems that your reputation is grossly inflated.”

‘Rin Tousaka.’ Mihara thought. ‘Still as smugly confident as always I see.’

“Tch- I-I threw that fight on purpose!” A second voice stuttered. “I was just playing around with them. No use going full-out yet when it isn’t even the Coliseum fight yet, right?”

‘That’s… Shinji.’ He thought, now assigning both voices a name. ‘I guess they’re talking about yesterday’s fight.’

“Oh, how thoughtful of you.” Rin said. “I guess that defeated look on your face and your frantic running about today is all just an act then huh? Clearly you’re far worse at this than I had originally thought.”

“The power of my Servant can’t be matched!” Shinji shouted in reply. “She can rip anything and anyone to shreds with her culverin, and when it comes time for us to fight I’ll make sure she fills you and your Servant up with more holes than swiss cheese!”

With his declaration made Mihara heard the sound of running footsteps that faded away quickly, presumably Shinji escaping. Soon afterward the footsteps had faded he heard a soft sigh from the corridor.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we will get a chance to fight.” Rin Tousaka said, before several more footsteps echoed in the corridor, slowly fading out of hearing.

‘She thinks I’ll kill him in this round.’ He thought to himself grimly.

‘No, no, I shouldn’t think about this too much.’ He lightly smacked his temple. ‘I’ve got other things to worry about right now; Caster and Saber should be waiting downstairs to go to the Arena now. I shouldn’t keep them waiting.’

_______________

“Right, let’s get today’s busywork done and over with!” Caster said as the three reached the Arena Entrance, a Master having just disappeared through its doors. “Afterwards we can just take our time and relax.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s an option Caster.” Mihara replied. “Well, first of all I don’t want to lose by default.”

As he said so, he held out his Terminal to the panel next to the Arena door, expecting the usual beep to acknowledge him.

Instead however, he was greeted with an electric spark that erupted from the panel and into his arm.

With a pained yell the Master jerked himself away from the Arena Entrance, several electric sparks still running up and down his arm as his body immediately tensed up.

“Master!” Caster cried as she saw him. “Are you alright? Did your hand get burned?!

“If my hand actually got burnt by electrocution that’d be pretty serious!” He gasped as the pain slowly ebbed away, slowly observing his hand for any signs of damage before flexing his affected hand, giving himself the all-clear. “Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Ugh, what just happened?”

Looking up to the Sports Hall, he noticed a strange blue sheen covering the Arena Entrance, the occasional electric spark flying off it. And a moment later, his Terminal began to register a new message in its characteristic blue, glowing font:

Error detected.

Entrance to Arena Floors has been obstructed by an unknown program.

Obstruction must be cleared before access to Arena Floors can be granted.

“Clearly someone is afraid of a fair fight.” Saber muttered as he read the notice, a surprising hint of fury within her voice. “In this situation, the culprit can only be one person-”

“Hey there!” A familiar voice interrupted Mihara’s Servant as he turned around, immediately recognizing the blue-haired Master.

“Shinji.” He muttered, still rubbing his arm gently.

“You’ve been hitting the Arena pretty hard haven’t you?” He asked. “I’d dare say you’ve toughened up now what with how your Servant burned me yesterday.”

“Hmm, I was hoping that was going to be more of a permanent mark, but it seems like he’s managed to take care of it himself too.” Caster mused as her Master noted the lack of any burns his opponent should have had.

“A-as I thought though, the SERAPH’s really good at simulating things, e-even injuries like that…” Shinji began stuttering, his attempt at bravado breaking down slightly.

‘I think all three of us Masters can agree with that now.’ Mihara thought as he continued to watch.

“Heh, w-well, I can’t say that the experience was entirely new; I’ve played a lot of games that tried to simulate things like this.” Shinji continued. “And since that wasn’t anything new I decided to spice things up a bit.”

“You’d call this-” Mihara asked, pointing to the Arena door, “-as ‘spicing things up’ a bit, Shinji?”

“Well, what can I say?” Shinji asked, regaining some confidence as he gave the confused Master a shrug. “Though you may be tough, I’ve fought even tougher things down in the deeper ends of the Arena. You’d be crushed like a bug if you fought those things, so I shut down the Arena for you to help out, y’know?”

“I’m pretty sure I can handle myself well enough, Shinji.” Mihara said, slightly confused at his opponent’s reasoning.

“Well, with that over-inflated ego who knows?” Shinji snapped.

‘The only one with an over-inflated ego here is probably you.´ Mihara thought.

“A-anyway.” The blue-haired magus continued, folding his arms. “If you really wanna go down there, you’ll just have to get rid of the two sigils I’m using to keep the barrier active.”

“And where exactly-?” Mihara began.

“Where are the sigils exactly?” Shinji said, cutting his opponent off. “Why the hell would I tell you?! Figure that out yourself, loser! Oh, and if you do go down there, know I won’t be holding back with my Servant afterwards either!”

With his declaration finished, the opposing Master scurried away from the area, evidently quite wary of what might happen to him.

“Evidently he is becoming much more skittish around us, having now sustained some injuries.” Saber muttered darkly. “Regardless, this man-child has annoyed me ten times too many already: I cannot wait until the day I face his Servant in battle so that I may eviscerate the both of them before nailing their corpses onto a crucifix!”

“You may be satisfied with just that, Saber.” Caster said. “But I won’t be satisfied unless I get a chance to curse the both of them to kingdom-come and back again! Or maybe even turn them into a potato bug just so I can stomp on them.”

“Well it’s good to see the both of you agreeing on something.” Mihara muttered as he turned to survey the locked door, the occasional sparks of electricity causing him to flinch.

“Unfortunately planning out his torture for the sin of annoying me would yield nothing at this time.” Saber said, calming down slightly.

“Yeah, he’s probably trying to stall for time now.” Caster added. “That degenerate bug probably realised we haven’t collected our Trigger yet.”

“And without our Trigger, our fight’s as good as finished without even starting.” He said tiredly, rubbing his temples.

“First, do you think you can conduct a scan of this barrier?” Saber asked. “We will need a bit more information on it before we can decide on a plan of action to deactivate it.”

“Yeah, I think I can do that…” The Master said after a pause before bringing out his Terminal.

“My question now is how was that other Master able to pass through this barrier without being interfered with…” Saber muttered as Mihara’s Interface activated itself.

“He’s probably used some code that reacts specifically to us.” Caster replied. “It won’t react to other Masters and let them through.”

“At least that shows some spark of intelligence on his part.” Saber spat. “Denying access to the Arena to all passing Masters will yield too much attention and result in this barrier dropping almost instantly after its establishment.”

“I just hope those sigils aren’t thrown about in town.” Caster moaned. “All this running around all the time will tire us out long before we can give him and those programs a good beatdown!”

“Fortunately, it seems like we won’t need to run around.” He said in response, his Interface quickly identifying the barrier. “As Shinji said, I’m detecting two power-sources of some sort linked up to this barrier. They’re both emitting some form of signal, and they seem pretty close to our position here as well.”

“One may assume it is somewhere on the School Grounds, correct?” Saber asked.

“Probably.” He gave a half-hearted answer. “I can’t seem to be able to pinpoint their exact location, but my Interface seems to be telling me they’re somewhere near, so the School Grounds would probably be the most likely place to find them.”

“Then we had better start moving.” Saber continued. “Perhaps we should divide our group to cover more ground faster.”

“That might be a good idea, although…” Mihara began before pausing to think for a few moments.

“What’s up, Master?” Caster asked.

“Do you remember earlier when we finished at the Nurse’s Office, Caster?” He responded.

“Yeah, I remember seeing that blue-haired freak running off just after we left there.” She answered.

“He might have been installing something related to this barrier there while Sakura was performing her checks on me.” Mihara continued, gesturing to the barrier.

“Hmph, evidently he is about as secretive as a criminal running through a pottery bazaar.” Saber commented. “Which is to say, not at all. Yes, your suspicions might be correct. I believe you should begin there to prove it. Your Interface should be able to remove these sigils, am I correct?”

“Yeah.” He nodded in response. “My Interface should be able to disrupt the flow of power so we can drop the barrier.”

“Umu.” The blond woman nodded in approval. “Begin your search there. I will scout out the rest of these grounds for anything out of the ordinary.”

“Okay, I’ll start from the top of the main building then.” Caster said. “Right, now that all the discussion’s over, let’s hop to it!”

_______________

“Yeah, looks like we were correct.” Mihara said through the mental link to his Servants. “It seems like I need to use my Interface to see it, otherwise I would probably miss it.”

He stood in front of the Nurse’s Office, his holographic Interface floating before him. Through its semi-clear surface, he could a rectangular shape embedded into its doors, lines of code leaking from it slowly into the surroundings.

“Umu, eliminate it quickly.” Saber ordered. “I tire of this charade, but I will withhold my anger until I have a suitable outlet to unleash it on.”

“Well, one down, one more to go.” Mihara answered as his fingers worked on his Interface, the sigil on the door quickly turning black and dissipating into mist. “And yes, I’m just grateful these aren’t too hard to find or get rid of.”

“No kidding.” Caster moaned. “Clearly these things are a joke. Well, I won’t complain too much, since it means less busywork than I expected.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Mihara replied tiredly as he pocketed his Terminal. “Anyway, contact me again if either of you find something; I’ll check out the rest of this floor in the meantime.”

_______________

“Clearly our enemy has become skittish around you, Mihara.” Saber said as the Servants and Master were walking down a cobbled pathway, the light of the setting sun bathing the area in gold.

After eliminating the last sigil, the three met little more opposition from their opponent, who couldn’t be found for the rest of the day for some reason or another. None of them complained however, it just meant they could collect their Trigger without bother.

That, and they also retrieved a box of Tangerine oranges for Taiga, though Mihara had let Saber have one to sate her curiosity on how it tasted.

“Though the other guy’s not even nearly as ruffled.” Caster said. “Honestly now, he doesn’t seem to care that we’re gaining ground on him. Heck, as long as he has his ‘sweetheart’ around with him he would probably ignore a tsunami coming his way! Well, I can understand that somewhat actually…”

“Stupidity kills.” Saber answered. “Hiding behind a veil of love and sweet words has blinded him to the truth of this Holy Grail War. Either he, his consort, or both, will have to suffer for that blindness.”

Mihara only gave a sigh as he listened to his two Servants converse, their invisible forms his only companionship on this nearly-deserted road as they made their way back home.

“Still…” Caster began. “Though that jellyfish’s sigils were crude, I’m surprised he managed to hack into the SERAPH even this much without causing alarm bells to start ringing. It’s pretty strict on the rules you know.”

“There is also the matter with that Nurse as well.” Saber added. “From what you have told me, her diagnostics request today resulted in no anomalies, correct? And that afterwards she continued on with the operation as though nothing was out of the ordinary?”

“Yes on both counts.” Mihara nodded slowly.

“Hmph, this is most unusual.” Saber muttered. “Add to that the unusual lack of diagnostics NPCs as well…”

“No kidding.” Caster said. “Honestly, it’s not like the SERAPH to be napping like this. Those diagnostics NPCs should have found and corrected those sigils that jellyfish made today too. If they were around that is. Maybe we should find that Priest and see if he has anything to say about this.”

“I’d rather not look for that guy if I could…” Mihara muttered. “But, I guess you’re right. If what you’re saying is true, a high-ranked NPC probably knows more or what to do in this case.”

“It should not be our priority at this stage however.” Saber cut in. “Our priority is our fight with that man-child and blind fool in, what is effectively, one day’s time.”

“That’s true as well.” Again Mihara nodded. “Honestly though I can’t really be bothered to bring this up to that guy…”

“To be honest me neither.” Caster moaned. “Just that, it’s really unusual for the SERAPH to be so sloppy so early in the War it makes me a little bit worried.”

“Then, if I see him I’ll see what he has to say.” He answered wearily. “Otherwise we have other, more pressing preparations to take care of I guess.”

“Umu, very good.” Saber said. “Regardless, today has been quite fruitful in terms of what we have achieved today. Now, about our evening meal…”

“Still the little piggy as always huh, Saber?” Caster teased.

“Can you just stop with that?!” Saber flared. “The amount I can consume is far more than what such a little animal can!”

“That’s what you take offense to now?” Caster asked, surprised. “Hmm, I do admit your small size belies the amount one can stuff inside you for sure.”

“Grr… Then what about you yourself, you animal?!” Saber growled. “Even you yourself can’t seem to resist a fourth plate every night!”

“Don’t call me an animal!” Caster snapped. “What sort of loving wife would I be if I didn’t accept my husband’s delicious meals after all! Even your so-called ‘animals’ can appreciate something like that; evidently someone like you can only focus on just the fact you have food in front of you and consume it with reckless abandon!”

‘Great, they’re at it again…’ Mihara groaned inwardly as he listened to his two Servants shouting at each other as they walked back home. ‘I guess I can just count myself lucky they haven’t come to blows yet. Having internal fighting between my Servants would be the worst thing right now…’

______________________________

[nitewind]

Sorry for the late reply but looking good.

[Xyphos]

Act 1: Scene 9

1 Day Remaining

Morning
_______________

Mihara took a deep breath as he watched the hazy morning light filter slowly through the kitchen window, his body slouched over the dining table.

Slowly straightening up his body, he stared at his Terminal on the table, the holographic Interface hovering above it. Closer to him he saw the brown pot of tea he had prepared before, faint wafts of smoke rising slowly from it, and the ceramic cup next to it.

“Five days down, huh?” He muttered, noting the ‘day’ counter clearly displayed on the top-right hand corner of his Interface.

‘That’s right.’ He thought, picking up the cup before him and drinking the heated brew with a flinch, the haze covering his eyes slowly dissipating. ‘Today is the last day of preparation, and tomorrow is the day where… where… I…’

“Where we all kill each other.” He said out aloud, as though trying to convince himself as he let out a deep sigh. Biting his lip he craned his neck to look up at the holographic Interface hovering over the dining table, the profile of his opponents and their Servants displayed clearly. “Despite staying up every night for the past week, I’m still not fully prepared for this, am I?”

‘Today, I need to try and make full use of the day.’ He thought, stretching his fingers to touch the floating screen. ‘But, what else can I do? I’ve explored all the basics that I can get my hands on, and there’s nothing else here in this Terminal that I can find. Well, other than how I’m supposed to bring up my Interface without using my Terminal first…’

The Interface’s screen flipped to the Librarian NPC’s program viewing the Second Floor Arena, the four ships, the hidden paths, as well as all the Item Folders clearly visible.

“What else can we do today?” He asked as he watched the screen, rotating it on occasion as though he could find his answer in its layout. “Well, for that matter, I don’t know where the actual ‘Coliseum Fight’ is supposed to be held: In there or on a different place entirely?”

As he bit his lip he continued fiddling with his Interface mindlessly, unable to do anything else until his Servants woke up and they could start the day.

‘Well, at least I have my Triggers.’ He mused after a while, his eyes drifting to the two cards hanging at the corner of his Interface. ‘Cipher Keys Alpha and Beta, huh? That, and I also got Taiga’s Tangerines as well. What does she wants these garden-variety fruits for anyway?’

“Actually, for that matter why didn’t she go down to town and buy some herself?!” He grumbled, letting himself get side-tracked again. “That cheapskate teacher, ugh… At least Saber and Caster seem happy. Though, with my lacklustre preparations I doubt they’ll be able to enjoy them for much more than a day.”

“Do you truly believe everything that can be done, has been done?” A familiar voice asked, the seated Master turning his body around to meet the gaze of his Servant, standing at the entrance to the kitchen.

“Good morning, Saber.” He said, gesturing to the free space at the table. “Well, we’ve gotten both of our Triggers, so we won’t be getting disqualified right off the bat first.”

“That in itself is a good thing.” She nodded, stepping forward and sitting down at the table, her Master pouring a cup of tea for her. “It is but a pity that our foe has had enough presence of mind to collect his own Triggers as well. I would have preferred it if we did not share a Coliseum fight with them. With that said, what is your own evaluation for our state of preparedness in other fields?”

“I’m… not sure, really.” He said slowly, a derisive smile crossing his face. “I mean, at the end of the day I’m the weak link in our team, but, well, there’s only so much improvements one can make within a week from zero.” He released a sigh before continuing.

“I just hope that I won’t be dead weight for you and Caster when the fight arrives.”

“Oh, please Master, don’t think like that!” Another voice said, Mihara turned around to look at the entrance to the kitchen once again. “You’re not dead weight at all, and anyone who actually says so needs to get their eyes changed!”

“Good morning, Caster.” He greeted her with a wry smile. “Well, I only wish I could be as confident about that as you.”

“Well at the end of the day we’re supposed to be the ones beating them up anyway.” Caster said, sitting down at the table as well, another hot cup of tea quickly placed before her. “Just as long as we get enough data for more Alterations we’ll be A-okay!”

“Well, I’ll try to meet those expectations as best as I can.” Mihara said, looking up to the floating hologram of the Arena still hovering above the table and bathing the room in its neon-blue light.

“And so, what is our plan of action for the day then, Mihara?” Saber asked, holding out her cup for a refill.

“I’ll need to return to Taiga and give her the Tangerines she asked from me.” He said, refilling both his Servant’s cups. “Then, well, I suppose we can head straight to the Arena for practice, since there isn’t much time left for us and to get more data for Alterations of the Soul.”

“A wise decision.” Saber nodded. “We had best undergo another Alteration from that Aozaki woman before tomorrow’s Performance.”

“Yeah, give me a little bit to reconfigure my Terminal a bit before we head out…” His voice trailed away as his gaze locked onto the holographic map of the Arena.

“Mihara, is something the matter?” Caster asked.

“Yeah… do either of you see something happening to the Arena?” He asked, standing up to get a closer look.

“Hmm, now that you mention it there seems to be something flickering across the whole place.” The foxgirl said. “Maybe that NPC didn’t manage to fully work out all the problems in it yet?”

‘A flicker?’ He thought, turning over Caster’s comments before shaking his head.

“No, I spent a little while looking at it this morning and I didn’t see any problems like this before.”

“Indeed, it appears that most of this ‘flickering’ is concentrated on the position of the Item Folders scattered throughout the Arena.” Saber said. “Something might be happening to the Arena today. With this new knowledge we would do well to exercise caution. We know not of what is happening now.”

“Yeah, you’re right Saber.” Mihara nodded in agreement. “But, well, I can’t really afford to skip out on today’s ‘training’ as it were… I’ll spend time trying to find out what’s happening to the Arena before we head out. Maybe I can find out what’s going on, or something a little bit more useful.”

_______________

Afternoon
_______________

“Now, where could she be?” Mihara asked as he moved across the School Courtyard, his eyes looking around for an NPC clad in green.

Though he had spent about an hour attempting to analyse what was happening within the Arena, his search was fruitless. Eventually he gave up in favour of configuring his Interface in preparation for his ‘intensive training’ on the frontlines that evening. And once that was done, he set off to the School Grounds alongside his Servants.

“Well considering how hyperactive that woman was the last few times we’ve met her you probably won’t need to search for very long.” Caster said, her form invisible as usual.

“Honestly though, I should consider trying to finish off her requests earlier, rather than waiting for the final day to take care of it.” He sighed as he finished speaking, before noticing someone coming out of the School’s Archer Range.

“Yahoo! Mihara!” Taiga Fujimura shouted from across the courtyard, waving her hands energetically.

“Looks like we didn’t need to go searching for her huh?” He said, glancing at the handful of Masters observing him as Taiga approached.

“Mihara! I hope you’ve brought some good news for me!” She said as she reached him, a distinct sparkle in her eyes.

“Fortunately, I do.” He answered, bringing out his Terminal as he activated it, the box of citrus fruits appearing at their feet.

“Wow, you sure managed to get a lot Mihara!” She said, peering into the box.

“I’m still surprised that the SERAPH puts things like this in the Arena though.” He shrugged as he deactivated his Interface.

“Anyway, thank you sooo much for getting this for me!” She continued, a hand digging into her pocket before fishing out a small, rectangular black chip. “And, as promised, here’s the decoration for your Private Residence, be sure not to lose it now, alright?”

“If I did I wouldn’t hear the end of it from my Servants.” He muttered as his hands accepted the offered item and inserted it into his Terminal. “Still, thank you for this Ms. Fujimura.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She replied with a large smile. “I said I’d give you something in return after all, didn’t I? Oh, but I might ask you for more help in the future though, so keep your ears peeled, alright? Of course I’ll make sure to reward you properly afterwards.”

“Well if I have the time in the future I should be able to help.” He answered.

“Good then.” She nodded energetically. “Well, since I’ve got these fruits with me now I should hurry along and see if I can make that sigil I wanted…”

“Sigil?”

“Oh, whoops, don’t mind me!” She said, cutting him off before leaning down to the box of fruits and touching it lightly, a flurry of white pixels engulfing it as it disappeared. “Anyway, good luck in this round then, Mihara! It’d be a shame for such a good student of mine to get killed so quickly.”

“Please show some concern, instead of saying it so calmly.” He commented dryly after she had left.

“We urgently need to deal with that mindset of yours, Praetor.” Saber answered. “The NPCs do not grieve over the dead after all.”

“It isn’t easy getting used to this.” He shook his head before looking around, and seeing a familiar face.

“Wait, that’s… Manaka, isn’t it?”

It was easy to pick her out from the throng of Masters going to and from the main building, her head of shoulder-length blonde hair and aqua-blue dress helping her stand out even more. Evidently, she seemed to be heading for the school gym – the Arena entrance.

“Oya?” Caster asked, following her Master’s gaze. “The little girl isn’t with her boyfriend anymore? And here I thought they wouldn’t be able to continue living if they weren’t together in a five metre radius.”

“They aren't that bad, Caster.” He replied.

“She brings up a valid point though.” Saber said. “We could care less about her, but her consort’s whereabouts is an issue more relevant to us. He might be within the Arena now, in which case she might have something interesting to say to us on what is happening there, as per this morning’s issue.”

“Knowing her she won't hesitate to start gushing about her boyfriend.” Caster added.

“Alright, alright, I’ll see what she has to say.” He answered, rubbing his temples before stepping forward to intercept her.

As he approached her, the young Master couldn’t help but notice something about the young woman before him.

“Ah, hello Mihara.” Manaka said with a smile as he approached, stopping in her tracks. “I hope you’ve been doing well since we met yesterday.”

“Hello, Manaka.” He bowed his head slightly in greeting. “Yes, I’ve been well, thank you.”

He didn’t notice it before due to the high-collar design of the Tsukumihara Academy’s Uniform Manaka was wearing. But with the blue, frilly dress she wore, he couldn’t help but notice a strange, dark-red indent on her skin.

“That’s good.” She nodded, smiling again. “I have to say though, yesterday was fun, and sorry for the slight confusion.”

“No, please, it was natural to see it that way.” He rubbed his head sheepishly, not sure where to go from there.

The indent was like the point of a sword, just barely poking up from the collar of her shirt, its tip ending just at the base of her neck.

“It would have been nice to do something similar again later.” She continued, clasping her hands behind her back. “Though, I don’t think we’ll have any more opportunities in the future, since Shun’ll be the one winning tomorrow’s battle.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” He asked, hanging his head.

“Well, do you know something that says otherwise?” She asked, tilting her head.

“No, but…” He began, trying to defend himself.

“Well, it’s fine either way.” Manaka continued before he could speak. “Many people will find it hard to beat him, especially in a close fight.”

‘As I learned to my detriment beforehand.’

“He’s got a really strong Servant at his side as well.” She continued. “Oh, and not to mention how good he is at collecting information.”

“Wait, information gathering?” He cut in, an alarm bell ringing in his head as he remembered he wasn’t the only one who was looking out for information about the enemy Servants over the past week.

“Mmm hmm.” Manaka nodded. “I didn’t have to do anything and he found out all about my opponent for me. Well, he didn’t have to do that though. I told him I could’ve taken care of him myself.”

“Geh, this guy’s more obsessed about her than I thought he was!” Caster said. “Though, I wish a certain someone would try and take my own feelings into account as well…”

“Ah, but it’s things like that that really show how much we love each other, don’t you think?” She asked, her face brimming with joy as she drifted off into her own world. “Ahh, Shun, my Prince!

“I belong only to you, and you only to me, ever since the day we both came to be! I always believed you would come to find me one day, and now that you have, nobody can come between us! And once this Holy Grail War is over, not even my Father can say no!”

Mihara could only stare awkwardly as Manaka continued to fawn over her boyfriend, her feet dancing and twirling across the courtyard with hands clutched to her chest. Even the confused stares of other Masters did nothing to dampen her declaration of affection.

And as he watched her, he couldn’t help but notice that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach once again.

“Oops, I seemed to have lost myself there.” Manaka finally addressed the Master in front of her, having finished her little dance. “I’m sorry. Was there something you wanted to ask me?”

“Err, yeah.” He stuttered, his brain trying to process what had happened. “Erm, actually I was wondering where Shun was right now.”

“Oh, I see.” She nodded her head in understanding. “Actually, that Shinji dragged him off to the Arena midway through our lunch together. Well, maybe that isn’t exactly the case.”

“What do you mean?” Mihara asked.

“Apparently Shinji hacked the Arena and got it to replace all the Item Folders’ contents with Treasures.” She explained. “We overheard him talking with his Servant about it a little while ago. Something about his Servant getting stronger the more she got paid.”

“Ah ha, that explains a lot.” Saber said, having kept silent until now.

“Well, once he realised we overheard him, his Servant started making fun of him. He got really flustered and challenged my darling to a competition to see how much Treasure the two of them could pick up from the Arena. Ahh, my Prince, you’re such a wonderful person! He said he’ll give me some of the things he picks up from the Arena today you know?”

“I see…” Mihara replied unwilling to add more.

“I don’t really like how our time together got interrupted like that, but I guess it can’t be helped.” She added. “Well, I better go now. I don’t want to put my Prince’s hard work to waste.”

“Alright, see you later Manaka, I guess…” He said, bidding her goodbye as she skipped past him, a strange silence taking her place as he watched her disappear into the Arena.

“Well, I could care less about her dismissal of the stakes within the Holy Grail War.” Saber said finally. “But did you hear what she had to say about the Arena today? It appears our delicate little friend is responsible for the odd occurrences we had seen this morning.”

“Ugh… Can we skip going into the Arena today?” He asked, jolted out of his stupor.

“What are you suggesting, Master?” Saber asked, her form still invisible. “Were you not paying attention to your own discussion? It is money, and by proxy, Treasure, that magnifies the power of that Pirate-lady. Sitting upon the stands just will not do, not while the enemy grows both stronger and richer before my eyes!”

“Yeah, if we just sat out now, we’d be the ones that ended up looking stupid while she powers up with all that money!” Caster said.

“That makes sense but…” The Master began, before stalling while trying to find a rebuttal.

“After all, I’d like some treasure too you know?” Caster continued before he could finish.

“The fox speaks true.” Saber said. “Our own financial status will benefit greatly from this endeavour, while weakening our enemy as well. There is absolutely nothing good about leaving them alone to continue their little competition. That, and the matter that we had discussed this morning still stands, our training is of paramount necessity.”

“I’ll reserve comments on that unnecessary sentence at the front.” Caster said. “After all, the longer we stay here the more of a head-start they’ll have!”

“There’s every reason to say yes and no reason to say no, huh?” He said, downcast before shaking his head. “Fine then, let’s get going.”

“Still though, that Manaka girl’s really over the moon about her boyfriend.” The foxgirl continued. “And just as much as he’s obsessed with her, this girl’s got a severe case of eighth-grader syndrome as well!”

“Now when did you manage to learn that term?” Mihara asked.

“She seems a teensy bit overly infatuated with him to be reasonable. She reminds me quite a bit of-” She continued, ignoring him even as her voice faltered for a moment. “Oh… That might not be a good sign. This might not turn out so well…”

“Caster?” Her Master asked, stopping momentarily. “Is something wrong?”

“…A-Ah! No no, nevermind, it’s nothing Master.” Caster stuttered after a few moments of silence. “Her twisted imitation of love pales in comparison to ours after all! Now, let us be on our way, for beautiful treasures await us after all!”

He pulled a wry smile at her comment before moving forward, not willing to try and probe deeper into her words at this moment. And as he approached the Arena entrance, his mind slowly cast itself back to the scenes he had witnessed between his opponent and girlfriend over the past week.

It was evident to Mihara why Shun fell for a girl like Manaka.

She was cute- no, beautiful. She was kind, considerate, and willing to do anything for his sake. Perhaps a bit overly passionate, but what young girl chest-deep in love wasn’t? Truly, if a young woman in love could be as radiant as the sun, Manaka would fit the bill perfectly.

That fact only clawed at his heart even more.

_______________

Evening
_______________

“Master, watch out!”

It was only a few seconds after the Master and his Servants had entered the Arena, before a large program modelled after a large snake came charging at them. Even with Saber’s warning, he had only a split second to roll out of the way.

“Tch-!” He grunted as he got back up to his knees, just as the red swordswoman decapitated the offending program. “Well, I guess that’s a first.”

“There appear to be a lot more of these extras than there were present the previous two days.” Saber began looking around the deck, ignoring the defeated program as it dissipated into black mist.

“Huh, no kidding.” Caster said, bringing out one of her charms as she too looked around the deck. “I can sense a lot of these guys peppering the ship we’re on. Maybe it’s got something to do with that seaweed’s hacking of the Arena?”

“That would make sense, wouldn’t it?” He murmured before quickly rejoining them. “Still, what do we do from here?”

And as though on cue, he began to feel his Terminal vibrate within his pocket.

Quickly pulling out the piece of electronics, he brought out his Interface only to be greeted by a familiar, and unwelcome, face.

“Mihara-!” Shinji muttered, hands clenched as he stared daggers across the screen. “What the hell are you doing here?! I thought I walled off the Arena from you yesterday!”

“Were those sigils really the best you could come up with, you stupid jellyfish?” Caster asked as she stuck her tongue out at him. “You suck at this. We aren’t gonna let you just snatch up all of those Treasures for yourself now that we’re here!”

“Damnit! You’ve been eavesdropping on me too?!” He continued shouting, just before a hand pushed down on his head.

“Heh, now now there lil’ boy, more competition’s always good ain't it?” Rider said with a toothy grin, ruffling her Master’s head.

“Shit, stop that you drunken monkey!” He tried waving her off, though his futile attempts only made her laugh as she continued. “Damnit, the first box we open up just had to be a barrel of that disgusting drink!”

Moments later, another face appeared on a new screen on the Interface, as Mihara’s second opponent entered the conversation.

“Fancy seeing you here again, Mihara, though I’m guessing Shinji’s challenged you as well now that you’re here?”

“Let’s just say my Servants would like me to cash in a bit on this event.” He answered Shun with a cautious smile, just as Shinji finally beat off his wayward Servant.

“Alright, fine, so that’s what motivated you to come this far then eh?” He asked, trying to regain his composure. “Fine, fine, I’ll keep the extent of your greed a secret for your sake Mihara. Since you’ve already eavesdropped a lot, I won’t bother explaining what’s happened to the Arena for you.”

“I’m guessing the larger number of enemy programs was also a side-effect of your hacking?” The Master couldn’t help but ask as he saw another large snake swimming across the deck on the opposite side of his ship, ignoring him and his two Servants.

“More like a mistake than anything else if you’d ask me!” Shun’s Servant commented over the Interface screen.

“Y-You shut up, alright Archer?!” Shinji stammered. “I-I just did that since I thought one or two of you’d end up trying to rain on my parade today, and just look at what happened!”

“If you had just kept your mouth shut the both of us probably wouldn’t have realised what was here.” Shun commented. “And anyway-”

“Fine then!” The blue-haired magus said over the Interface. “If you really wanted to try grabbing some Treasure you’re free to try. Not like you’ll have that much luck competing against me though.”

“Oooh, bold words coming from such a tiny man Shinji!” Rider said, a hand to her chin as she leered at him. “But in all honesty, can someone like you really grab all that treasure first?”

“What the heck are you going on about now, Rider?” Shinji asked, his eye twitching.

“Of course you can’t get it all!” She shouted. “You’re nothing more than a hapless, twisted knave!”

“What the-!” Shinji snapped, momentarily lost for words before turning on his Servant. “Rider! What the hell are you doing calling me a knave?! I’m not a villain like you, damnit!”

“Of course you are!” She replied with a smirk. “If you weren’t, then why the hell am I here? Though I have to say your luck is in deeper waters than a ten-ton wreck, even stealing candy from a baby would be a chore and a half for someone like you! Hell, even my luck’s running ragged just following you around! Now what makes you think you’re actually capable of stealing all of that delicious treasure, hmm?”

“What sort of ungrateful Servant are you?!” The blue-haired magus shouted. “Gah, fine then! Since everyone insists, I’ll make sure to show you what I’m made of!” Finished replying his Servant, he then turned back to the screen.

“And I’ll make sure to give the both of you such a humiliating defeat you won’t dare show your faces in public anymore!”

“Hah! Seeing is believing as they say.” Rider laughed at his boast.

“Well we’ll see about that shortly now, won’t we Archer?” Shun gave a smile before turning to look at the muscular Servant by his side.

“Okay then, since we all know where we stand let’s hurry up and get back to hunting Treasure!” Shinji shouted. “And of course, don’t expect me to pull any punches for you now Mihara!”

“Devious as always, Shinji!” Rider said with another grin, before snapping around and firing off a shot from her pistols.

“You heard her, Archer!” Shun said, turning to his Servant. “Let’s hurry and grab as many as we can.”

“Of course Brother!” Archer replied, slamming his fists together in anticipation. “Nobody will find us an easy pair to best!”

With both of the opposing teams finishing their declarations, Mihara’s Interface immediately cleared up, the two screens disappearing almost immediately. Soon afterwards however, Mihara’s Interface flashed once, three lines appearing in neon-blue font:

Shinji: 1

Shun: 1

Mihara: 0

“It appears that someone is keeping score.” Saber noted.

Several moments after she finished, his Interface blinked once again, displaying several lines of text in the same font:

Due to Shinji’s Hacking, all of the Item Folders within the Arena floor have had their contents emptied and replaced with various Treasures.

In total, there are 25 Treasures scattered around the Arena floor.

Find as many as possible before someone else does!

“Seems to be a notification from the SERAPH.” Mihara said.

“This reinforces my suspicions that an NPC is watching this.” Saber said, a hand on her chin. “They should have also realised how that bit-player’s managed to hack the Arena so in that case, but yet again no corrective action is being taken…”

“Well we can worry about that sort of stuff later.” Caster cut in. “We’ve got Treasure to find and those two sleazebags already have a headstart on us!”

“Indeed, we must go now.” Saber nodded, her crimson blade appearing in her hand through a flurry of pixels. “Where is the nearest Item Folder, Master?”

“Should be on this deck.” He answered, scrutinising his holographic map. “It’s the closest one, but…”

“We should make our opening move so as not to fall behind them first.” Saber interrupted. “Or perhaps you have another plan of action in mind?”

“Well, as we found out before, the Item Folders are mostly clustered in the central shipwreck, right?”

“Yep, they are!” Caster answered.

“I’m counting five Item Folders on each of the three perimeter wrecks, a total of 15, and another 10 on the central wreck.” He continued, the holographic map spinning in front of him. “If we were to rush there first and collect as many as possible, then head back to this starting wreck…”

“We would deny them a good portion of Treasure.” Saber finished his sentence, nodding her head as the idea ran through her mind. “That would be a sound plan, but our opponents are already well on their way with securing the Treasures on their own wreck. It is only a small matter of time before they will move on to the main performance.”

“Then, would it be possible to lay diversionary traps?” Mihara asked. “Or perhaps… Set up some barriers of our own, like what Shinji did yesterday? All the three ships are connected to the central one via hidden passages, so I can try to put up a barrier of sorts to slow their movements at least.”

“That is a sound plan.” Saber said slowly, a hand to her chin. “However, do you believe yourself capable of doing such things?

“I found this earlier today before we left the house, while I was trying to figure out Shinji’s hacking.” He continued, turning back to his Interface as certain areas lit up. “It seem as though there are some natural ‘switches’ scattered around the Arena, which are linked up to ‘gates’ scattered around. And there seems to be a gate located on each Hidden Pathway.”

“So if we can gain access to the switches controlling these gates…” Saber continued speaking.

“Then we’ll be bringing those two shrimp’s day to a grinding halt!” Caster exclaimed. “Master, you’re a genius!”

“If I were that much of a genius I wouldn’t have joined this War in the first place.” He muttered. “Anyway, I’m thinking of activating this switch, it seems to be the one controlling the gates we’re interested in.”

He pointed to a highlighted point on the central wreck, the section pulsating slightly with several faint red lines branching out from it.

“This might very well work, Master.” Saber said, ignoring him. “Very well, let us act upon it now. Our opponents are several precious minutes ahead. We must not let ourselves fall behind.”

As she said so, the scoreboard on Mihara’s Interface lit up twice in quick succession, the three numbers changing:

Shinji: 2

Shun: 2

Mihara: 0

“Yeah, better get moving.” Mihara nodded, his Interface collapsing back into his Terminal as they began running towards the hidden path, the ‘scoreboard’ still on-screen alongside the map of the Arena.

“Heh, this is too easy.” Shinji’s voice played from his Terminal moments afterwards.

“Yeah, but just that one teeny box ain’t going to be nearly enough.” Rider replied.

“Hey! What about that box of rum we found earlier?”

“Rum’s all fine and good skipper, but it still can’t beat the sight of a good haul of gold glittering before my eyes!”

“Tch, aren’t we the greedy one?”

“I hope you haven’t forgotten about me yet Shinji.” Shun’s voice started coming though the Terminal. “If you don’t pay attention I’ll be the one taking the lead very soon!”

“Hah! I’d like to see you try shrimpy!”

“Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us.” Mihara shook his head at the chatter. “When we get to the main ship, let’s split up. There’s a number of treasures en-route to the switch I’m thinking of activating. Caster, can you go on ahead and scout the area? Saber and I will follow up behind you picking up the Treasures as we find them. Don’t take too many risks, but try to thin out the number of Monsters around the area.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that Master; I won’t let them lay even a finger on me!” She said with a smile. “Though, ehehe, knowing that you worry for my sake makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

“Try not to make me worry too much too much.” He muttered. “Otherwise I’ll probably end up dying of stress long before anything else.”

_______________

“Okay, here’s our first one.” Mihara said, the Item Folder clicking open before him as the numbers on his Terminal began changing several times in quick succession.

Shinji: 3

Shun: 3

Mihara: 1

“Too slow, Mihara!” Shinji’s voice came over the Terminal again.

“Cease your mindless provocations already!” Saber shouted as she pulled her sword out from an enemy program, quickly dissolving into black mist.

“Fortunately for us the Treasures on this wreck are clustered together in comparison to the other wrecks.” Mihara continued, already running to the next location with Saber quickly following after him. “We should be able to close the difference fairly quickly.”

“Good. Let us make haste then Master.”

Leaping down a set of staircases to the main deck, the two quickly spotted the next Item Folder alongside the base of the Main Mast.

They also spotted another snake-like program rapidly swimming through the air right at them.

“He is mine.” Saber said simply, running forward to meet it as Mihara ran straight for the Item Folder.

“Second one…” He muttered as it clicked open, the Terminal in his hand registering its acquisition with changing numbers.

Shinji: 3

Shun: 3

Mihara: 2

“Archer, let’s not fall behind now.” Shun’s voice came over the Terminal now.

“Indeed, this haul of riches I will not pass up.”

“Master, watch out!”

Distracted momentarily by the chatter, Mihara snapped his head around just in time to see another program coming straight down at him from above.

With instinct taking over he immediately rolled to the side, coming up onto his knees just as the enemy crashed into the wooden flooring, leaving a hole in the ground. It wasn’t out of the fight yet however, quickly leaping out again before swimming straight at the Master.

Moments before it reached him however, a translucent wall immediately formed.

With the sound of breaking glass the program was stopped dead in its tracks, flinching slightly as pieces of the wall, like smashed glass, flew in every direction.

It only took it seconds to recover, the snake training its makeshift eyes at the crouched Master once again.

But those few seconds were all he needed.

Immediately the enemy program was assaulted by several explosions, forcing it back several metres as smoke filled the area.

“I don’t think that was enough!” He shouted, still seeing a faint silhouette writhing, but not dissolving into the usual mist.

“It is enough!” Saber shouted, her Master seeing a flash of red rush into the smoke as her sword cleanly decapitated their opponent an instant later.

“I guess that’s only to be expected.” He shook his head, adrenaline still pumping through him as the smoke cleared, his Interface dissolving around him.

“Remember that these programs are more resilient than Masters would normally be.” Saber replied, turning back to him. “But that is a conversation for later.”

Nodding wordlessly, he took another look at his Terminal before rushing off to the next location, his Servant again following close behind.

As the two ran through an open doorway and down another flight of stairs, a sudden impulse to check his newly acquired Treasures overtook Mihara. As he did so, he noticed something odd about the most recent Treasure they had picked up.

“...Kaleido-stick?” He asked with a furrowed brow, still running to the next Item Folder.

“Is something disturbing you, Master?” Saber asked.

“It’s one of the Treasures we picked up recently Saber. A ‘Kaleido-stick’… What is this thing supposed to be?”

“Hrm, I have never heard of such a Treasure before certainly.” She conceded. “What is the SERAPH’s evaluation of it?”

“…’An Item deemed too annoying and dangerous to be used by the average Master.’” He read aloud. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It appears that not all of the things we find are worth as much as one would expect, when the word ‘Treasure’ is heard. Regardless, I do not know of such an item.”

“Perhaps Caster might know about it?” He asked.

“Perhaps. We should remember to ask her once we meet up with her again later.” Saber answered, her Master nodding in agreement.

_______________

“Right, that’s the next one.” Mihara muttered, his Terminal beeping in acknowledgement as the Item Folder before him clicked open.

Shinji: 4

Shun: 4

Mihara: 3

“And with this, the switch should be nearby.” He continued, looking down the deck, quickly spotting Caster waving at them.

And beside her, was a small, waist-high construct with a floating, dull-grey diamond located just above it.

“Excellent, let us make haste.” Saber nodded, the pair rushing forward. “Our foes are almost finished plundering their ships, and we must make sure our preparations are done before that happens.”

“Caster, thanks for clearing the way.” He said panting slightly as they reached her. “I hope they didn’t cause you much problem?”

“Oh no, those small-fry were nothing for me to handle!” She said. “I’m just glad that you’re safe, Master.”

“Alright, that’s good.” He nodded, before looking at the switch and bringing out his Terminal. “Okay, let’s see how I can activate this thing…”

“While our Master deals with this, there is something else that we had found on our way here, Caster.” Saber spoke, crossing her arms as she scanned the area. “We believe you might have some insight into this, considering your suspiciously surprising amount of knowledge.”

“Uuh, well, I guess that depends on what it might be.” The foxgirl said, fidgeting slightly.

“Good point, thanks for reminding me, Saber.” Mihara said as he gestured to a corner of his Interface, showing a picture of a red stick that could be described as a child’s magic wand. “We found this item, actually.”

“Uwah, what the heck is this thing supposed to be?” She asked, looking at it sceptically as lines of code criss-crossed the main screen. “’An Item deemed too annoying and dangerous to be used by the average Master.’ When you look at it, it really doesn’t seem all that but…”

“You have any clue as to what it might be?” He asked.

“I might.” She muttered, a hand to her chin for a few moments before she gave an audible groan. “Ugh, I had a suspicion some of those might show up.”

“The SERAPH usually shoves the things it wants deleted into the Arena, and at the end of the week it all gets wiped to the trash bin, you might say. Some of the more ‘sensitive’ stuff is locked up in a secure location until then so Masters can’t accidentally find them. That seaweed’s hacking probably caused some of those items to come out of the lockdown.”

“Basically it’s like a piece of contraband right?” He continued, his eyes still focused on his Interface screen. “Something that the SERAPH deems a threat to the Holy Grail War, or something that directly breaks one of its other rulings?”

“Yeah, that’s basically it.” The foxgirl nodded. “There might actually be some items that belong to other Servants throw into that virus vault too. Or things that are too dangerous to use otherwise. I suspect you’ll find a handful of them along with Treasure. The NPC’s might pay us quite a bit to get them back, but I wouldn’t recommend opening or trying to use them without more info.”

“Okay, so I guess we’ll still end up getting some money for picking these up.” He shrugged, several clicks emanating from his Interface. “Don’t know how the NPCs will treat us, knowing that we picked these illegal items up in the first place.”

“Since we currently have an observer of some sort.” Saber answered. “They should already understand the situation well enough. Having said that, we should make sure we analyse all of the items we pick up before returning them. There could very well be something that we can use in the future.”

“I don’t really like the idea of carrying contraband with me everywhere I go, but I guess anything we can use is fair game huh?” He sighed, before his Interface gave a brief click, colouring itself in bright green as a large 'OK!' filled its screen, the diamond atop the construct now shining a bright yellow colour.

“Right, we’re done here.” Mihara continued as his Interface switched to a map of the Arena, three distinct, red ‘walls’ now obstructing the main passages. “Unfortunately I had to block of the path back to our own wreck in the process. We’ll have to come back here to unlock it again later.”

“That will cost us time.” Saber said, looking at the map.

“Yeah, and by the time we do return, Shinji and Shun will probably have found an auxiliary switch or something like that to control their own ‘gates’.” He continued.

“Well, we can deal with that when we get there.” Caster said, waving her hand at the screen. “We’ve got Treasure to find now anyway!”

“Umu, we have precious little time left to regain a lead.” With a nod from the both of them, they continued their mad rush for Treasure through the wreck.

_______________

“And that’s Treasure number five!” The blue-haired magus declared, the Item Folder before him clicking open as his Terminal beeped in acknowledgement. “That wipes all the Treasure off this ship into our pockets.”

“Way to go there Skipper!” Rider cheered. “But that’s only about as good as crossing a small creek with your tiny baby-steps boyo!”

“Sh-Shut up Rider! We’ve already gotten this far, the rest of the Treasures’ll be a cinch to get!”

“Well you better make sure to keep up then boyo! Where’s our next haul now anyway?”

“The next place we’re heading to is the middle wreck.” Shinji replied, whipping out his map of the Arena. “I said I’ll show you what I’m made of, didn’t…”

“Didn’t what, Shinji?” She asked with a raised eyebrow, noting his dumbfounded look as he looked at the Arena map. Her questions however were quickly answered by his hysterical shouting moments later.

“Damnit! What the hell are you doing there, Mihara?! Why the hell are you already scooping up Treasure on the middle wreck?!”

“Ugh, looks like Shinji’s found us out.” Mihara’s voice spoke from the Terminal.

“You’re cheating aren’t you?!” He continued shouting as he watched his opponent’s ghostly miniature figures running around. “You aren’t supposed to be there right now!”

“Cease your incessant whining already, you worthless man-child.” Saber answered through the Terminal.

“Wh-Wh-What the hell did you just call me, you, you-Gah!”

“Ahahaha! And that’s what you get for not paying attention Shinji! But boy does that shorty have a sharp tongue to make up for her height!” Rider said, laughing at her flustered Master. “Still, Shinji, now that they’ve overtaken us, what do you plan to do now, hm?”

“As if you need to ask me that Rider!” He shouted as his Interface shut down around him. “We’re going to get down there and grab the rest of the Treasure, and make sure he and his stupid Servants regrets ever walking into the Arena today!”

“Ha ha! That’s the spirit Shinji!” She said with a toothy grin. “No retreat, no backing down, and everything on the line, since the thrill only gets better when our backs are to the wall!”

“Who-Who says our backs are to the wall? I-I’ve got this all covered right, you hear me Rider?!”

“Heh, yeah yeah I hear you.” She said with a grin, her pistols locked and ready. “Now, the hunt is really on! Run like your life depends on it!”

With their plan set, the Master and Servant began running through the wreck, any enemy programs they saw quickly trampled under the force of their mad rush up the decks and to the hidden path that would lead them to their next target.

Hence it took only several minutes for them to retrace their steps to the top deck, the hidden path lighting up as they stepped on it like a corridor of lights. And just as they did however, Shinji’s Terminal began vibrating, a message quickly typing itself onto its screen:

Shinji: 5

Shun: 5

Mihara: 4

“Tch, they’re fast…” He spat as he read off the numbers, not stopping for even a moment as his eyes remained glued to the screen.

“Then we’ve just gotta be faster now, don’t we Shinji?” Rider asked from beside him with a grin. But before giving him time to reply, the Pirate snapped her attention forward before grabbing hold of her Master and jerking him back.

“Rider, wha-!”

Before he could finish his sentence however, he noticed the towering red gate before them.

It covered the entire length and height of the corridor, a mass of criss-crossed red wires with clear sparks of energy running across them.

“When the hell did this thing show up?!” He shouted instead.

“Well, it certainly wasn’t here yesterday that’s for sure.” Rider replied sarcastically.

“Damnit, Mihara!” The blue-haired magus shouted into his Terminal again. “What the hell did you do here?! How the hell did you bring up such a powerful barrier?!”

“Shit, there’s one on this side as well.” Shun muttered, his voice emanating from the Terminal.

“Ach, looks like they’ve gotten to the gates we’ve put up already.” Mihara said over the Terminal.

“This is payback for the annoyance you put us through yesterday, so good luck dismantling them you stupid blobfishes!” Caster said, before blowing a raspberry over the Terminal

“Damnit you stupid animal!” Shinji continued shouting. “I knew it, you really are cheating Mihara! Just stop right there and undo this stupid gates you damn cheater!”

“Oya oya, wasn’t it you yourself who said not to pull any punches Shinji?” Rider asked.

“Hrm, if I remember correctly, Manaka said something about these gates before…” Shun said through the Terminal. “Archer, we better backtrack a bit. I think I know what we need to do…”

“See? Even your partner’s taking this like a man.” Rider goaded, her smirk as large as always. “Still though, I’m not happy about my Treasure being taken away from me Skipper.”

“Geh-!” He fumbled for a moment before activating his Interface. “Fine, alright, I get it. Just give me a moment to figure out what the hell’s up with this thing.”

He bit his lip for a few moments as his fingers darted across the surface of his ‘globe’ Interface, line upon lines of code crossing the screen as he did so.

“There then, I’ve found it.” He said after a few moments. “This gate’s been shut from a switch inside, on the main wreck. There should be another switch on the wreck behind us that’ll open the gate again.”

“Bah, so we have to go back and turn the entire place inside-out to find it then?” Rider asked. “Well, I’m sort of used to turning ships inside-out I guess.”

“No, we aren’t going back there.” The blue-haired magus said through gritted teeth.

“Oya?” His Servant asked, turning back to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Damn this piece of shit.” He cursed, before his clenched fist hammered into the holographic keyboard in front of him. “I’m not going to let everyone make a fool of me again!”

“I’m better than them, you hear me Rider?!” He shouted, his fingers erupting in a flurry across the keyboard. “I’m better than everyone in this game! In any game! So keep quiet, and let me show you how the Gaming Champ does this!”

“Heh, big words coming from such a tiny man!” She said with another smirk. “Though if you can pull this stunt through then I’ll say you’ve got bigger balls that I gave credit for.”

“I told you already didn’t I?” Shinji shouted as his Interface began to pulsate slowly, as did the wire gate before them. “I’m Asia’s Game Champ! I won’t lose when it comes to hacking, and I certainly won’t lose to a nobody like that guy!”

After the flurry of clicks that drowned out most sound in the area, the blue-haired magus smashed his fist down onto the keyboard, his Interface quickly collapsing into itself to make a small, pulsating, black orb hovering over his hand.

“Now watch and learn!” He screamed, before throwing the ball at the gate before them.

And as it impacted, a great screech could be heard, as though two pieces of metal were grinding against each other with an overpowering amount of force. The wires that made up the gate quickly began pulsating in a deep crimson red, the electric sparks surging across it only becoming larger and more violent.

And in the next moment a flash of light engulfed the area, just as Rider gave a toothy grin at Shinji’s handiwork.

_______________

“Treasure number five; we’ve finally closed that gap.” Mihara muttered as the Item Folder before him clicked open, the numbers on his Terminal changing in concert.

Shinji: 5

Shun: 5

Mihara: 5

“Excellent.” Saber nodded. “Now, where be the next Item Folder?”

“There’s another two on the deck directly below us.” He answered, looking at the map on his Terminal. “The staircase going down should be-!“

“Master? Is something wrong?” Caster asked, looking at him.

“It looks like Shinji’s already opened the gate we set up earlier.” He muttered, biting his lip.

“What?!” Caster asked in alarm. “How the heck did that shrimp get through so quickly?”

“It seem as though he brute-forced them open.” He answered, bringing up his Interface to take a closer look. “He infected the gate system with a small virus that caused a feedback loop. It completely fried the control system for the Gates.”

“And that’s exactly what a Game Champ’s capable of, you damn cheater!” Shinji shouted over the Terminal, evidently hearing their conversation. “Now I’m going to make sure I grab all that Treasure and leave you biting the dust!”

“Geh!” Caster spat, ignoring their opponent. “That little brat’s got some skills then, I’ll give him that. The security for the gates isn’t as high as some other programs I remember, but it still takes some pretty good skill to do that.”

“As a result though, all the gates are down now, including the one back to our starting wreck.” He continued, looking for a way to shut down his Terminal’s transmissions. “It won’t take too long for the both of them to come find us here on this ship.”

“Then we have the option of engaging them here and now.” Saber said, a hand on her hips.

“I’d be more than willing to give the two of them a good smacking.” Caster said in agreement, ramming her fists together.

“Unfortunately I myself am not that keen.” He replied, shaking his head. “The fight’s supposed to be tomorrow; I don’t want any of us to get injured just before the real fight after all.”

“Ugh, I guess that’s true…” Caster said somewhat reluctantly.

“In that case, we should make haste and return to our own ship.” Saber answered. “There are a total of 25 Treasures to be had in the Arena right now, and 15 have already been acquired by the various participants, leaving only a remainder of 10.”

“We know that five of them are scattered on this ship.” She continued speaking after a pause, tapping her foot on the deck for emphasis. “And we know another five are on our starting ship. If we were to acquire those five, it leaves the five on this ship for our competitors to fight amongst themselves for; and it is unlikely they will leave it as tribute to one or the other.”

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly Saber.” Mihara nodded.

“Though, I cannot guarantee that that bit-player will leave us be.” Saber added. “He may choose to chase us directly, or attempt to grab the remaining Treasures scattered on this ship instead.”

“I guess that’s a risk we’ll have to take.” He said after a sigh. “I’d rather not fight right now since the Coliseum Battle is tomorrow, but if it comes down to that, then, well, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“As long as you are prepared.” Saber said, nodding.

“Okay, now that all the planning’s done and over with, let’s hop to it!” Caster cut in. “We’ll need to move quickly so that those two sleazebags don’t steal a march on us anymore.”

_______________

Fortunately for the Master and his two Servants, Shinji and his partner decided to try and grab the remaining Treasures on the central ship, apparently not willing to rush against him for the remaining five Treasures.

Hence their run through the starting ship went uninterrupted, apart from the violent arguments and shouting that emanated from Mihara’s Terminal.

That, and Shinji’s name-calling as he and his partner falls behind in score.

“Mihara! Stop where you are already you damn cheater!” Shinji’s voice shouted from the Terminal as another Item Folder clicked open before the Master and his two Servants.

“And that’s another one…” He muttered, ignoring Shinji’s shouts now as the lines on his Terminal screen updated themselves.

Mihara: 9

Shinji: 8

Shun: 7

“Only one more remains on this ship.” Saber said, nodding in satisfaction as the three began moving to the next Treasure. “That bit-player is even more of a fool than I gave him credit for.”

“Yeah, but his ability to overload some of the systems shouldn’t be underestimated.” Caster said. “Well, by the end of this week his skills won’t mean anything anyway, after we grind that piratits into the dust.”

“Pira- what?” He asked, confused.

“Oh, don’t mind me Master.” Caster said with a smile. “Just a nickname I made up for her.”

“…Okay, right.” He said after a pause. “Anyway, we still have the last Treasure to pick up now. Then we should probably head home before Shinji and Shun catches up to us.”

“I’m more than willing to give them a good smackdown you know?” Caster repeated.

“And again, I’m less than willing.” He replied sarcastically.

“Indeed.” Saber concurred. “We must conserve our strength for now, as we will need it come tomorrow. Flailing and flaunting our strength to them now will only expose ourselves to more inconveniences and give them the chance to learn more information about us.”

“Mu, that’s true I guess.” Caster said. “Well, I guess we’ve learned all there is about them now though, right Mihara?”

“Yeah, that’s true.” He said, stopping at a doorway. “I should be able to piece together their True Name with the information I have for tomorrow’s fight.”
The trio proceeded slowly into the room, still wary of other Programs that could assault them even at this last moment.

Fortunately however, there were none to be found. The only thing that could be found in this room was a single Item Folder, amidst the remains of empty crates.

“In any case, let’s grab the last one and get out of here quickly, before Shinji manages to find us.” Mihara said, stepping forward as his two Servants stood guard.

“Mihara!” Shinji’s voice shouted from his Terminal again, evidently keeping a good eye on their movements. “Don’t you dare touch that Treasure chest you cheating bastard! You hear me?!”

As he reached out to touch the Item Folder, he felt a slight burning sensation course across his outstretched hand.

Pausing momentarily, he noticed the burning sensation appeared to be centred around the Command Seals on his hand.

But knowing that his opponents were very close by he forced himself to ignore the strange pain, reaching out to touch the Item Folder as it clicked open. And by his side he felt his Terminal beep in acknowledgement.

“Excellent, our task today is done.” Saber nodded in approval.

“Yeeeah, but that’s more than enough running around for me now.” Caster moaned, stretching. “Let’s hurry up and return back to our love nest, Master!”

“And when the heck did our house turn into that?” He asked, before shaking his head. “Actually, nevermind. Let’s just get out of here before Shinji finds us.”

‘Though, what was that strange burning sensation I had just now? I’d better remember to check out the all the Treasures we managed to collect today…’

_______________

All Treasures within the Arena have been claimed.

Final score results are as follows.

Mihara: 10

Shinji: 8

Shun: 7

“Damn, stupid Priest.” The NPC cursed as she watched the array of holographic screens arrayed before her. “Idiotic, meddling, bastard, retarded, annoying, bloody, good-for-nothing Priest! What the hell does that guy think he was doing, telling me to leave that hack there?! Didn’t he know those holes would’ve definitely opened up Item Quarantine?!”

“Gee, Arina, you really can curse like a pirate can’t you?” Another NPC commented. “Kind of reminds me of the time when we were still alive.”

“Suzuha!” The first NPC snapped. “How many times do I have to tell you not to bring up my past all the time huh?”

“Whaaat?” Suzuha asked, pouting. “But you were really cool back then, along with all your gang-friends as well!”

“Damnit, that part of my life was really, really embarrassing you know?!” Arina began rubbing her temples as those memories surfaced. “Just thinking about all the trouble I got into back then makes me cringe.”

“And so ends the career of Tsukumihara Academy’s ‘Iron-Clawed Yankee’ Arina Ikuya.” Suzuha continued, pointedly looking away.

“Damnit, which mouth is it that’s spouting off all this nonsense now huh?” Arina muttered through gritted teeth, standing up and taking several steps towards her sister. “Is it this one huh? Huh?!”

She lunged forward, grabbing her cheeks and pulling them vigorously as Suzuha began flailing around, incoherent gibberish flowing from her forcibly opened mouth.

“We didn’t even attend this school in our life you stupid girl!” She continued through gritted teeth, her sister unable to escape. “Now you either focus on the job here and now, or your cheeks’ll be coming off!”

“Yesh- Yesh! I handershtand, I handershtand! I hwon’t do it hanymore!” Suzuha managed to say, her sister subsequently letting go.

“Owww…” She moaned afterwards, rubbing her reddening cheeks. “That really hurt you know, sis? You know I’m weak against cheek attacks.”

“Well the one who brought it upon yourself was none other than you.” Arina answered, crossing her arms as she turned back to the screens arrayed in front of her. “Come on now, we’ve got our own work to do here.”

“Yeees.” Suzuha replied energetically. “Still though, what are we going to do about those Illegal Items that that blue-head pulled out of Quarantine? Since they’re in the possession of Masters, we aren’t allowed to forcibly take them away now. There’s even some Servant Noble Phantasms that got pulled out I think. Well, in terms of fighting capability they’re completely useless though.”

“Yeah, but if it really were about pure combat capability the SERAPH wouldn’t have judged them to be Illegal.” Arina said, a hand to her chin. “The problem there is that they run completely opposite to the rules of the Holy Grail War. Or at the very least, make it drop-dead easy to game the system.”

“You mean the bit about ‘Lose your Servant, lose your Command Seals, lose your Life’, right?” Suzuha asked.

“Exactly.” Arina said, grinding her teeth as the two descended into silence.

“Dammit all, this problem wouldn’t have happened if the SERAPH didn’t let that stupid Witch get summoned in this War!” Arina screamed suddenly, punching one of the screens in front of her which subsequently shattered into glass. “Argh! How the hell did it let her through with that stupid Noble Phantasm anyway, huh?!”

The two NPC’s paid scant attention as the screen quickly reformed itself, like a tape on rewind.

“It’s times like this where I can’t help but draw parallels back to your old days.” Suzuha muttered.

“Did you say something?” Arina asked, turning her head slowly to look at her sister who began shaking her head vigorously.

“Bah, no matter what I say to the SERAPH, it keeps ignoring me for some reason.” She continued her tirade, throwing up her arms as she ignored her sister. “It’s like there’s something diverting all my notifications to the bin every time I send them! Even that stupid Priest just ignores everything I say!”

“We really do have to do something about this sometime soon huh sis?” Suzuha asked. “And not to mention the complete absence of Maintenance NPCs to boot.”

“I know the SERAPH is planning a day of downtime for everyone at the end of this week.” Arina said, biting her nails. “Supposed to give the Masters some time to get their bearings after their first killing. Hopefully that downtime will be enough for my message to get through.”

“Or find the exact cause of what the hell’s letting all this crazy stuff happen.”

_______________

Night
_______________

Caster hummed to herself as she knelt at the kotatsu in her room, her tail wagging slowly behind her.

Her dear Master would soon come for a late-night visit. And as soon as he did, the two would engage in a warm embrace and a passionate kiss.

With only the silver light of the moon illuminating their room, he would gently push her down onto the futon, his tongue slowly tasting every nook and cranny of her body as his hands slowly removed her robes to reveal her porcelain-white skin…

And then, and then-

“Juuust kidding.” She moaned, pulling herself out of the fantasy as her tail drooped to the floor. “Still have to remember what rating we’re operating at. Though, honestly, I wish he’d take more initiative as a man, but I guess even with a foxy maiden like me before him, he needs a bit of ‘encouragement’.”

“Hrm, on that note what sorts of ‘encouragement’ can I use in the future I wonder…” She continued, looking out to the garden, and the night sky above. “Or perhaps I should just push him down and have my way…?”

“Oh, no no no! I can’t do that sort of thing!” She shook her head vigorously, lightly slapping her cheeks. “Silly fox, a maiden can't just go and do that! And committing a crime after getting so far is just horrible!

“Well, having said that I’m jealous of that Manaka girl.” She continued after a brief pause, remembering what she had witnessed of the Master and her Lover. “Aah, I wish I could be in a relationship like that. But my Master’s too dense to realise anything of the sort.”

And on top of that, the foxgirl realised that something was a little bit off about that woman. Sure it was natural for a girl to be infatuated with her ‘darling prince’; she herself had been in that position many times. But, Manaka’s infatuation seemed as though it was something else…

Before she could think any further however, a knock sounded on her door.

“Caster? Are you free now?”

“Ah! Y-yes, goshujin-sama, the door’s open for you.” She stuttered, her thoughts snapping back to the present. “Please, come in.”

“It’s still extremely embarrassing to hear you call me that.” Mihara said with a wry smile as the doors to Caster’s room slid open.

“Well, old habits are hard to break for me.” Caster replied, shifting her position slightly to make space next to her. “I’m sure you don’t mind humouring me though, at least in private. And over time I’m sure you’ll get used to it as well, my dear Master! Oh, please, have a seat as well.”

“While I’d like to, I also promised Saber that I’d install this program for her too, so I’m afraid I have to decline.” He replied with a wry smile as he closed the door behind him.

“Oh, boo.” She said with a pout. “Well, perhaps you’d like to go and install it in her room first. So that, you know, we could spend the entiiire night together-”

“Again, I’m afraid I have to decline.” He answered curtly, not giving her a chance to continue.

“Oh, boo.” She repeated, again with a pout. “One would think you have a phobia of women at this rate, goshujin-sama.”

“A-anyway, I still have to go over to Saber’s room after this, so let’s try and finish this off now.” Mihara stuttered, changing the topic as he brought out his Terminal, his Interface bathing the room in a white glow.

Deciding to concede defeat for now, the foxgirl stood up and walked over to her Master’s side as another list of furniture appeared on the screen.

“I had a quick look at the contents of this new chip that Ms. Fujimura gave us today.” He said as she approached. “It looks like today’s rewards are lamps.”

“Ooh, that’d be useful.” Caster said. “Well, for the past few nights I’ve had to survive with only the moonlight for this dark room. Not like the moonlight itself isn’t strong, us being within the moon itself and all.”

“A bit of a paradox huh?” He asked with a wry smile. “Anyway, which of these designs would you like?”

“Hmm…” The foxgirl murmured, leaning forward to have a look at the designs before her delicate fingers tapped on one of the images.

And on cue, a column of pixels silently erupted at four corners of the room as well as atop the kotatsu in the room’s centre.

With each column emitting their own light, Master and Servant kept their eyes glued to a corner of the room as the columns slowly solidified. Their width began to shrink, as did their height.

Slowly but surely, the form of a small, rectangular box appeared at each corner of the room. Like a receding sun, the bright light from each of the five ‘pillars’ slowly dimmed to a soft, warm glow.

And after several more moments, what were once pillars of light were now little more than small paper lamps. Dark redwood supports and opaque rice paper concealed a gently flickering flame, as the once pure-white room was now bathed in the gentle, soft glow of dimmed candle light.

“Ahh, this is perfect!” Caster exclaimed with glee. “With every new item this starts feeling more and more like home.”

“Well, it’s good that you like it.” Mihara replied, looking around the room with a small smile, his Interface collapsing to his Terminal before him. “Yeah, this really does look like a traditional Japanese room now. Very thematic actually.”

“Ehehe, I knew you’d take a liking to it Master!” She said with glee, before wrapping an arm around his own.

“Now, don’t you feel this atmosphere’s just right?” She asked, gently putting her weight on him. “Just perfect for the two of us to spend the night together, tangled in each other’s embraces?”

He couldn’t help but take a deep breath, his eyes clenched shut in an attempt to stave off the heat from reaching the rest of his face.

“Sorry Caster, but as I said before I have to decline.” He finally said, in as calm a voice as he could muster. “I still haven’t taken care of the dishes yet. And I still need to take stock of what we picked up from the Arena today. And I can't forget about using this in Saber’s room as well.”

With each halting sentence he slowly pried his arm free of hers, hoping that with each movement his Servant wouldn’t rebound and press the attack.

“Oh boo.” She said finally, letting go of her own accord. “Alright, alright. Well, I guess if I tire you out too much tonight you wouldn’t be able to perform well tomorrow.”

“Thank you for your understanding.” He said with an audible sigh of relief. “Well then, goodnight Caster. See you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, my dear Master.” She replied with a smile. “Don’t worry about the two sleazebags we’re fighting tomorrow, I’ll make sure to grind them to paste long before they even lay a hand on you!”

He gave her a tired smile at her words of support, before sliding the door behind him shut.

“Hrm, he’s proving a really hard nut to crack.” Caster finally muttered, before a sly smile crossed her lips.

“Well, as they say, ‘you can only live so long with a woman without getting too… intimate with them.’” Caster then sighed wistfully. “Though, that depends on if we survive past tomorrow.”

_______________

Saber sat quietly upon her ornate couch, her legs crossed and eyes closed as she thought.

With the ample amount of free time she had been given over the past few days, she had had plenty of time to think up of a design to adorn the walls of her abode. Though she had yet to actually put pen to paper so to speak, she questioned whether she would actually have time to complete her masterpiece.

“After all, the final performance of the week is set for tomorrow.” She said. “I would be loath to leave a piece such as this unfinished. Perchance, should fate be in our favour tomorrow, I will be able to begin my work.” Saber scoffed. “Well, I doubt otherwise, for if it boils down to it I myself will pull them to victory whether they like it or not.”

Slowly she opened her eyes, looking towards the empty concrete walls as she waited for her Master to arrive.

He had promised to set up the new furniture they had acquired today from the NPC known as Taiga Fujimura. A strange woman by Saber’s standards, but having seen the sort of gifts she had bestowed upon them, the crimson swordswoman found it difficult to dislike her.

“Hrm, indeed. Come next week, I should look at finding some charcoal to begin my preliminary sketches.” She muttered as she imprinted the design in her mind onto the wall. “I will make sure to create a piece that would rival the giant halls of the Emperor’s Palace. When I am done, I am certain my Master will be proud to live in such a small house.”

And just as she finished speaking, a knock on the door coupled with a familiar voice heralded the arrival of the one she was waiting for.

“Saber, are you free right now?” Mihara asked.

“Umu, the door is unlocked.” She replied. “You can enter, Praetor.”

“Hrm, I’ve noticed you’ve gone back to calling me that title a little bit more frequently now.” He said as he entered, the oaken doors closing behind him.

“Indeed, you are correct.” She replied, crossing her arms in acknowledgement. “For my reasoning, I have noticed that that Caster has returned to calling you by the previous title she had thought up at the start of this week.”

“Ugh, so you’ve noticed too, huh?”

“Even though it may only be in private,” Saber continued. “For some reason I find myself feeling more and more uncomfortable, knowing that she is allowed to address you by such a personalised title, and I am not.”

“Well, we came to some sort of agreement just yesterday.” He began, scratching his head uncomfortably. “Well, either way I guess after the past week living with both you and Caster, I’m getting more used to things. Though, I’m still afraid of what would happen should our opponent get wind of it.”

“Fear not then, Praetor.” She replied with her characteristic smile. “I will endeavour to refer to you as such in private only, away from prying ears and eyes.”

“In that case, feel free to do so Saber.” He nodded in acceptance. “Though, now to the matter at hand…”

“Indeed, I am eager to see what sort of goods that Taiga Fujimura has given us today for our services.”

“I’ve already had a quick look through in Caster’s room.” He answered, bringing out his Terminal and activating his Interface. “The items all seem to be lamps of different design.”

“A light emitting device?” Saber asked. Seeing her Master nod in confirmation, she stood up and stepped closer as she continued speaking.

“Excellent, I find having to survive on only the light of the moon quite strenuous on my eyes. If I were to engage in any of my passions in the arts, I will certainly need a stronger source of light.”

“I’m pretty sure we can find something to suit your needs in the list.” He replied, the images showing up one by one. “Well, pick any that you like, and we’ll see how it looks overall.”

With a hand on her hips, the crimson swordswoman stood next to her Master, her eyes scanning the images one by one as her elegant fingers slid across the screen. And finally, a particular design caught her eye.

Wasting no time she selected it, and immediately several pillars of pixels appeared within the room, connecting roof to floor as white light blurred the room’s features.

There were three of these pillars, arranged in an equidistant triangular formation around the centre of the room. Each pillar a good metre or two in diameter, Master and Servant watched patiently as the pillars slowly shrunk, the connection to the floor severed as the pillars raised themselves upwards.

A couple of minutes later, the three stumps had solidified into brilliant, golden chandeliers that bathed the entire room in a bright golden glow, as though permanently enjoying the brilliance of the rising sun.

And the shining marble of the mosaic below their feet only lent credence to this brilliance.

“Umu, this is perfect.” Saber nodded in satisfaction, stepping forward arms outstretched. “It is only fitting for one such as I to live in such quarters.”

“Well, you still need to take care of those walls though.” Mihara muttered, looking directly at the bare concrete.

“Patience, Master.” She replied, turning to him with a hand on her hips. “In due course, I will endeavour to bring everything up to a quality that will astound even you.”

“Well, I guess I’ll look forward to it.” He answered, evidently unwilling to commit himself.

“Hmph, you will see in due time.” She replied, crossing her arms and returning to her couch. “But for the here and now, we have matters that we must discuss, at least briefly before we retire.

“Tomorrow is the Coliseum battle.” She continued, looking at her Master as he returned her gaze. “After the past week, I believe us more than capable of matching those two extras on any playing field, or any stage. Our due diligence over the days will reward us tomorrow, I am certain.”

“Well I guess at least one of us is certain.” Mihara shrugged half-heartedly.

“Do not be so pessimistic, Praetor.” She replied with a smile. “We have bested them today, and we have drawn their blood before. Repeating these achievements will be simple against mere Tirones such as they.

“Speaking of which, I would ask that you look at the items we had acquired today. And, though our funds are pitifully low I am certain, I would not recommend selling every piece back to the SERAPH’s NPCs immediately.”

“Yeah, I know Saber.” He nodded. “Some of them might have value beyond mere ‘selling price’. When the fight… tomorrow, is over, I’ll do a bit more research on them. Hopefully I can decide what we can sell and what we can’t.”

“Umu, it is good to know that you are becoming more and more aware of the intricacies of this War.” Saber said with a smile. “In that case, I believe I should bid you goodnight, our grand performance with that Pirate and Barbarian begins tomorrow. For me, everything must be perfect. And perfection is impossible if one is not well-rested enough.”

“I guess you’re right.” Mihara said with a wry smile. “Well, goodnight Saber, see you tomorrow.”

“As to you, Praetor.” Saber replied, her illuminated smile being Mihara’s last image before he shut the wooden doors behind him.

_______________

“Again, we made it out alive for another day.” He sighed as he played the day’s events back in his head.

He stood at the kitchen sink, gently wiping the dishes that he had just washed after having set up his Servant’s rooms.

‘They really are impatient about that huh?’ He thought with a wry smile. ‘Pushing me to install those new lamps as quickly as possible like they did. Well, not that I can blame them. They only have so many hours to enjoy their new furniture…’

With his hands on autopilot, his eyes drifted slowly towards the window of his Private Residence, the Digital Sky towering overhead alongside the Moon. And as he watched, he slowly remembered how many times he had stared at the same scene. How many hours he had spent awake. How many days he had spent practicing for what will happen tomorrow.

For tomorrow, someone will die.

‘Can I really survive tomorrow?’ He thought. ‘We’ve managed to evade Shinji and Shun for today but I can’t avoid tomorrow’s Coliseum fight. Are our preparations enough? Am I prepared to kill people now? Someone's beloved, and a renowned gaming champion... Both of them have a slew of memories and experiences to live by, yet I myself have nothing.’

“Can I really kill them tomorrow?” He murmured as he turned back to his washing. “For that matter, do I have the right to kill them? To smash their hopes and dreams of the future to bits, to grind their past efforts, their trials and lives to dust when I myself have nothing? How sinful can I be to do that?

“The fact that none of my opponents viewed this Holy Grail War, as a real War, just makes this more difficult for me, huh? I guess the easy way out would be to just lie down and let them take my head without a fight tomorrow. But…” His voice petered out into silence, his eyes holding back barely formed tears, his body frozen as he remembered the events of a week ago...

-A week ago? It seemed like it was just yesterday.

6 days ago, he remembered being impaled by that effigy in that enclosed space.

6 days ago, he remembered lying flat in a pool of his own blood.

6 days ago, he remembered how he almost became a corpse.

6 days ago, he remembered how he met them.

“I’m not the only one that depends on my existence.” A soft clink of plates being lined up to dry echoed alongside his words.

“That’s right, isn’t it?” He continued, motionless. “Saber, and Caster, they only exist because I’m here. They chose to make a contract with me in my final, dying moments.” Clenching both his hands, he turned his hands around so that he could see his two Command Seals, emblazoned onto the back of his hands like a brand.

“To throw away their trust, and their contract with me just like that, would be just as sinful.”

He couldn’t help but stand and stare at his hands. His washing done with, it was as though he hoped something would give him an answer.

And after several minutes of silence, when no answer was forthcoming, all he could do was close his eyes, and sigh.

“What sort of sin will I commit tomorrow?”

__________________________________________________ __________

We're still alive and kicking. I took an additional month break because important assignments were due.
In other news, first post has Servant stat sheets now for readers to ogle at. Because more info-dumping in-story only lengthens an already pointlessly long story. Will work on the other relevant Matrix pages later when I'm bothered.

[Laith]

Pls more Shinji bullying, k thanks.

[Xyphos]

Act 1: Scene 10

0 Days Remaining

Elimination Battle Begins

Morning
_______________

Mihara’s body jerked awake. His eyes snapped open before clenching shut again, the bright morning light too much for him.

“Ugh… Did I fall asleep?” He groaned, his eyes still closed as his cheek rested on the table.

He remembered… He was trying to practice with his Interface again last night. After a while, he had moved to the kitchen. Taking a break, he went through the Treasures that he picked up in the Arena after Shinji’s hacking. And then…

And then…

“And then I dozed off.” He mumbled, smacking his forehead on the table gently. “Well, I guess it shouldn’t have come as a surprise, after the past week. More surprising is that I lasted that long. How long have I been asleep anyway?”

He opened his eyes and craned his neck to look at the clock in the room, squinting as he tried to read through his blurry vision.

“Don’t think I even slept for an hour.” He heaved before closing his eyes again, his head dropping back down to the table as he sighed. “Surprising how much light can change in so short a time…

“Today’s the day.” He continued mumbling into the table after a few moments. “Today’s the day when I have to fight, both Shinji, and Shun. And at the end, one of our two teams, will cease to be…"

He couldn't believe the words that tumbled out from his mouth. But before he had a chance to continue speaking any further, he felt the kitchen table vibrate.

His body immediately straightened itself like some ingrained reflex. His vision, still blurry, turned to the Terminal located at the centre of the table.

It was vibrating, its blue screen having a large exclamation mark plastered over it.

Mihara stared at the Terminal for several more seconds. He hoped that the ringing would stop, that the caller would forget about him. And in turn, he could forget about the Holy Grail War in its entirety.

Because, without even touching the screen, he knew the message it contained was his summons to the Battlefield.

Yet even after those seconds passed, he knew in his heart that this call would not stop, the caller would not forget his existence.

Unless it was snuffed out in the Coliseum.

And with that knowledge, his hand reached out, ever so slowly, to touch its surface.

And as he did so, the pixels that made up his screen took on a life of their own, rising upwards a short distance into the air like a fountain.

And over the span of several moments, this splash of pixels solidified into a familiar figure. One dressed in his customary Priest’s Cassock.

“Father Kotomine.” Mihara muttered as he recognised the Avatar, the figure about half a foot in height and tinged with crystalline blue.

“Hmm, it appears I have woken you from sleep.” The priest’s miniature avatar said, before a smile cracked across his face. “I am surprised that you can still be so relaxed considering the circumstances.”

“Relaxed my foot you stupid Priest.” Mihara muttered under his breath as Kirei Kotomine continued to speak.

“Well, soon enough you’ll wake up I am sure, the sound of battle does that to people. And if you don’t, well… I can only hope that you will enjoy the eternity that is death.”

“Fine fine, what do I have to do now then, Father?” Mihara asked, if only to drag the conversation away from that inconvenient truth.

“Very well, let me start from the beginning. Today is the day of your Elimination Battle, young Master. I hope you have prepared yourself well over the past week. All Masters must report to the Arena Entrance at the designated time attached to this message.”

As the miniature avatar spoke, a digital time appeared over his head. Mihara’s eyes scanned it as his ears continued to listen to the Priest’s spiel.

“You must bring your Terminal to the Arena Entrance, which should contain your two Cipher Keys.”

“As if I’d go anywhere without that thing nowadays.” Mihara muttered under his breath, continuing to listen.

“Failure to bring both Cipher Keys will result in immediate dismissal from the Holy Grail War, and deletion from the Moon Cell. You have already been given ample warning on the consequences of such failure. Thus, there should be no reason for tardiness on arrival.” He paused for a moment, as though to let the weight of his words sink in, before continuing once more.

“And, with those instructions, I look forward to welcoming you to your Coliseum Fight.”

Finished, the miniature avatar bowed before he dissociated. The various pixels that made him dropped back down into the Terminal. And all that remained was the designated time still hovering over the Terminal.

All printed in bold, blue, neon font.

Mihara continued to stare at his Terminal for a while, hoping that the Priest would return to tell him something he wanted to hear. Yet, after several minutes with no news, all he could do was to release a deep sigh.

“And so it begins.” He muttered, biting his lip. “Today, someone will die.”

No, that was incorrect.

Today, over 200 people will die.

Out of the 417 Masters participating in this Holy Grail War, at least half of them would be sent to their deaths at the end of today. And Mihara…

Mihara would either join them, or be the one that sent them there.

He just couldn’t believe the thoughts that were passing by through his head.

‘I mean… Will someone really die today? Even though I can say it, even though I can think it, the idea that someone’s going to die is just too surreal. This just can’t be possible, can it?’

“Umu, it appears as though our summons has arrived.” A familiar voice stopped his thoughts from going any further.

Turning around, he looked towards the kitchen doorway to see his two Servants standing there.

“Good morning, Saber, Caster.” He said as he saw their figures, motioning to the table.

“And good morning to you too, my dear Master!” Caster replied as she bounced over to the table, taking her seat next to him. “Ufufu, I’ve been waiting all week to grind those guppies into chum!”

“Still, we should review our information now, before anything else.” Saber continued. “Doing so will keep our minds clear when we do battle. It should also allow us to develop strategies to counter some of the, skills, that they may utilise in this fight.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea Saber.” Mihara nodded, before his hands reached out to the Terminal at the centre of the table. With a few presses, the now-familiar white Interface appeared before them. In it, four familiar figures stood in plain view.

“The enemy Masters, are Shinji Matou, and Shun Fukui.” He began after a few seconds of staring at the screen, his Servants following his gaze. “They are a Gaming Champion and a close-quarters-combat specialist. Between the two of them, they can cover most bases well.”

“Unfortunately you must deal with them alone, as per the SERAPH’s rules.” Saber said, crossing her arms.

“…I don’t like that fact, but there’s nothing the both of us can do about that, Mihara.” Caster said, looking at her Master apologetically.

“No, don’t worry about it.” He shook his head with a nervous smile. “I’ll, well, I guess the best option for me in this case would be to stay as far away from harm as possible. I’ll find out how to do that when the time comes but, let’s move on.”

As he spoke, the four figures on the screen rotated around, bringing the enemy Servants out to the foreground.

“The enemy Servants, are Rider and Archer.” He continued, a list of their current knowledge appearing as he spoke.

“From what we know, Rider is a 16th Century Naval Commander. One of those responsible for the destruction of Spain’s Invincible Armada at that. Her weapon of choice is dual-wielded pistols, and she still has full command of her ship, even after death.”

“Hmph, pirates following their Brigand captain through death.” Saber scoffed. “I have to wonder how much money she had promised them to follow her so.”

“No kidding.” Caster added. “Seriously, she looks like she shells the stuff out faster than a normal person thinks. It’s no wonder she was pestering that seaweed for more and more money over the past week.”

“Well, little details like that aside, the name of Shinji’s Servant is likely to be...” Mhara continued after his Servants as he worked the controls of his Interface.

“Francis Drake.” He continued as he finished, the two words appearing on the Interface.

“A renown pirate who circumnavigated the world around the Cape of Good Hope in South America. Though, most of the literature puts Francis as a man, but, a woman…”

“Such things should not concern you, Praetor.” Saber said as she noticed his faltering words. “History has a… tendency, to warp and forget the truth.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Mihara continued with a wry smile, before turning back to the screen. “Well, I’m pretty sure we all know how powerful she can be on the battlefield.”

“That kid she has to call a Master’s certainly lacking in the brains department though.” Caster said. “We should be able to handle her fine, now that we know the cards she’s likely to be playing with today.”

“Alright, next up is Shun’s Servant, Archer.” Mihara continued, still looking at his Interface. “From what we’ve learned, he’s one of Genghis Khan’s Four Dogs of War, his most prominent Generals. Initially, Genghis Khan was almost killed on battlefield by him. But upon seeing his honesty and loyalty, Genghis Khan had little reservations about letting him rise to power.”

And as he finished, a name appeared on the Interface screen.

“His name is Jirqo’Adai, otherwise known as ‘Jebe’, or the ‘Arrow’ of the Mongolians. A name that Genghis Khan gave him upon accepting him as his vassal.”

“I must admit.” Saber said. “I am surprised that such a man, a barbarian that he may be, was willing to let someone like him rise to such power.”

“His trust wasn’t misplaced though, Saber.” Mihara replied. “There were rumours about a possible rebellion led by him, but he went to considerable lengths to stop said rumours.”

“I admit that I envy such loyalty somewhat.” Saber continued. “But that does not change the fact that by the end of today, it is that he will bow down to us in defeat.”

“Well, now that we’ve gone through organising everything, what should we do before we go squash those little bugs?” Caster asked.

“I still need to take a quick stock of what we picked up from the Arena yesterday.” Mihara began after a pause. “There might be something in there that could help us… Probably. Afterwards, we should go for an Alteration before, well, before we go and find Kotomine. Otherwise though, I don’t think there are any other pressing things we have to take care of.”

“Umu, a sound plan.” Saber nodded. “We have accumulated a good amount of scrap data since the last time we spoke to her.”

“Well, don’t worry about the fight today too much, goshujin-sama!” Caster piqued, apparently satisfied as well.

“I wish I could share your enthusiasm.” He muttered softly, before shaking his head. “Nevermind then. I’ll spend some time going through what we picked up yesterday, and when we’re ready, we can go later on in the afternoon.”

_______________

Afternoon
_______________

“Thank you, Aoko Aozaki.” Mihara said with a small bow to the red-haired woman as the light emanating from the pads by his feet died down.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said, waving a hand as she returned to her seat by the bright floating cube. “It’s my job while I’m here anyway.”

“You came for an Alteration right before your fight?” A voice asked from the back of the Chapel.

Leaning to look behind Aoko and the bright floating cube, his eyes took a few moments to adjust before he managed to see Touko Aozaki.

“My, aren’t you the cautious one?” She continued, closing the wooden doors behind her, leading to their own private quarters at the back of the Church.

“Well, anything I can do I’ll do right now.” He said with a shrug. “If only to help put my mind at ease at to what’s coming today.”

“I suppose it would be interesting to see how Servants fight.” Touko said as she stepped forward and took her seat by the floating cube. “Unfortunately the SERAPH doesn’t just let anyone look at the Coliseum fights. It's still a pain, as obvious as it is.”

“Well, I guess that’s true, isn’t it?” He said with a shrug. “Still, I think we had better go. Thanks again, Aoko.”

Bidding farewell to the Aozaki sisters, the young magus left the Chapel, its doors closing with a creak behind him.

He walked to the School Courtyard in silence.

He could feel the tension in the air, as taut as if it were a bowstring.

He could tell his Servants felt it too. Though they had disappeared from view after the Alterations, he could sense them following him.

Soon he found himself turning around the main school building and entering the Courtyard. On the other side, he could see the bulletin board’s knockout chart shining brightly in the afternoon sun.

Sparing a moment to look at it, he turned his head around in to find Father Kotomine.

He didn’t have to look for long.

In front of the School Gym building, the man stood. His Priest’s cassock stood out in front of the white building as he stood before the doors to the Gym, the Arena.

No, that was wrong. There was something different about the doors today again.

He could just make it out from where he stood. For one thing, the material was different.

Instead of the wooden doors, a reflective material reminiscent of the doors found in an elevator stood. The electronic panel that used to be by its side was also gone, two metal blocks flanking this new door instead.

The most noticeable aspect of it all however, were the chains that covered it. Glowing in various shades of purple blue and red, it was as though they made out of some otherworldly material.

It was almost as though the old doors to the Arena have had another set of doors, another portal, placed straight over it.

As Mihara observed the doors, Father Kotomine realised his arrival. The Priest gave a curt nod before beckoning him closer.

“Welcome, young Master.” Kotomine spoke as Mihara approached. “You are just in time, for your first Coliseum Battle. Your opponents are already waiting inside, eager as they are for bloodshed.

“You have survived through the first week to reach this point, and should now be ready to face the opposing Masters. Or at least, one would hope.” He gave a smile at his last comment, as though oblivious about the deadly nature of the War he presided over.

“One would hope, Father.” He answered after a deep breath.

“In that case, present your Cipher Keys, so that I may open the doors to your Coliseum Fight.”

For a moment he hesitated, the grievances of the past few days coming back one more time, before he shoved them all to the back of his mind.

His hands reached into his pocket to bring out his Terminal, his fingers already bringing up his Interface screen. And almost immediately, the outline of his Cipher Keys formed on its surface.

Proof that he had the Triggers that were asked of him.

“Excellent.” Kotomine spoke, before raising his hand forward.

Then, two small yellow cards formed in the gap between the men, an explosion of white pixels preceding them.

And, as if guided by an invisible hand, the two cards moved forwards towards the two steel blocks on both sides of the steel door.

Upon impact, the yellow cards faded from view, as though being absorbed into the solid steel. Within seconds, an intense surge of electricity ran across the doors, dissolving the chains that sealed it.

As though removed by some enchantment.

Moments later, the steel doors slid apart. Within, he could just make out a small circular metal platform, its edges surrounded by railings.

“Remember, young Master. The only way to leave the Coliseum is to win. It is kill, or be killed.”

The young man couldn’t help but turn to look at the Priest one last time at his words of parting.

As though he still hoped this entire ordeal was some sick practical joke.

Yet several moments passed without any answer. He could do nothing but take a deep breath, and step through the doors and onto the platform, as the steel doors slammed shut behind him.

The platform was large enough to fit several people at once. The ground beneath his feet was illuminated by an unknown light source above him, despite there being no roof. Yet outside of this platform, all around him, he could see nothing but darkness.

And the only thing that separated him from a very, very long fall were the iron railings that surrounded the platform.

Several moments after he had stepped onto the platform, his Servants materialised next to him. Instinctively, he couldn’t help but give the two of them a quick glance, one that was returned with a confident smile from both. Automatically, he forced a smile of his own, nervous as he was.

But before the three could speak, the platform began to move. The whirr of machinery filled the black void with static noise as he stumbled from the sudden movement.

Then, the blackness that surrounded them dissipated, like the curtain upon a stage being lifted. In its place was a large shaft with glowing lines that criss-crossed the walls around them. But that wasn’t what captured his attention.

For several metres in front of him were his opponents, standing on two other platforms not unlike his own. Their Servants stood by their sides as well, relaxed but alert.

“Heh, look who decided not to chicken out at the last minute.” Shinji sneered from across the chasm, arms crossed. “Oh yeah, I forgot following orders was the only thing you were good at. Ha!”

The three platforms were arranged in a triangular formation. All of which moved down this ‘shaft’ at a constant, equal rate.

“Well even so, I gotta hand it to you.” He continued, flicking a lock of his hair. “After seeing how amazing I was during the past week you still came down here.”

The only thing that separated them from each other was the black void that surrounded them. But at the same time, Mihara suspected that there was another solid, invisible wall that separated them.

“More like how much of a fool you’ve been Shinji.” Shun said with a smile.

“Y- You just shut up alright, Shun?!” Shinji stuttered, turning on his partner. “I, no- that’s because I’ve been holding back this entire week just for today! And anyway, what about you huh? You can’t talk about me when you yourself were little more than a flea this week!”

“That’s because I thought it would be smart to follow you!” He replied, crossing his arms. “Here I thought you’d actually have half a brain, considering your reputation. Honestly, I thought working with you would be a lot more… inspiring. Now that I’ve worked with you for a week, I have to agree with Rider’s comments about you being worth about as much as a crab!”

“Just shut up already!” The blue-haired magus snapped back, his face flushed as his Servant laughed raucously beside him. “I’m Asia’s gaming champ, and the best there is in this entire tournament! And you should be grateful I’m not going to beat you down today Shun, unlike Mihara over there.

“Honestly, never in a million years are either of you gonna beat me in a tournament like this.” He gave a dismissive shrug. “When you see what we pull today, I bet you, the time we fight each other you’ll just want to run away and crawl under a rock! Well, too bad Mihara here didn’t get that chance.”

“Eh, you can do that?” Mihara asked, before noticing his Servants look at him pointedly.

“Ha, as if I’d know!” Shinji scoffed at the thought, turning to look at him. “Things like that aren’t meant for a champ like me. Still though, worms like you need a place to crawl away to when faced with people like me, right? Seriously, the SERAPH deciding to pair us off together for the first round? Your luck well and truly sucks. Even if you’ve got two Servants on your side, even if I didn’t have Shun here, you’d be complete mincemeat!”

“Hah, we’ll see who comes crying for help during this match then, Shinji.” Shun laughed.

“Same to you, you useless hacker.” Shinji pointed at his partner. “Don’t come crying to me if you don’t even get a chance to bag one of his Servants.

“Speaking of our victory, actually, I’ve got a brilliant idea!” He said suddenly, snapping his fingers. “You gotta hear this Mihara, maybe it’d save some of your dignity for you at the end of today.”

“Eh?” He stuttered slightly, suddenly being brought back into the conversation. “Erm, sure, I guess?”

“Heh, still a goody-two shoe as always, gotta love it.” The blue-haired magus smiled smugly. “Well, in that case, why don’t lose on purpose this time?”

“Hey, Shinji-” Shun began speaking, before getting cut off.

“Come on, let me explain.” Shinji continued, waving his hand at his partner. “Anything else is a waste of both our time anyway! Even an inevitable landslide victory like this battle will still cost us energy and time. I’m sure you can’t deny you just want to get this over and done with so you can go and spend some mushy time with your girlfriend, right Shun?”

“Well, I guess I can’t deny I want to get this done and over with.” He shrugged.

“See what I mean?” Shinji continued with a smile. “You could do us both a favour here Mihara. Just throw the match, we win without wasting any time on this fight and you don’t get hurt.

“It makes total sense, right? I don’t want to waste my strength beating down little bugs anyway, and I’m sure Shun feels the same. All I want is the title at the end of this thing anyway. So, whatcha think? Isn’t it a great idea or a great idea, friends helping each other out and all that jazz?”

'They don’t believe that losing in this is fatal.’ Mihara thought, Shinji’s suggestion rolling in his brain. ‘Or at least, that’s what I gathered while talking to the both of them over the past week. And, well, the two of them can’t both be so completely wrong, right? You can’t die in a virtual world, and, well, I still don’t want to fight them… If I threw the match and got it over with-’

At that thought however, he twitched slightly as he remembered the effigy at the end of the preliminaries, a chill ran up his spine.

That single moment, that single red eye so close to his own face, the sickening squelch of being impaled, all of it replayed in his mind.

It was in that instant, he was certain he had come face-to-face with Death.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that he would have well and truly died at that moment, had his Servants not appeared.

‘-That’s right.’ He thought. ‘Though, I’m reluctant to fight them... Though I still don’t know if people can die in this fight, I can’t just throw away their trust in me-’

“C’mon, what’s wrong?” Shinji asked, apparently having expected an immediate ‘yes’ to his proposal.

“Cat got your tongue or something? Oh, or perhaps you’re so happy you’re all choked up at my brilliant idea.” His words were accompanied with a haughty smile. “Well, in that case, how about you get your Servants to answer me, huh?”

Mihara blinked at Shinji’s words, before following his opponent’s gaze to the red swordswoman at his side.

“Hmph.” The blond scoffed immediately as he did so, arms crossed. “Ye gods, of all rare and bizarre monsters I have encountered, this by far the most stupefying!

"A talking rat!” She said, her eyes opening as mirth filled her face even as Shinji’s mouth dropped open in shock.

“Wha-!”

“But despite what a rare creature this must truly be, I cannot understand even an iota of its words!” She continued unabated as Rider snorted behind her Master, trying to contain her laughter.

“All it mouths is utter gibberish! Truly, it is a pity that the power of speech was gifted to such a useless, filthy creature! Were it a talking bear, I would perhaps feel less shame at parading it in front of a crowd of onlookers for them to jeer at. Yet all this rat can do is revel in slime and filth! I would die of humiliation were I to be caught standing on the same stage with such a monstrosity!”

“Gh-agh-Wh-Wh!” Shinji stuttered uncontrollably as his face reddened like a tomato.

“Woow, for the first time this week I can wholeheartedly agree with you, Saber.” Caster said, casting the blue-haired magus a mischievous smile before he could reply.

“This idiotic and ugly moron doesn’t even warrant being a land animal though.” Caster continued, waving her hand dismissively. “Even being called a rat would be praise for someone whose face has less form than a jellyfish. Actually, I'm pretty sure even jellyfish have more of a brain than this guy though.

"Honestly now, I’ve met many ugly and stupid men in my time, but this guy really takes the cake! We may as well just call him a blobfish and dump him back into the ocean where he came from.” At this point Rider burst out laughing completely, unable to contain herself any longer.

“Perhaps a few centuries of evolution can help make you a bit more bearable to look at? Or you can try using your non-existent hacking ‘skills’ to work and give your horrible character model a facelift. At least that way I can stand to look at you while you spout nonsense!”

“Really, he should feel privileged that you showed friendship to an eyesore like him.” She continued, hooking a hand around her Master’s arm before sticking her tongue out at their opponent.

“Wh-Wh-Wh-!” Shinji continued stuttering, completely lost for words now as his face only got redder and redder.

“Dammit you worthless Servants!” He blared finally after several more stuttered seconds. “Neither of you get to talk to me like that!”

“Agh, oh, but they have a point though, Shinji.” Rider finally coughed out, finished laughing as she wiped a tear from her eye.

“Certainly, even my most battle-scarred warrior would have a face that is worth more to look at than this abomination!” Archer said in-between laughter.

“H-Hey! Whose side are you on in the first place here?!” He said flustered, turning to his Servant.

“Your side of course-” Rider said nonchalantly, stepping up next to him. “You paid me after all, and I’m not one to renege on a deal I’ve made.

“And anyway, letting them throw the match won’t satisfy any of us: I for one dislike giving less than my full effort. After all, everything’s better if you fight for it- food, money, women, victory. And besides, we’re villains, and if nothing else we’re allowed to be splashy in our fights. And if we had to hold back, that defeats the entire purpose of villains!”

“Ju-Shut up Rider!” Shinji said, flustered again as he swung an arm in denial. “I’m not a villain like you, how many times do I have to tell you that!?”

“Haha!” She laughed at his denial, before dropping a hand onto his head. “Temper, temper there little one! You’ve got bigger balls than I gave credit for such a tiny man, and that’s a good thing!”

“Gh-Ah, hey! Stop!” Shinji said as Rider began ruffling his head mercilessly, a large grin across her face. “Stop al- I said stop! Don’t pat my head like that you baboon! And why the hell have you been drinking just before our fight again?!”

Shun and his Servant couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. Mihara’s Servants also gave smug smiles at Shinji’s humiliation.

Yet all their Master could do was muster an apprehensive smile as he watched the two.

‘Like a wild big sister and sidekick little brother.’ He thought. ‘I don’t know the process of Servant summoning, but they fit each other like a glove. Will, well, will that help at all in this fight to come, I wonder?’

Just as his thoughts finished, the platform jerked to a halt. His eyes darted around the place to see that the shaft had stopped moving past them.

-They had arrived.

Behind his opponents, he noticed the blank wall gradually open as light flooded in, too bright to see what lay beyond.

He was sure that a similar door had opened behind him, his long shadow snaking into the deeper levels of the shaft.

“Gah-!” Shinji gasped as he finally fought off his wayward Servant. He stepped forward to the railings of his platform before leaning over and jabbing a finger at his opponent. “Fine then, since everyone insists, I’ll make sure to come down so hard that you’ll be begging for mercy at the end of this!”

“Well then, now we’re here let’s see this through, Archer.” Shun said, turning around to the doorway before casting a final glance to his opponent. “I won’t be pulling any punches either, Mihara. I don’t intend to let Manaka end up in his clutches.”

With their declaration done, both opponents turned around to leave through the open doorway. Their Servants followed them out.

Mihara could only give a deep sigh, before giving his two Servants a quick glance and leaving as well, Saber and Caster behind him.

_______________

Live or Die by the Sword.
What power do you hold in your hands…?
Dancing flames, Decaying Earth, Withered Ocean.
_______________

The currents of the endless ocean were still, the silent witness for this Coliseum Battle.

Upon the ocean floor, the wreckage of an entire armada slept in broken pieces. Fragments of wood from masts, crates and ships were scattered throughout the still water. The decaying hulks of ships jutted out from the sand and coral like a forgotten city. And above the battlefield, four wrecks floated in mid-water: The remains of the Arena’s Second floor.

And amidst the wreckage, amidst this chaotic landscape, two ships stood out. Remarkably intact, their hulls rested perfectly upon the ocean floor. And facing each other fore-to-fore, seven figures stood.

The teams of three and four faced each other across a gap several metres long, standing at the fore of their respective ships. It would have been a trivial matter for the Servants to breach the gap. It was why they could all sense the invisible barrier that separated them.

The calm before the storm, and a deliberate opportunity for final farewells.

Mihara stood silently, his eyes scanning the area around him, before finally resting on his opponents. Beside him Saber and Caster stood, more relaxed than their own Master.

“Huh, so this is the much anticipated Coliseum?” Saber asked, as she looked around at the sunken ships that littered the ground like discarded toys. “Without a single spectator to witness our enemy's crushing defeat, my interest in this coming battle is already waning.” She sighed as she finished, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

”Oh?” Caster piped up, questioning her companion’s lacklustre enthusiasm. “And here I thought we both shared a desire to mercilessly grind our enemies to dust for all the pain they put us through for the week?”

“I was just expecting something more... dramatic.” Saber replied, flicking a lock of her hair as she turned back to stare daggers at the enemies before them. “The Coliseums I’m more used to had a certain flair about them. It made every battle all the more interesting: After all, there is no use of a good battle without witnesses for it!”

“Though you say so, I don’t believe our enemies are even worthy enough to fight my dear Master!” Caster said, jumping for joy as she imagined it. “Ooh, just thinking of the fact that we will never get to see their hideous faces again after this makes me feel so happy!”

“All bark and no bite isn’t it though, huh?” Shinji shouted across the ocean’s depths. “It’s just perfect to describe a bunch of dogs like you!” He gave a laugh at his insult. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy humiliating you sooo much, that you’ll regret ever being born!” He declared triumphantly, as if this battle was a sue-in for his victory.

“So you’re not satisfied with just beating them to a pulp then eh, Shinji?” His servant, Rider asked, smirking. “Haha, you’re an even better villain than I thought you could be! Alright then, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve that’d break even the most hardened sailor into a quivering kid!”

“Spare it, El Draque.” Shinji replied, waving his hand in Mihara’s direction. “They should’ve just run away when they had the chance, and now’s the time we... Hey, stop calling me a villain already, you, you- drunk demon you!”

“Well, either way’s fine with me.” Ignoring his complaints, Rider began to step forward, away from her Master as she spoke. “After all, its times like this that gets my blood burning! One of us will walk away with the glory, another one will be left grovelling in the dirt. That fatal inevitability is something I just can’t get enough of!”

“Well then, Archer.” Shun began as he watched his two companions trash talk the enemy. “I guess it’s time we settled this. My honey and I have some victory celebrations after this, and I have no intention of being late for it!”

Despite the banter between the Servants and Masters, Mihara could do naught but stare ahead. Even now, all he could think about was what kind of trouble he had gotten himself into.

He couldn’t help but sigh at this situation. Shaking his head, he clicked his tongue as his own servants responded to the gauntlet that their enemies had thrown at them.

“I couldn’t have said things any better!” Saber shouted in response, spinning her sword above her head before swinging it back down to her side. “I will make sure you suffer for all indignation you’ve put us through during the week!”

“For putting my Master through hell when he didn’t know left from right..." Caster continued as her mirror once appeared beside her, before facing the enemies before her. “I hope you’re prepared for this, you pathetic pile of Seaweed!”

Mihara took a deep breath, attempting to banish all hints of doubt, and hesitation from his mind as he focused on the battle ahead.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

The only words that he spoke throughout the pointless banter acted like a signal. Within moments of finishing his sentence, a jolt of magic could be felt evaporating from the area: The barrier was gone.

All bets were off, and Mihara knew it was finally time to kill, or be killed.

Immediately after the aura of magic vanished, Rider began on the offensive.

“Let’s start the day with a good ‘ol sinking, shall we?” Her voice pierced the distance, her pistol raised. Portholes materialised behind her, the unmistakeable silhouette of her Culverin Cannons poking through.

“Send them to Davy Jones’ Locker!” She cried, twirling to the side as the cannons opened fire on her opponents, belching iron and smoke.

“Get back!” Mihara shouted as he leap back form the incoming attack. His two servants following suit as the cannonballs tore through the wooden hull of the deck, where they stood moments ago.

“You aren’t going anywhere!” Archer’s voice roared, his composite bow pointing to the air as the faint twang of his bow reverberated.

“Into the hole, quickly!” Not wasting a single moment, Mihara issued his next order. He jumped down into the abyss alongside his servants just as the hail of arrows from above thudded into the hull of the ship. Each arrow triggered a small explosion upon impact, wrecking the entire surface of the ship.

“We’re at a disadvantage here with two ranged users against us..." Mihara thought out loud as the trio retreated deeper into the ship to avoid the debris falling from the explosions above. “We need to close the distance and take away Rider’s ability to use her gun battery at least.”

“Yet doing so would expose you to assault from the two enemy Masters.” Saber piqued, keeping pace behind him.

“I had a thought about that, Saber.” He said as he booted up his Terminal’s Interface, ignoring Rider taunting them. “I wasn’t sure about this before we came. But since the remains of the Arena Floor are floating above us, I suspect I can use the Librarian’s program to keep tabs on the battlefield.

“I can coordinate our movements from this wreck, see if I can offer some support against Shinji’s CodeCasts as well. That way, Shinji and Shun won’t be able to find me so easily.” As he finished, a three-dimensional map appeared on his Interface, showing the layout of the Coliseum. Several dots appeared, illustrating the position of all four Servants in the area.

“Well, as long as you’re safe then there’s less to worry about.” Caster said. “But how are we going to close the gap this time?”

“Considering the battlefield..." Mihara continued, looking around before stopping next to the wooden hull of the ship.

_______________

“Heeey!” Rider shouted at the broken shell of a ship before her, the smoke of their team’s combined attacks slowly dissipating. “Giving up already? Heh, well maybe if you handed over all your possessions I’ll let you go!”

“You…” Shinji began, shaking his head with a small smirk on his face, “All you care about is money, isn’t it?”

“Well what do you expect, Shinji?” She asked, turning around, almost as if she was ignoring the fact she was participating in a battle. “With the pittance you’ve paid me to fight here, I’ve gotta go and find some other sources of income!

“I hope I don’t run out of ammunition before this fight is over because of someone’s magical deficiencies!”

“Wh-What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Shinji shouted. “Are you-”

“Heads up!” Shun shouted just as Rider swivelled on her feet, the crack of her pistol erupting in the air before a large explosion could be heard.

“Aagh!” Shinji shouted in surprise at the sudden explosion and heat, before falling backwards.

“Well, at least one of us here knows how to act like a gentleman.” Rider said with a smile.

“It’d be boring if only we get to have fun.” She heard him continue, before spying a familiar orange tail disappear down a hole in the opposing ship.

“What’s wrong, little fox?” Rider laughed. “At the end of it, all you’re good at is running away, huh?"

“Shut up you stupid pirate!” Caster shouted back, her voice echoing amongst the wooden hulks. “I bet you don’t even know what it means to have a fair fight anyway!”

“Well what did you expect?” Rider replied. “In my line of work, it pays to be cunning, otherwise my head would’ve found itself a new owner all too quickly!”

“Then how about we see you try and out-fox this fox!”

At Caster’s declaration a sudden roar erupted in the area, several cones of flame spewed forth from the opposing ship.

“Gyah!” Shinji yelped in shock as he was pulled out of the firing range, the heat singeing his skin as they felt the boat beneath them rumble.

“Well that was a big one!” Rider said, whistling as she saw the remaining flames lick the deck black, Shinji scrambling on all fours to a safer location. “Still though, what was that rocking about?”

“You shall find out soon enough, brigand!” A familiar voice shouted as Rider pivoted on her feet, her pistol flaring at a red blur that was leaping towards her.

“Whoops, was wondering when you’d show up!” Rider said with a grin, leaping to the side as Saber’s sword crashed into the wooden deck. “I was starting to think you were too small to be seen amongst all this wreckage!”

“Silence, you cur!” Saber replied, pointing her blade at the pirate. “Today, I will ensure to repay all the disgrace you have heaped upon me this past week in full!”

“Hah, good luck trying, little midget!” Rider replied, pulling a face before letting loose another shot. With ease belying her physique her opponent quickly dodged the shot, before charging forward with a shout.

_______________

“Well, stage one seems to have worked out..." Mihara muttered as he stood next to a large hole in the hull leading to the neighbouring ship.

Having stayed on the first wreck, his Interface screens spun around him. Amongst them all were several maps of the Coliseum, giving him information of the two battles raging above.

“This should work, I guess.” He continued, his fingers dancing between the keyboard and screens in front of him. “Still feels a bit odd for me though, having to stay out of the fight like this…”

‘But getting a hole punched in me isn’t exactly in my best interests either.’ He thought before turning back to the screens.

‘…Neither of my Servants seem to be able to make much progress against them. Though, I guess that’s already pretty good, all things considered. Still, how can I help out in this case?’

His hand flicked another screen in front of him as he quickly took stock of the battlefield.

Caster was already engaging Archer, the two trading attack after attack at range. So far, she had refrained from unleashing any of her spells, apart from the initial blast.

“Caster, how’re you coping?” He asked, closing his eyes.

“So far alright, Master.” She answered curtly. “But this guy just won’t stay still long enough-!”

“Alright.” He answered, biting his lip. “Feel free to use your spells as needed. But, in moderation, please. Though we picked up a few good regeneration items in that Treasure Chest, we only have so many to use…”

“Oh, don’t worry, I know my limits!” Caster replied, though he could hear a hint of anticipation in her words.

He shook his head at this, before his eyes turned to a screen showing Saber, charging at Rider with little results. Again, he closed his eyes before establishing another mental link.

“Saber, there’s some barrels near your position…”

_______________

“Tch!” Saber spat just as she deflected a bullet with her crimson sword, her opponent leaping away from her.

“Stand and fight, Pirate!”

“Well ain’t that an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard of one!” Rider said with a grin as Saber charged at her. “I got to where I was by making sure my head stayed out of bounty hunter’s hands: I pick fights I know I can win first and foremost!”

The pistols flared again, just as Saber was forced to stop to evade the hail of bullets as her opponent continued to leap out of harm’s way.

“Saber, there’s some barrels near your position.” A voice echoed in her mind.

“Barrels, Master?” She asked, her eyes darting around to scan the area, recognising several sturdy wooden barrels nearby.

“Umu, I see them. I understand your plan.” She continued, leaping out of the way of another volley of lead towards the left side of the wreck.

“Can’t keep up now eh, can you shorty?” Rider asked with a smirk as she landed, several metres away between the flights of stairs leading to the raised fore deck. “It’s no wonder with those stumps you call legs!”

“I will have you eat your own tongue when I am done with you-!” Saber shouted in reply as she charged.

“Oooh, big words coming from such a wee lass like you!” And again Rider released a hail of bullets at the oncoming swordswoman, the flare of her pistols lighting up the deck. But this time, Saber was prepared.

Taking a moment to leap forward she found herself next to a large wooden barrel, still in good shape considering the state of the ship.

Wasting no time she kicked it into the air, before hammering it with the hilt of her sword towards her enemy. With repeated thuds, the balls of lead sent her way hammered themselves into its sturdy wood.

“Oya?” Rider asked, her fire halting as she saw the wooden barrel flung at her. As she dodged, the barrel crashed into the hull of the ship, finally shattering into pieces.

Yet just as Rider looked up to find her opponent, she was met with the gleam of metal as Saber’s booted foot smashed into her face.

“Oof-!” She grunted, stumbling backwards as she rubbed her nose. “Agh-!”

“Say your provocations once more, and I shall answer them!” Saber shouted, swinging her sword before leaping forward to her disoriented enemy.

“Saber, wait a minute-!”

“Heh, I guess being small means it’s easier to hide behind small objects as well huh?” Rider said with a pained grin, bringing up her pistols to block the incoming attack, the clash of metal upon metal ringing out.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think you’ll have a chance to dart around like the bee you are anymore.” Rider said with a smile, her opponent’s face mere centimetres away.

“Ha, got that right, Rider!” Shinji shouted from atop the aft deck.

“What?!” Saber asked in shock, just as a bright light erupted from beneath her feet. Blinded for several crucial seconds, she felt the resistance keeping her sword back suddenly disappear.

Assuming her opponent had moved, the swordswoman lashed out with her blade, hoping to strike her opponent. And as she did so, she felt the tell-tale resistance that indicated a successful impact. Yet in the next instant her vision cleared up, and she immediately noticed something wrong about her target.

It was a completely different person, staring at her with dull, lifeless eyes.

A blond young woman dressed in the brown Tsukumihara academy uniform stood in front of her. Deep in her side was Saber’s crimson blade, blood pouring over it.

“An NPC-!?”

In the next instant her victim dissipated into black pixels, just as she felt hands grab at her from behind.

Instinctively she lashed out with her sword at whatever was holding her. Her eyes followed immediately afterwards, quickly seeing several more NPCs surrounding her.

With a flash of her blade they too dissipated into black mist. Yet through the black clouds, she could see more standing no more than a few metres away from her.

“It took me a while to compress the NPC data enough to fit into my Terminal.” Shinji shouted as Saber eyed the NPCs carefully, sword at the ready. “Though I had to strip out a lot of their other subsystems to do it, I bet even you can’t contend with this many of them!”

“Oooh, so that’s what you were busy doing with them in your room every day!” Rider said with a big grin. “And here I thought you were busy getting frisky with them!”

“What the hell are you talking about now!?” Shinji balked at his Servant’s statement.

“Heh, I guess you’re still a wee bit too young to know.” She continued with a grin, before looking at the summoned NPCs, a hand on her hip. “Still though, why do they all have the same face and figure? Is your taste in women that shallow? Or just that limited because you’re little more than a shut-in barnacle that refuses to move anywhere or meet new people, huh?”

“S-Shut up!” Shinji stammered. “Who said you have any right to analyse me, huh?! Just get back to work and fill her with bullets already!”

“With pleasure!” Rider shouted in glee, firing off a shot at the stationary Servant.

Immediately, Saber’s crimson sword deflected the bullet into an NPC who dissipated into black mist. Yet as soon as the pixels vanished into thin air, another flash of light came from the vacant position as a new figure stood in their place.

“Tch!” Saber clicked her tongue as she watched the spectacle.

She could only grit her teeth as the NPCs surged forward, attempting to overwhelm her. And behind them all she saw the familiar portholes appear beside Rider’s figure, a glint of iron poking out.

_______________

“Dammit.” Mihara muttered, hammering the wall of the shipwreck as he watched a dozen red dots appear on his Interface map.

“Master, I hope you’re seeing this.” A voice said through his mental link.

“Yes, Saber, I see them.” He answered, his fingers working to find a countermeasure as red dots appeared on his screen beside lines of code. “I’m working on deactivating Shinji’s CodeCast now, just hold out a little bit!”

“The sooner the better! I will not be able to keep her from using her gun battery if I am tied up with these extras!”

Almost in response, he jumped as a sudden explosion ripped through the air. Immediately afterwards, the sound of splintering wood echoed throughout the dark hull of the ship.

“Better solve this, quickly-!” He muttered, not bothering to turn around to see how close the shot was to hitting him.

He only had a few more moments of peace however, before a sudden movement behind him caught his attention.

Automatically he ducked as he felt a sudden rush of air pass over his head. Without stopping to see what missed him, he pivoted around and lashed out with his leg. Feeling a successful impact, he caught the person off-guard as they were sent crashing to the floor.

“Another NPC?!” He muttered, immediately recognising the uniform it wore as he remained crouched. “How’d it manage to find me?!”

He didn’t have any time to think about his own question, as he heard several more footsteps rushing up behind him.

He leapt forward over the body of the NPC, before getting back up to a crouching position as his Interface disappeared.

Only a scant moment had passed after he had left his position, before the sound of cracking wood erupted in the area.

As he stood up, he turned around to see a familiar figure, his fist embedded into the wooden deck as black pixels erupted around him.

“Shun!” He muttered, just as he re-established his Interface.

‘Damn, I don’t have time for this-!’

“And here I thought I’d finally be able to catch you off-guard.” He said, standing upright and flexing his fists. “You’ve got some really good reflexes. Still though, hiding back here while your Servants do the job for you, aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

“I’m not exactly eager to have a hole punched in me again, thank you very much.” Mihara replied through gritted teeth.

“Well, there is that, isn’t it?” He said with a shrug, gold lines of code appearing around his limbs. “Either way, I’m not going to let you get off easy!”

With his declaration, Shun charged forward, his fists ready. In response, Mihara swiped his hand forward in a wide arc as a translucent wall appearing before.

Yet even with its presence, he couldn’t help but flinch as Shun’s fist slammed into it. And while it wasn’t enough to completely break, clear cracks immediately formed on its surface upon impact.

'If that broke through there’s no way I would have been able to dodge!' He thought sighing with relief. Yet an explosion rocked the boat a moment later, reminding him of the Servants fighting above.

“Hey, I hope you aren’t thinking of something else now.” Shun muttered, unfazed by the wall that separated them. “This thing won’t be enough to hold me back forever!”

Following his words, he took a single step back. Lines of code flashed, surrounded his limbs before he spun his body. As a blur, his foot lashed out to hit the wall with an almighty crash as shards scattered in all directions.

With only scant seconds, Mihara had to react. Immediately he crouched down again even as shards scattered and dissipated back into pixels all around him. Gritting his teeth, his eyes glanced briefly to the remaining holographic screen floating by his face.

‘I have to put some distance between us-!’ He thought frantically as he saw the fight raging on above.

And with that thought, he pivoted on his feet. With Shun’s attack flying barely overhead, he hooked behind his opponent’s knee, sending him to the floor again. Yet long before his opponent had hit the ground, the Magus had already leapt up to his feet.

“Gah!” Mihara barely registered Shun’s gasp as he hit the floor, already running as fast as his feet could carry him. And beside him, a single Interface screen followed him step-for-step.

“Get back here!”

‘As if I will-!’ He thought, ignoring his opponent as his fingers tried to find a countermeasure to Shinji’s NPCs.

‘Shinji must have modified the Coliseum, at least slightly, to allow these NPC’s to spawn. If I can shut down those spawning locations then those NPC’s won’t be too much of a problem anymore…’

“Rightfully I should be able to learn a bit by analysing Shinji’s code, but I don’t exactly have the time-!” He muttered, leaping over a free-rolling object in the way before a sudden thought hit him.

Turning around he summoned a second holographic screen, lines of code already forming upon it. Tapping it several times in quick succession, he watched as his opponent sprinted closer through the darkness.

It was a sight made all the more ominous with the pulsing golden glow of Shun’s CodeCasts.

Mihara grunted, before the screen condensed itself into a small ball at his fingertips. Wasting no time he aimed at his opponent, before several small streams of fire erupted from his fingertips.

Pausing for a short moment, he the directed one final blast at the ground, hoping it would hit its intended target.

Without pausing to see his handiwork, the Master immediately turned and ran into the darkness. Glowing softly beside him, code flew across his Interface as he worked to undo Shinji’s hacking. All the while, he spared only limited glances back to the deck, checking for further obstacles or hiding spots.

“Praetor, have you found a way to stop these pawns yet?” A sudden voice echoed in his mind just as he jumped down a hole in the deck.

“Sorry Saber, but I’ve had some troubles of my own here.” Her Master replied, closing his eyes momentarily as he panted. “Just give me a little bit longer-!”

_______________

“Hah-!” Shun scoffed, seeing the fireballs race towards him. He side-stepped the first few shots, before leaping forward and rolling under the next few. “You’re going to have to do better than- eh?!”

His boast was cut off as he recognised a steel object hurtling across the deck towards him, charred slightly black on one side.

“A cannon?!” He shouted in shock, his hands working already to summon a small shield to block the object.

He was too late to block it completely however, his shield unable to solidify fully before the cannon impacted upon it. Its rush slowed, the barrel collided with Shun as he cried in pain, rolling over backwards as the barrel stopped on his chest.

“Grh-!” He gasped for air, flat on his back. Clenching his teeth, he hammered his fist into the wooden deck. Gold lines of code pulsed once around his fist before he slammed it into the steel barrel.

And just as he expected, the force from his CodeCast was enough to send it flying backwards, crashing through the wooden hull.

“Agh-!” He groaned in pain as he sat up, a hand working along his chest before flinching. “Bruised ribs…”

Looking up he tried to find his opponent amongst the debris strewn across the deck. Immediately however, it was clear that his foe had slipped away long ago.

“What the hell… Are you screwing around with me?” He muttered. “You could’ve finished me off then and there… why the hell did you back off?” Slowly he stood up, his body quivering as he held a hand over his chest.

“Damn you.” He grunted through pained breaths. “You won’t be able to run away like this forever, you coward. Still though, if you won’t stay still long enough, perhaps your Servants might be a bit more compliant.”

Standing upright he took a deep breath, flinching as he placed his free hand on his temple, closing his eyes for several moments. Then, abruptly, he shouted:

“Archer, don’t you think it’s about time we used it?!”

_______________

Caster’s lithe form leaped up to the aft deck of the wreck as a cannonball careened itself through the centre of the main deck.

“That was-?!” Caster said, spinning around as she landed to see another explosion down on the second wreck. Most everything however, was obscured by thick smoke emanating from Rider’s cannons.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she evaded another hail of arrows from Archer, as he stood at the fore of the ship.

“This isn’t good…” She bit her lip as she saw Saber dart out from the smoke, only to be met by several NPCs barring her way.

Gritting her teeth, she pulled out another charm from her sleeves. Throwing it at Archer, she leapt up to the rigging, dodging several more of her opponent’s arrows. As the explosion rang out behind her, she expected another hail of arrows to return her attack.

It was a hail that never came.

She took a brief look at her opponent as she leapt through the hanging ropes, not willing to give herself as a stationary target.

And to her surprise, she saw her opponent fixed to the ground, unmoving with his eyes closed.

“What’s wrong, Archer?” She called out, not wasting this opportunity as she fired several of her charms at his position. “You seem a bit petrified.”

“Hah!” He scoffed as he strung and ready his bow. Before she could blink, arrows flew straight through her charms as they exploded in a large ball of flame. “I am conversing with my Master…”

“About how best to end you, and that crimson swordswoman, now.”

“Keh-!” Caster spat, a sudden chill making its way up her spine as she sensed the threat in his words, her feet leaping away through the rigging.

“Indeed my Brother, it is about time I used it!” Archer shouted, his voice carrying even with the thick smoke covering the area.

“By this arrow, I offered a hundred horses.”

Upon hearing his chant, Caster stopped in her tracks as she immediately recognised what her opponent was trying to do.

“He’s trying to activate his Noble Phantasm?!” She muttered, her brow furrowed as she attempted to see through the thick smoke and find her opponent.

“By these arrows, I sacked a hundred cities.”

At that moment, she saw it.

Through the thick smoke, she just made out Archer’s burly figure, still standing in the same position as before.

And within his hand, was his bow and arrow, already nocked and ready.

“I need not a horde to vanquish my enemies…”

‘Grr… I don’t have time to interrupt him!' She thought, grinding her teeth before she turned around again, trying to put some distance between them. ‘We didn’t exactly figure out what his Noble Phantasm was either, even though we know his True Name… I can’t take any risks like this-!’

“For the minds of my foes shall do it for me!”

With his final words shouted, the tell-tale twang of his bow resounded out around the wreck that the two Servants stood on. Though Caster’s ears could pick up the sound, she didn’t look back to try and identify the arrow. Instead, she began jumping around from rigging to rigging even more erratically, hoping to evade the shot.

Yet several seconds passed, and she noticed absolutely no arrows had been fired at her.

Confused at the lack of offensive, she stopped. Hanging off a set of the rope rigging at the aft of the ship, she turned around to look at the fore of the ship.

And there, standing as though nothing was wrong, was Archer.

Waiting.

“Something wrong, Archer?” She called out, preparing another one of her charms. “My my, did your Noble Phantasm not activate properly?”

“Hah!” He shouted at the vixen’s provocation. “And this is where the prey makes its first mistake.”

“Huh?!” Caster gasped, wide-eyed just as her ears picked up the whistle of an oncoming arrow.

Yet she was far too late to dodge it.

A searing pain immediately bloomed out from her left shoulder as she screamed in pain. Instantly her strength failed as her hand lost its grip on the rope rigging as she tumbled to the ground.

“Kyah!” She gasped as she collapsed flat onto the wooden deck, a hand moving to inspect the wound on her shoulder.

And there, she found the missing arrow, embedded straight through her collarbone.

Stumbling to her feet, she groaned as her hand gripped the wound. Not wasting a moment, her feet moved so she could find a place to hide while she nursed this injury.

Yet she had barely taken several steps further before the arrow’s form disappeared beneath her fingers.

“Wha…?” She gasped in shock, both hands now feeling her smooth, unblemished shoulder for any remaining signs of the attack.

“Kh… You’re all just talk and no bite huh?” She whispered beneath her breath, clenching her teeth as the pain from before still lingered.

“What sort of Noble Phantasm was that-Agh!”

Interrupted mid-sentence, Caster stumbled into a stack of barrels nearby.

“Agh… What the heck is this?!” She moaned as she tried to stand up, her vision blurring severely as she wobbled unstably. “Gah… Come on, you can’t lose your cool like this…!”

“And here is where the prey makes their second mistake.” Archer’s voice boomed out from across the ship, Caster’s tail and ears standing on edge as she heard him.

She turned her head around to try and find her opponent, yet her blurred vision made it completely impossible.

And that was when she heard it.

A sudden, soft scream.

Her head whipped around to try and find the source, even though she caught herself in the next instant.

'That can’t be right... There’s only seven people here in the Coliseum right now, and I know all of their voices… But then… Who’s was that then?!’

Before she had any chance to think about it, she heard the sound of footsteps gaining in speed and distance.

“As if that’d be enough to catch me!” She shouted, her body twirling around as she lashed out at the enemy. While her vision was completely blurred, she could tell where her foe was as her mirror cleaved itself directly into them.

But, it wasn’t Archer.

Nor was it one of that seaweed’s NPCs.

It was an archaic warrior, dressed in similar garb to the Mongolian General she was fighting, a scimitar in hand.

“What?!” She gasped in shock. “I don’t remember any of this?!”

‘And why the heck can I see him clearly even though everything else around me is a complete mess?!’

The questions in her mind only grew in number, as she saw her recently dispatched foe disappear into thin smoke.

“My Noble Phantasm doesn’t last long... Yet crushing my enemy’s fighting spirit never seems to take very long either.” Archer commented, his booming voice echoing all around her.

“Gh-!” She gasped again, stepping back as her vision only blurred even more.

And it got worse as she felt a searing pain strike its way across her back.

With a short scream of pain Caster stumbled forward onto her knees. Gritting her teeth, a hand lashed out at the offending enemy, her mirror following.

And once again, the figure evaporated into a puff of smoke as her attack connected.

Frantically both arms immediately began to feel the entirety of her back for the wound.

A wound which she could not find.

“What is this?!” She gasped in shock, her hands feeling nothing even as her body screamed in agony from the imaginary wound.

“What is real, and what is fake? This is my chosen Noble Phantasm: A staple of Mongolian Warfare.”

Though he spoke clearly, Caster’s sharp ears twitched futilely in their attempts to locate him: His voice seemingly reverberating from the air that surrounded her.

And to make things worse, the initial wailing she heard was slowly multiplying, drowning out her sense of hearing.

She couldn’t help but feel a cold chill working its way through her body with each new whimper.

“And I, as Genghis Khan’s Arrow, am one who knows it best of all.”

A sudden stampede of hooves blotted out her hearing. Her eyes blinked futilely trying to clear her vision, just as she saw smoke rise from the deck. Or at least, what she thought was the deck.

And from within that smoke, strode a host of Mongol Warriors, just as the screaming in her ears began picking up again.

“We fight with deception!”

Automatically Caster threw her mirror forward, the silver tool cleaving its way into a score of foes. Yet with each one that she dispatched into a cloud of mist, another took their place almost immediately.

“We fight with our enemies minds!”

Gritting her teeth, the foxgirl pulled out one of her charms as she flung it at her foes, hoping that her opponent would be within the mass.

But as the slip of paper left her fingers, she felt her strength leave, her legs giving way as she dropped to her knees. And in front of her, a sudden explosion rocked the area as the host that stood before her vanished into a cloud of smoke.

‘How-?! I should have had enough energy for that!’

“And this is why I say I need not a large force to crush my enemy…”

“Keh-!” Groaning at the sudden movement, she pulled out a small, purple crystal shard from her arm sleeves, crushing it in her fingers.

Immediately a purple whirlwind surrounded her as she felt some strength return to her body. And shakily, she got up to her feet, before she gasped at the new sight before her.

“For we will crush their strength, by crushing their will to fight!”

For once again arrayed before her, stood another horde of men. Each and everyone of them stared with lifeless eyes and scimitars drawn, standing still amidst a rapidly moving ground.

“Grr…” Caster couldn’t help but grit her teeth at the sight, her body swaying left and right at the distortions her vision saw. “This… This does not look good.”

It only got worse as she heard a sudden explosion from her side. Immediately her eyes looked for the source, even though her vision was completely blurred.

“Whoopsie-daisy! Collateral damage inbound!”

And in the next instant, all she could see was black as a sudden pain ripped all throughout her body, her mind identifying the sound-

As the sound of culverin-fire, moments too late.

_______________

“Tch-!” Saber spat, her foot smashing into the chest of another NPC. As her foe fell, she leapt forward and plunged her sword into the NPC’s chest.

The figure dissipated back into black mist long before it touched the ground.

Not wasting any time, the swordswoman swung her sword outwards, cleaving a second enemy behind her.

“There are too many of them.” She muttered even as her sword cleaved another NPC. Without any time to rest, she quickly moved away as another cannonball rammed into the wooden floor.

“Praetor, have you found a way to stop these pawns yet?”

“Sorry Saber, but I’ve had some troubles of my own here.” Her Master replied. “Just give me a little bit longer-!”

“Make haste, my strength wastes and wanes upon extras such as these.” She replied, thrusting her sword into another NPC, before pulling out and spinning around to slash another.

“Kuh-!” She gasped as Rider’s pistol flared, a bullet grazed her side just as she dodged another cannonball.

“What’s wrong, little lassie?” Rider asked, twirling her pistols before aiming another shot at the Servant below. “Looks like you’re slowing down a bit!”

“Keep your thoughts to yourself, vagrant!” She shouted in reply, stabbing her sword backwards to impale another NPC that attempted to pile on top of her.

“Well, you can’t keep this up forever!” Rider said. “In fact, I think that fox on the other wreck’s going to start slowing down soon.”

“What?!” Saber asked, scowling as she cleaved through another group of NPCs trying to rush her.

She could just barely hear a scream of pain over the explosion of another cannon shot from Rider’s gun battery.

“That is-?!” She gasped, her vision switching to the second wreck. She only barely registered the cannonball as she dodged it, the ball of iron careening the deck nearby.

And then, she felt a searing pain course through her body.

“Kuh-!” She gasped in shock and pain, her left hand immediately moving to grasp the origin of the pain in her right collar.

And there, she felt the wooden shaft of an arrow even as her sword-arm dropped limply to her side.

“This is-?!” She grunted, falling to her knees from the pain before she forced herself forward to avoid another one of Rider’s shots.

As she collapsed onto the floor, the hand that gripped her shoulder felt the wooden shaft dissipate into thin air.

Just as an intense electric shock coursed its way throughout her brain.

“Gah-!” She gasped, her able hand clutching her forehead in pain.

‘This migraine-!' She thought through the pain, gasping as she leapt through a hole in the deck, gaining some respite from Rider’s fire.

‘This migraine, again! I thought I had rid myself of it upon being summoned, and yet-Gah!’

She collapsed onto her knees, both hands now clutching her head in pain as her sword lay by her side.

‘What is this?! What sort of sorcery does that Archer possess to incite this pain of mine again?!’

Her thoughts were cut off mid-way as she heard footsteps echo through the wreck. With a furrowed brow she immediately grasped her sword, swinging wildly at the source as she cleaved another NPC in two.

But, she didn’t notice the second NPC that rushed up behind her, immediately dropping onto the Servant in an attempt to pin her down.

“Argh-!” Saber shouted in frustration. Summoning up as much of her strength as she could muster, she grabbed her assailant by the hair and threw her as far as she could.

With a sickening crack the NPC crashed on the wooden hull as her body immediately dissipated into black mist. Barely a moment later, Saber collapsed back onto her knees, unable to bear the pain that ravaged her mind.

Because of that, she barely noticed the NPCs around her, holding themselves back as their numbers increased.

“Kuh...” She grunted, gritting her teeth in pain as she remained still.

With every movement she made a searing fire burned her brain. With every thought she had her mind echoed it with a scream of pain. And, unable and uncertain as to how she could escape from this predicament, all she could do was watch.

“I have to focus…” She muttered, watching the horde build up around her. “This pain only caught me by surprise- I had been able to live through these migraines before… I can do so again, if- If I could just focus-!”

“I don’t think you’re gonna get that chance!” Shinji shouted, his voice reverberating through the deck just as the horde of NPC’s charged at her.

Gritting her teeth Saber stood up shakily as the horde closed in around her, sword in hand.

And at the final second she spun on her feet. With her crimson blade drawing a red circle around her, her foes ran blindly into range.

And on cue, a cyclone of black pixels immediately surrounded her.

“Eh?!” Shinji’s voice shouted. “W-What happened to my code?!”

Saber looked at the hole she had jumped through earlier. In that instant, a handful of NPCs jumped through as several more in the horde around her leapt forward.

Clearly, they were aiming to pin her down with sheer numbers and weight.

“My NPCs! What the hell’s happening?!”

Yet all of them abruptly faded into black pixels, their code being ripped to shreds by some invisible force.

’Good, Praetor-!’ She thought through the headache that afflicted her. Immediately she leapt back up to the deck, leaving the remaining horde of undeleted NPCs staring at her.

“Guh-!” She gasped in pain as she landed on the deck, her sword embedding itself into the oaken wood for support.

“No time for resting I’m afraid lassie!” Rider shouted after only a moment for Saber to catch her breath.

Saber looked upwards to find the Pirate standing straight before her, now unaccompanied by the NPCs. Yet in their place-

She was now staring down the barrel of a cannon.

“Whoopsie-daisy!”

The Pirate shouted with a grin, just as an explosion ripped Saber’s eardrums. In that instant, her crimson sword immediately moved in an attempt to block the oncoming cannonball.

“Collateral damage inbound!”

Those were the last words the crimson swordswoman heard, before she felt herself being thrown off the wreck.

_______________

“Kh-!” Mihara panted, leaning onto the wall as he turned into a room from the corridor, gulping ragged breaths.

“How the heck can he still be this energetic?!” He muttered to himself, trying to calm his breathing while rubbing a sore side, flinching at the bruise there.

“Come on out!” Shun’s voice shouted from around the corner, unrelenting in his chase. “The painkillers won’t last forever, and I’m gonna make sure I repay you for crushing me with that cannon!”

‘As if I would just let you take free potshots at me-!' Mihara thought, taking a deep breath to calm himself, flinching at his bruise.

At that point silence filled the deck. The only sounds were the ominous creak of floorboards, and Mihara’s unrelenting heartbeat.

‘Things are getting worse and worse by the minute!’ He thought, biting his lip as he tried to keep calm. ‘I’m cornered... I can’t leave without fighting Shun. And I can’t seem to establish any connection with either Saber or Caster! What the hell happened up there?!’

‘Dammit, I can’t figure out anything if I just stay here… I’ll have to somehow break out of here and try to find out what happened to them…’

Digging his nails into his palms, he forced his breath to slow down, just as he saw a shadow cross through the doorway.

Taking a single step forward, he swung his body. And just as he calculated, his leg immediately left through the gap, aiming straight for his foe’s face.

An abrupt slap echoed in the desolate corridor signifying a successful impact. Yet Mihara immediately realised his mistake.

“Did you really think I didn’t know you were hiding there?” Shun asked, the attack blocked squarely by his forearm, hovering just in front of his face.

Mihara had no time to react. In an instant Shun grabbed hold of his leg, swinging around as he was sent flying through the air like a rag doll.

“Gah-!” He grunted as he hit the rough wooden floor, his body rolling several more metres from the throw. “Agh!”

Immediately he gripped his injured side, his face contorting in pain as he slowed to a stop. And from the corner of his eye, he realised just how fortunate he was to have stopped there.

If he had rolled a few more metres, he would have fallen out of a gaping hole in the deck of the ship.

‘We’re three decks above the bottom, at least-!' He thought through clenched teeth. In his side the pain burned, even as adrenaline flowed through him as he glanced to his opponent, rubbing his forearm.

“You’re a real slippery one, aren’t you?” Shun asked, turning to Mihara. “Still though, I’m not here to play around in this game. I’m here to win, and I’m sure my Servant would agree.”

Mihara couldn’t help but feel a chill crawl up his spine at his opponent’s words.

It was a chill that only worsened as he heard a succession of explosions above him from the ship’s deck.

Abruptly he felt the pain subside for a moment. With that moment of strength he turned to look out of the gaping hole next to him.

And as he did so, a flurry of cannonballs soared across the sky to hit another, half-buried wreck nearby.

He also saw an ominous shade of red and blue colouring several of them.

“Saber! Caster!” He shouted, even though he knew it was too late. He saw the wreck crumble onto itself from the impacts, smoke immediately filling the area.

“Where the hell are you looking?” Shun’s voice shouted behind him.

Mihara only had a second to turn his head around back to the interior of the ship, before a shoe slammed straight into his face.

“Gah!” He cried in pain, the force of the blow sending his body rolling several more metres.

Straight through the gaping hole, and over the edge.

‘Shit!’

He only had time for a single scream, before his body crashed into an array of wooden debris below. Immediately the sound of splitting wood drowned any other noise he could make as a thick cloud of smoke was thrown up into the air.

“Hmph.” Shun scoffed as he stepped up to the edge, looking over to see the results of his work.

And all he could see was a mass of mangled wood in the bow of another ship, half-buried beneath the sand.

“He might have survived that, but I don’t think he’ll get out without injury at least.” He muttered, analysing the distance. “Well, either way, I don’t think any of them will be in a state to continue fighting now, not without a miracle at least.”

Satisfied, he turned back into the depths of the wreck, the darkness welcoming him as he paid no further heed to his foe.

_______________

Neither regular nor irregular updates seem to have any tangible benefit it seems =3=
And yet I somehow keep coming back for more...

Anyway... Hopefully the fight scenes aren't getting worse over the last 3, including this one. And we're nearing the end of the week! Finally!

[Rafflesiac]

It's not looking good for Team Mihara here; how will they manage to win this? And Rider still hasn't used her Noble Phantasm, so that's another thing to worry about.

And I liked the fight scene.

[Laith]

how will they manage to win this?

They don't. Mihara dies and the story then follows Shinji 'till he wins the war =V

[Rafflesiac]

They don't. Mihara dies and the story then follows Shinji 'till he wins the war =V

Damn, and I was looking forward to the details of the comeback too.

You're telling me this has another decoy protagonist? Jesus, so Fate/Extra.

[Numbers]

Damn, and I was looking forward to the details of the comeback too.

You're telling me this has another decoy protagonist? Jesus, so Fate/Extra.

That would be way too meta for me. It would be pretty funny though, for about the first couple of moments.

[Xyphos]

They don't. Mihara dies and the story then follows Shinji 'till he wins the war =V

Laith! What are you doing?! I thought we agreed not to spill the beans? :<

Well, since the cat's out of the bag...

Damn, and I was looking forward to the details of the comeback too.

You're telling me this has another decoy protagonist? Jesus, so Fate/Extra.

Mihara's actually the decoy protagonist of Shinji, who is in turn another decoy protagonist. Which is in fact the prologue protagonist so everything comes full circle

That would be way too meta for me. It would be pretty funny though, for about the first couple of moments.

Would it continue to be funny as Shinji has to deal with the fallout from killing Shun? :3
The SERAPH wouldn't let them out of the Coliseum otherwise.

Nothing of the sort is happening here though.

[Megas]

End Protag is Twice, who nobly stands against all odds for his goal in solitude.

[Numbers]

Mihara's actually the decoy protagonist of Shinji, who is in turn another decoy protagonist. Which is in fact the prologue protagonist so everything comes full circle .

End Protag is Twice, who nobly stands against all odds for his goal in solitude.

Oh. My. God. It all makes sense now.

[nitewind]

Looks good.