It had been a trying explanation overall. Roman gawked over Morgana as he tried to process precisely what the hell he was. According to the sensors, he was a living creature… and that was about it. Nothing they had in their records could match up what Morgana was – not an animal (though cat was a closer comparison) or a familiar. The closest classification they had was a ‘Monstrous Beast’, which he took great offense to.
“I’m not some beast or a monster!” he shouted in protest. “I am Morgana! The most I’ll let you call me is a cat or a person, but not anything else!”
It took a lot of reassurances from Roman that it wasn’t a form of insult – it was literally just a species classification used to describe creatures like chimeras, hydras, or kelpies (Ren jolted a bit at that last one). That seemed to settle down Morgana a bit, though he still grumbled how he was a ‘fine, one-of-a-kind cat’ as opposed to everything else. Ren thought that being rated the same as mythological beings like those would be a bit of a compliment compared to just a cat but he wisely held his tongue. No need to turn Morgana’s wrath on him.
In turn, Ren found his brain spinning at the amount of information that was unloaded. First Mash was now something called a Servant, but not really as she had taken in a Heroic Spirit into her body as opposed to it manifesting. He was a Master now, which meant he could… command her? Well, not quite, but more channel prana into her as essentially upkeep for her superhuman powers. He could actually command her with the fittingly named Command Seals – the tattoo he had on his right hand. Said seals could either force her to do something or, if their desires both matched up, provide a considerable power boost to whatever action he ordered. He only had three uses though, which recharged within a day.
Ren’s mind locked on to the mention of ‘heroic spirits’ though. Roman gave him a quick summation of them: Spirits of heroes and legends past that can be summoned from the Throne of Heroes to fight in something called a Holy Grail War. There were two terms that Ren latched on to: The Throne of Heroes and the Holy Grail War. The Throne of Heroes had been mentioned by Lavenza and Ren began putting together the contextual hints. It must be the residing place of all these spirits of heroes and legends. He doubted he would have the same access to the Throne as he did the Velvet Room, but Lavenza did mention that its existence was a parallel. He’d have to find out more about it, but perhaps he could work that to his advantage.
The next term caused his heart to drop to his stomach, though he carefully moderated his expression. Morgana’s fur hackled a bit though he did the same. The Holy Grail War. There was only one Holy Grail that they both knew of, and neither of them had great experiences with it. A being that was born from the apathy of the citizens of Tokyo, in the form of a twisted granter of wishes. To fulfill the wish of having something or someone else think and make decisions for everyone else as opposed standing up and living their own lives. Ren still remembered the prisons at the bottom of Mementos, how the shadows of everyone was content to live within their cells, convinced they were in paradise rather than what it truly was.
However, that information was currently irrelevant to the situation at hand. Communication was getting increasingly staticky and would cut off soon enough. Roman quickly pointed out a leyline terminal they could get to, uploading the coordinates which displayed on Ren’s Chaldea-issued watch. Soon after, communication was cut off, and it was just him and Mash. All parties had an inordinate number of questions, but until they could resolve this Singularity and get back to Chaldea, none of them could be answered. At least they had an objective to go to. Ren certainly didn’t miss when they just kind of winged it through Palaces during the early days of the Phantom Thieves.
As they trekked, both Ren and Morgana could only take in the bleak surroundings. It looked like a modern city but struck by some sort of calamity that turned it all into ruin. Buildings and structures were crumbled, roads torn up and broken, revealing metallic skeletons underneath. Flames were ever present from heaven knows how many sources, covering the area in sweltering heat and unbearable smoke. The latter rose into the night sky, reflecting the glow of the fires, bathing the location in an ominous light. There might have been one or two corpses they saw, but they weren’t sure, nor were they in any hurry to verify.
“This is horrible,” Morgana whispered as he trotted alongside Ren. Ren could only mutely nod. They had been through some horrible locations in the past – Mementos, the Prison of Regression, and Tokyo when Mementos started merging with the real world. Such eldritch locations inspired terror and horror for anyone who saw them. But those locations felt like places they could fight against and defy. That they could trace back to the source and ultimately take it down. But this… this ruined, desolate place felt too familiar for their liking. It was a situation that could happen at any time, and they couldn’t do anything to stop it. Even if they tracked it down to the source, the city would still be ruined and burning. This wasn’t a disaster they could prevent – it already happened.
“It’s quiet, Senpai,” Mash murmured as they marched. Ren listened. Besides the roar of flames all around them, it was indeed eerily quiet. No screams or shouts of survivors, no sounds of rescue vehicles, not even collapsing rubble. Once or twice, he could hear the rattle of bones from other skeletons, but other than that, there was nothing. “I thought modern cities were noisier than this. Even in disasters, there would be… something. Is this what it’s like, senpai?”
Ren shook his head. “No, that shouldn’t be the case,” he replied, keeping an eye out for anything hostile. “A city always has its own noises. Cars going by, people chatting, things like that. It can be a bit… overwhelming at times. Even in a disaster, there’s still some noise going on. People calling for help or shouting in panic, or sirens from ambulances and fire trucks.” The closest was when people started noticing Mementos merging with the real world, but Ren had seen and heard enough to get a general gist of things. “This kind of quiet is not normal in the slightest. Just keep on your guard.” Mash nodded as they trekked onward in silence, leaving everyone to their own thoughts. They were making good distance towards the leyline and weren’t too far away. Then something landed on Ren.
“Fou, kyu!”
Mash turned around in surprise. “Fou!” she cried out. The white little creature barked out happily before leaping off Ren’s shoulders to Mash’s own, nuzzling against her. She laughed as she reached up to pet it. “You must’ve been Rayshifted with us too. It’s good to see you safe, Fou.” Fou barked out in agreement. Ren had to smile. Rayshifted… that probably was how they got here in the first place, whatever the term actually meant. Still, it was good to see Mash happier. He reached over to pet Fou as well, and the little beast nuzzled Ren’s own hand as well. Fou stopped and jumped off Mash’s shoulders, walking forward to sniff Morgana – who completely froze in place, his fur standing on end. This, despite the fact that Fou only came up to the bottom of his head.
Ren couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow, Mona,” he sarcastically commented with a gigantic grin. “I know you accepted that you’re a cat but I didn’t think you would take it this far.” It definitely looked like a little dog sniffing at a cat, and seeing the ever-confident, capable Morgana completely petrified by the small creature sent him over the edge. He needed the laugh after all the stress that had been building up so far. He wished so dearly that he had his phone so he could take a picture but he had left it back in his room. The other Thieves would’ve gotten a kick out of it, and Ryuji would never, EVER let Morgana hear the end of it.
Morgana scowled at Ren. “I-It’s not because i-it’s a d-dog!” he growled out, trying to not let fear into his voice – and failing spectacularly. Fou sniffed a little closer at Morgana who went even more rigid in response, even holding his breath as he did his absolute best to stay utterly still. Eventually, Fou lost interest and hopped back up on Mash’s shoulder, causing Morgana to breathe a sigh of relief… and glower at Ren as he still had that gigantic grin. “You better not mention this to the others,” he snapped.
“No promises,” Ren replied. Morgana could only groan.
A scream rang out in the air, immediately breaking the mirth of the group. All three began racing to the location of the sound, soon coming to yet another clearing within the rubble. There was the Director, backing off from another group of skeletons, fear wide in her eyes as she babbled incomprehensively, firing off orbs of magic at the skeletons who barely seemed to even slow down. Mash charged in first, her shield immediately crushing a skeleton’s head before whipping around and smashing another one to pieces. Ren summoned Arsene and obliterated another. Morgana moved to cover Olga, making sure nothing else would sneak up on her.
Thankfully, with the last skeleton, the coast was clear. “Area secure! Are you alright, Director?” Mash asked, looking towards the young woman.
Olga looked between all of them, trying to catch her breath. “Y-yes, Mash, thank you,” she breathed. Then her eyes widened. “Wait, wait, wait, what’s going on here?!” She jabbed a finger at Ren. “You! You were a magus?! Since when?! Our data showed you had no circuits or crests or ANYTHING when you came! Mash! How did you become a Demi-Servant?! Or rather, why was it successful now of all times?!” And YOU!” She in turn pointed to Morgana. “What in the Root are YOU?!?” Her voice was getting higher and higher with each word from a combination of hysteria, panic, and good old-fashioned anger.
Morgana glared up at Olga. “Quiet down!” he growled. “Do you want to attract every single skeleton within a five-kilometer radius? You’re doing a good job of that right now!” Olga’s eyes practically bulged outrage but she saw the logic in Morgana’s words and said nothing else. The cat being breathed a sigh of relief, lowering his rusty scimitar. “Right, that’s one person secured. Joker, what’s the leyline location again? I’m sure we’re close to it by now.”
Ren checked. “We’re right on top of it, actually,” he replied, blinking.
Olga blinked then cleared her throat. “A leyline you said?” she clarified, trying to regain control of the situation and her authority. “Mash, place your shield on the ground. I’m going to create a summoning circle with your Noble Phantasm. With it, we should be able to contact Chaldea and figure out our situation, possibly even summon up whatever supplies they can summon our way.” Mash nodded and got to work. Olga turned to Ren and Morgana. “And you two – as soon as we get back to Chaldea, you both will be contained for questioning. No one just suddenly gets magic circuits and a crest out of thin air, and even less so with a familiar.” she snapped, glaring at the two of them.
Morgana bristled at the threat but his reaction was nothing compared to Ren. The temperature seemed to drop several degrees as his glare bore into the Director, the older woman unconsciously even stepping back from his wrath. At ‘contained for questioning,’ his mind immediately flashed back to the interrogation room, surrounded by men who beat him up and drugged him, forcing him to sign a false confession. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Director Animusphere,” he replied, his voice deathly quiet with grey eyes like steel. Arsene pulsed in his mind, ready to amplify and give shape to Ren’s rage. It was only what little sense Ren still had that he hadn’t summoned him.
The Director was speechless, mouth gaping, trying to muster whatever courage she could to argue against him before Mash called out, “It’s ready, Director!” Olga looked over at Mash, blinking, before breaking off to head to the shield. This boy was inconsequential, she reasoned. A civilian who suddenly gained circuits with some sort of familiar and just happened to be a conveniently close Master for Mash. He wasn’t a proper Magus. There was no threat to him. Chaldea would be able to deal with him and his without issue and they could figure things out from there.
Yet as she walked, she could feel his eyes boring into her back. It felt like she had chains wrapped around her throat.
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When the image of Roman showed up, they were all updated on the situation. The group in the ruins hoped for some sort of good news, reinforcements, supplies, or just an easy way out.
There wasn’t.
80% of Chaldea had been rendered nonfunctional. Less than twenty employees survived the explosion. The other Master candidates were all in critical condition and were placed under cryo preservation under Olga’s hurried orders. The Rayshift equipment was damaged so they had no way out nor any way to send supplies. Roman was the one reporting the situation in the first place because there was literally no one else: Anyone higher ranking was dead, Lev Lainur among them, much to Olga’s despondence. Just hearing the numbers made Ren pale. The normally boastful Morgana couldn’t say anything either.
Then came the final question: What about Ren and Morgana? There was a brief discussion but an agreement soon came – they weren’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Wherever Ren got his magic circuits and crest from and what Morgana was was completely irrelevant to the situation on hand. The facts of the matter were that Ren had tactical talent, an aptitude for being a Master, and more importantly surprisingly potent magecraft that no one had ever seen. The fact that Morgana could utilize the same magecraft and had decent combat ability was also something they can’t overlook. With the situation as critical as it was, they needed every little advantage they could get.
Ren noted they were speaking as if though they could collect supplies and personnel from outside to replenish their ranks and repair the damage. Ren knew the truth but said nothing. He couldn’t reveal how he came by this info. And he desperately held on to a sliver of (false) hope. There had to be people who survived outside, right? These were mages, people who used literal magic! They could do anything, right?
A tiny voice in his head – not Arsene – told him otherwise.
As they marched, the Director berated Ren for not paying attention to the orientation and began explaining the situation: The point of Chaldeas was to safeguard the future of humanity at all costs. They had created the technology and magic for it and was approved by the U.N. According to their calculations, humanity was supposed to end in 2018 (about a year later), and there was a Singularity that theoretically caused it – the Singularity they were in now, for that matter. Once they solved the Singularity, then theoretically humanity should be able to continue for at least another hundred years. Once more, Ren had to bite his tongue.
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“Right, we’ll stop here for now,” Olga stated once they came to the Great Fuyuki Bridge. “Mash, you’re wounded. Come here.” Ren blinked as he looked over, seeing Olga hold a hand over a small wound Mash had. A glowing light issues as the wound closed and healed itself. The Director nodded with satisfaction. “Good. If you take any more injuries, let me know as soon as possible,” she commanded. With that, she took off to take a look around the area. Ren huffed as he sat back against a car, Morgana joining him.
“Man, what’s her deal?” Morgana groused, glaring in the direction of Olga. “First she yells at us, then she threatens to throw us into prison –“ Ren gave an imperceptible shudder at the mention of that. “Then she marches us all over the place, looking for… what? At least back then, we knew there was a Treasure we needed to find a secure a route to! Some leader she is. We’re no better right now than chickens with our heads cut off right now.” Ren glanced wearily in her location, just shaking his head. He definitely felt more sore and tired than usual, and it wasn’t just the hike. Maybe it was from his new abilities?
“Cut her some slack, guys,” Roman’s voice echoed from Ren’s watch as a little hologram screen appeared. “Olga wasn’t even supposed to have this position. She was just supposed to be a Master candidate. But then the acting director, her father, died just three years ago and she had to take up his job. Then she found she had absolutely no aptitude as a Master, and between that and just running Chaldea and she’s…” Roman sighed, running a hand through his orange hair. “She’s under considerable strain, as you can tell. I know you two wouldn’t know this but both lineage and accomplishments are huge deals in Magi culture. If it’s perceived she screwed up or is in any way lacking, then she’ll be a black mark to the house of Animusphere and only invite a lot of trouble.”
Morgana’s eyes softened. “So, she’s someone forced to take up a mantle far too big for her and under a huge amount of pressure from society to succeed, no matter what gets in her way,” he summed up quietly. “Sounds familiar, huh Joker?” Ren could only nod. He could certainly attest to it. Makoto was forced to be the perfect model student no matter what, unable to act on her own justice because of it. Her older sister Sae resorted to extreme means to keep ahead of everyone else in the vicious world of law and courtrooms. Sumire was constantly compared to her older sister and broke after said sister died, to the point of having Maruki essentially hypnotize her into believing she was her older sister, Kasumi. He wondered what would happen if she was taken to the Metaverse. Would she eventually snap and Awaken to her own Persona?
Ren shook his head. No. The less people – Especially magi – knew about the Metaverse, the better.
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A couple minutes later, they were back on the march again. They were hassled by yet more skeletons but Mash made short work of them. Any that slipped by or tried to ambush them were met with either Ren’s Arsene or Morgana’s Zorro (Olga’s eyes twitched whenever she saw either of the Personas but made no comment on them). Whenever either Mash or Olga tried prodding them for information, they either gave vague answers or just didn’t answer them entirely. They felt a bit worse to Mash as her questions were polite and innocent, and only explained it to her that they needed to be kept secret. The Director, they were curter, if only because she wouldn’t stop bugging them otherwise.
It proved to be slow, unproductive going, however. Roman didn’t detect any particular signals that would lead to the source of the Singularity, and the aimless wandering wasn’t doing any favors for Ren or Morgana. They were tired, sore, and hot. With each skeleton that showed up and they fended off, it only got worse. After the latest bout with yet another pack, Olga called out, “Stop.” Ren and Morgana looked up to see the Director marching up to them, her sharp eyes impatient. Morgana once more bristled as Ren glared at her, but this time she didn’t seem to care. Instead, she thrust a hand forward and… laid it on Ren’s forehead. Her frown deepened but it wasn’t out of anger. “You’re not used to utilizing magic circuits, are you?” she asked rhetorically. She looked about, then pointed to the ruins of a church. “We’re resting there. Neither of you are to use any magecraft until you’ve recovered, understood?”
Under normal circumstances neither of them would listen to her orders, but this one was a sensible one at least. They made their way to the church, where Ren and Morgana collapsed against a wall and Mash huddled nearby with her shield. Olga scoured through the ruins looking for something, then came across her target: cups. Her own magic circuits warming again, she muttered an aria that cleaned whatever filth had gotten on them, then filled them with water, drawing whatever moisture was in the air and putting it in a cup. They were simple mysteries that just about anyone with a rudimentary education from the Clock Tower could do.
She passed the cups of water to each person. Mash quietly thanked her, with Ren and Morgana both looking at her in surprise before taking their own cups. Morgana lapped at his own cup while Ren slowly sipped his, allowing the cool water to trickle down and soothe his parched throat. He hadn’t even realized how warm he was until he took the drink. Olga herself sat down in front of them, drinking a mouthful of her own water. She gave the two a critical look, then sighed. “You two don’t know anything about magic circuits – or crests – do you?”
Ren glared at her, then shook his head. Much as he wanted to snap back at her, she had a point. This gift of Igor’s wasn’t something he was familiar with at all, and unlike Personas, it ran the risk of killing him. He was grateful he at least had his power to fight, but it was clear it came with costs. Olga sighed deeply and ran a hand through her white hair. “This is why I didn’t want civilians getting involved in the first place,” she grumbled before looking up at the two.
“Right, I’ll give you the brief version,” she stated. “Magical circuits are a pseudo-nervous system designed to convert your life force into magical energy and allows you to access the Greater Magic Formulae – in laymen’s terms, it allows you to use magecraft and mysteries – what most people call spells. Like how everyone’s born with a stomach or a heart or what have you, you are born with a set number of magical circuits. Not everyone gets them, however, and magical lineages came about not only to guarantee them, but to also increase the quantity and quality of them with each passing generation. You can’t change the number of circuits you have – not easily – and you certainly don’t just get them out of nowhere.” Olga pinched her nose after that last statement to rein her temper back in. She took a deep breath, then continued. “Circuits are comparable to organs. They need to be utilized and exercised to strengthen them, but more importantly, like the muscles in your body, they can be overworked. Have you noticed yourself heating up, feeling more exhausted or sore than you typically are? That’s the effect of utilizing your magic circuits.”
“Magic crests, on the other hand, are circuits that have a magus has archived spells into. They are hereditary, passing usually from family member to family member, as they each forge some of their circuits into the crest,” she explained. She channeled prana throughout her body, focusing on her own crest – a magic circle that glowed on her forehead. Olga pointed to it in indication. “With this, you can cast any spell that has been recorded into it, even if you didn’t learn it yourself. From what I can tell, you use your crest to utilize your… summoning mystery. A mystery that I’ve never seen or even heard of before nor ever seen one that potent and how exactly DO YOU GET SUCH A CREST OUT OF-!” Once more, she had to restrain her temper, cutting herself off with a deeply annoyed grunt and lots of under the breath grumblings.
Both Ren and Morgana listened attentively. While neither of them particularly liked the Director, what she was saying made sense. Lavenza had emphasized that these magic circuits and crest were both a blessing and a curse. They easily could see what that meant. They just had to practice and train with it until they grew more familiar with them and their limitations. Just like when they were utilizing Personas again, only this time much deadlier. And with the fate of the world and humanity at stake. No pressure.
Once she calmed down, Olga glared at the two once more. “One last thing – as of right now, only I, Mash, and Archaman know of your magic circuits and crest,” she growled. “If you value your life, do not tell anyone outside of Chaldea of your circuits and crest. I will make everyone else sign a geis if it ensures their silence. If you do, you’ll almost certainly receive a Sealing Designation.” She paused, then closed her eyes in frustration. “Right. You don’t know what a Sealing Designation is. To put it simply, they’ll capture you, hold you captive, and dissect you to see how you gained them in the first place, as well as figure out your unique mysteries. If you’re lucky, you’ll be dead when they do so. But they may just keep you alive to see how you work.”
Both Ren and Morgana paled (well, Morgana was harder to tell with his fur but his eyes widening was sign enough) at the information. Ren immediately thought back to Igor’s warning about not letting any other mage know about the Velvet Room. Now he could see why. If mages had this much of a disregard for human life and would quickly resort to dissection and human experimentation, then there was no telling to what ends they would go to know more. They both nodded at the information.
Still, it was like Roman said. Olga didn’t seem like a bad person. Just a person at the wrong time and the wrong place. She was trying to help them.
Ren looked over at Mash, who was huddled in the corner, keeping to herself. “Mash? Are you alright?” he asked, looking over at her in concern. Maybe she was wounded or something? But the Director had been taking care of any accumulated injuries. Was it something else?
Mash shook her head. “No, senpai, it’s…” She hesitated. “The heroic spirit that merged with me. I don’t know his True Name, and I don’t know his Noble Phantasm. I’m sorry I’m so useless.”
Ren blinked. True Name? Noble Phantasm? Seeing Ren’s confusion, Olga once more jumped into lecture mode. “Every heroic spirit has a True Name,” she explained. “A Servant is summoned under one of seven classes: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker. They typically go by their class names because if their actual names were revealed, you would know their weakness. For example, if I told you a Servant was, say, Achilles, what weakness do you think he would have?”
The answer came immediately. “His heel, right?”
Olga nodded. “Exactly. Hence why any Master avoids using their Servant’s true name as much as possible. As for Noble Phantasms, they are the crystallization of the heroic spirit’s legend. Think of it as something that defined their life or their legend. For example, if I say King Arthur, what’s the thing you would immediately think of?”
Again, the answer came immediately. “Excalibur?”
“Right again. A Noble Phantasm is just as indicative of a Servant’s identity as it is their name, and in this case is their trump card. Once used, you might as well use a foghorn to announce who your Servant is and leave them easy pickings since Noble Phantasms often eat up a lot of prana.” She turned to look over at Mash, her gaze sympathetic. “Don’t worry Mash. We didn’t expect a demi-Servant merging to go perfectly. As soon as we get out of here, we’ll have you contracted with a proper Master. With one, we should be able to find out the heroic spirit’s true name and Noble Phantasm soon enough.”
“Oh? No Noble Phantasm? It must be my lucky day then.”
All four of them started as a voice echoed throughout the ruins. Perched on a broken beam was a woman wearing a cloak. While most of her face wasn’t visible, her smirk was could be seen in the dim light of the nearby fires. There was a rattle of chains as her hands shifted, revealing a long, sharp spike. Though her clothes were short, skintight, and alluring, Ren could practically feel the danger radiate off of her. The watch beeped as Roman’s panicked voice came through. “Guys, watch out! This isn’t just some skeleton or monster! That’s a Servant!”
The Servant’s smirk widened as the fear grew. “Ah, and here I was hoping to surprise you all. No matter. All the Masters in this place are dead, and there are no humans to take prana from. You’ll be my first meal in a while.” She licked her lips as she held up the spike. “Don’t worry – I’ll make this quick. Or perhaps I’ll play with you instead. It has been a while since I’ve had some entertainment…”
With that, she launched herself at speeds that Ren had beforehand never seen before. Mash raised her shield and the Servant’s spikes crashed into them with resounding force, causing a shockwave to radiate out into the air as she slid back a couple feet. “Oh, not too bad, little girl!” she called over in mock admiration. “I think you’ll be fun to play around with. But first…” She vanished into thin air and reappeared right behind Olga, spike raised. “A snack,” she remarked with a grin.
“Zorro!” Morgana called out. A large, top-heavy musketeer with a confident grin appeared behind Morgana in an explosion of blue flames. A large boxing glove mounted on a spring appeared in midair. Zorro pointed with his rapier and the boxing glove punched. The Servant raised her spikes to block it, sending her flying away. Morgana scowled as he raised his rusty sword once more. He was capable and clever, he knew that much, but even he knew at first glance that he was outmatched a thousand times over.
“My, what an interesting power,” the Servant remarked with a grin. “I would almost consider it on par of a low-level heroic spirit. Almost. But that won’t be enough to defeat me-“ Her words were interrupted by a gout of darkness erupting from the ground near her foot. Her grin turned into a scowl as she jumped away when –
“Mash, now!”
Suddenly a huge metal shield slammed into her side, sending her crashing into a nearby wall. Before she could recover, a gust of wind blew over, cutting her up. With a scream of frustration and pain, she jumped up into the air. Her wounds weeping with blood and her expression feral, she had had enough of these humans. She was about to leap down on that accursed girl with the shield, when a flash of blue flames and red clothes appeared just out of her peripheral vision, and she was slammed down into the ground. Before she could recover, Mash charged up, and with a wild cry, lifted her shield and smashed it down on her head. The Servant stopped moving at once, dissolving into golden light.
Mash, Ren, and Morgana panted, catching their breath, with the latter two adjusting to once more utilizing their magic circuits. They both felt warmer and tired, but not unduly so. They just needed to pace themselves more. But… that was a Servant. It was supposed to be a spirit, but it lived, breathed, and talked like a person. A sadistic, bloodthirsty one, yes, but a person nevertheless. When the Phantom Thieves came about, they had sworn that they would never kill. Their objective was to expose the crimes of those who stood too high above everyone else, not exact vengeance or carve a path of blood for their justice.
Before they could ruminate more, however, another ping from the watch came through. “Guys, I’m detecting more Servants coming your way! That first Servant must have attracted their attention!” Roman called out. “Get out of there, now!”
That snapped all of them out of their reverie. “Come on, get moving!” Morgana shouted, immediately taking off with his feet moving so fast they almost blurred into circles. Ren immediately ran after him, followed by Olga with Mash keeping a rearguard. They just made it back to the Fuyuki Bridge when suddenly leaped down from above – a gaunt-looking person, covered in shadow, perched on one of the cars, staring right at them. They turned around, but before they could run, another shadow-covered figure appeared. Standing tall and broad, he held a naginata in his hand with multiple more on his back.
The four grouped up. Mash scowled. She could fight off one Servant here, but that would leave the other free impunity to attack everyone else. Ren and Morgana looked between the two. They were surrounded once more, but unlike with those skeletons, there wasn’t an easy way to break out. Not with two incredibly strong opponents here. They could still use their Personas, but how much could they use them before burning through all their energy? Not for the last time did Ren and Morgana curse they didn’t have any Metaverse tools with them to help them out here.
Then before any of them could act, a swarm of fireballs flew through the air and crashed into the naginata-wielding Servant. The Servant raised his polearm to block the flames, but because of the suddenness of the attack, many of them still burned him. Past him was a man with blue hair and robe, wielding a wooden staff. Two white wolves were at his side, snarling and thirsty for blood.
“Yo!” he called out cheerfully with a cocky grin. “Room for one more?”