There was only a brief pause as anyone just stared at the newcomer – a standoff that was soon broken as the shadowed naginata user turned to fully face the man in blue. Ren immediately took action. “Mona, cover him!” he commanded. “Mash, with me!” Mash blinked with surprise, then nodded as they both turned toward the other man, still skulking on the car.
A beep echoed from the watch as Roman contacted them again. “Data confirmed!” he called out. “The one with the naginata is a Lancer class Servant, and the other is an Assassin class! The latter is considered generally the weakest of the Servant typings, but don’t underestimate it!” Ren nodded in acknowledgement. An Assassin? Well, that’s interesting for sure. As Mash raised her shield to confront her new foe and the Assassin tensed up, ready to spring, Ren smirked as he could only wonder one thing:
Who was better: An Assassin, or a Phantom Thief?
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“Oh, you’re leaving this guy to me?” the man in blue asked, a grin splitting his face. “Nice! I’ve got a bone to pick with him anyway!” The shadow Lancer said nothing as it raised its naginata once more to face him. The man’s grin turned vicious. “Hey bastard, you’re in my favorite class. Hope you’re prepared to hold onto it.” The shadowed Lancer said nothing, simply whirling its naginata in preparation to strike – then stumbled as a gust of cutting wind slammed into it from behind.
The shadow Lancer turned to face Morgana, ready to cut him down, only for his original target to call out, “Where are you looking?!” Roots sprung from the ground, wrapping around the shadow Lancer as Morgana charged forward. The shadow Lancer was already tearing through the roots as he leaped over his head, another boxing glove appearing and bashing him on the head, causing the blackened Servant to collapse. Morgana ran to the blue man’s side to stand alongside him.
“Heh, you got moves, kitty cat,” the blue man complimented as he swung his staff once more. Bright orange runes appeared in midair, firing another salvo of fireballs at the Lancer. Morgana took action as well, using Zorro to send yet another gust of wind. It overtook the fireballs, fueling them until they looked like a mass of small meteors hurling toward the shadow Lancer. The hapless Servant barely ripped out of the roots in time to raise his naginata. The first fireball broke the weapon in half, while leaving it helpless as it was soon engulfed in flames.
They both watched attentively and just as they were about to move on to assist the others, the shadow Lancer burst out of the flames, completely immolating, with a sword drawn. The man in blue scowled and jumped back, but not before getting a cut on his shoulder. Before the shadow Lancer could push the attack, Morgana charged in, swinging his sword at the back of its knee as hard as he could. The blade lodged into its leg, causing it to collapse on one knee. The druid charged in before it could get back up, his wooden staff now on fire, and swung hard at its head. The shadow Lancer’s head exploded in a burst of flame and collapsed, dissipating into golden dust as well.
Morgana looked over at his new ally, then blinked at his wound. “Here, lemme get that for you,” Morgana said. Zorro reappeared one more time, drawing a pattern in the air with his rapier. The man in blue glowed green as the wound sealed up. Zorro faded for the last time as Morgana took a heavy breath, feeling the heat coming off his aching body. Okay, yep, he definitely pushed himself a bit harder than he expected.
Meanwhile, the druid looked over at where the wound was, rotating his shoulder to test it, then nodded. “Not bad, cat,” the man in blue complimented, grinning down at Morgana. “Let’s check in on the others, yeah? They’re probably having a harder time with Assassin than we did with Lancer.”
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Ren had to admit, this was a lot more difficult than he expected.
The shadow Assassin didn’t bother fighting Mash directly, opting instead to just leap out of the way when she charged with her shield. Instead, it took the far smart and practical option of aiming at Ren, throwing daggers at him with frightening speed. Mash barely managed to get back in time to block the first volley, but as the shadow Assassin simply moved about throwing more daggers, Mash was forced to stay close to Ren to ward them off. With its speed, Ren could barely track where Assassin was going and at times he seemed to just wink out of existence entirely. It wouldn’t be long before Assassin won either by a lucky dagger getting by Mash’s guard or tiring her out, letting it move in for the kill. It might even be an effective tactic if it was any other ordinary person or mage.
Fortunately, Ren was anything but ordinary.
Ren instead relaxed his body, focusing on his vision. The world around him darkened as points of interest became highlighted. The Third Eye was a gift that he had retained ever since the false Igor had given it to him during his past adventures, and it came in handy no small number of times. He hadn’t used it for anything too importantly lately – it saw the most mileage when he used it to find something he lost in his room or just nearby – but in this case, it was the perfect tool. He could track the Assassin now, seeing its movements as a blue blur. Sure, it was still difficult to track, but it was far easier now, his eyes following his every move.
The Assassin seemed to notice that Ren was tracking him too well. It moved faster, throwing more daggers at him. Several made it past Mash’s shield but Ren was able to track the daggers themselves and dodge them. Then the Assassin threw a particularly large flurry, forcing Mash to hold up her shield and obscure their vision. When she lowered her shield, the Assassin was gone. Ren’s mind moved quickly. He hadn’t seen it move to their flanks with his peripheral vision. It didn’t seem to have the sense to retreat. It was going for another attack, most likely. If he were a Phantom Thief and he had to throw an ambush in this situation, he would do so…
“Mash, above us!”
The girl’s eyes widened. She raised her shield on reflex with Ren’s command – and just in the nick of time, as a weight crashed on the shield with Assassin’s daggers grinding against the metal. With a scowl, Ren summoned Arsene once more, his claws lashing out at the Assassin who couldn’t dodge in time as it was knocked off to the ground. It clambered back up and barely dodged as Mash charged at it, but then the spot it landed was engulfed in a geyser of darkness. The Assassin hissed in pain and barely got its bearings when the top of the shield smashed against its head, breaking its mask. The last thing the Assassin saw before the shield descended on him once more was a demon clothed in red and wreathed with blue flame.
Ren breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned up against a ruined car, trying to cool down. Mash looked about with a raised shield before lowering it, relaxing as well. “All enemy combatants defeated,” she stated, smiling over at Ren. “Great work, senpai.” Ren gave Mash a tired grin. It seemed no matter where he turned to here, his Phantom Thief gifts and experience was paying dividends in spades. He would have to thank Igor and Lavenza later. The fact that the Third Eye that allowed him to track Assassin was from the fake Igor was irrelevant.
“What. In the Root. Was that.”
He almost groaned in frustration as Olga stomped up once more. She had basically been cowering as she tried to figure out what she could to or how to contribute in the battle. Before she could decide on anything, it was already over. “You could track down Assassin’s movements… somehow… and you didn’t use reinforcement on your eyes – I checked. What, is that another one of your secret mysteries you got with your crest? Are you going to just… pull out True Magic from your pocket or something at this rate?!”
True Magic? That was an odd term. Wasn’t everything they were doing basically magic anyway? Still, Ren didn’t feel like asking, nor did he exactly feel like humoring her. He merely flashed her a tired smirk. “Nope. Just a little talent of mine,” he replied. It was satisfying watching Olga’s face morph into different colors as she struggled to find a good response to his words. Just because she wasn’t that bad a person overall didn’t mean he would let her off easy for her attitude. He dealt with enough arrogant blowhards throughout his lifetime. Mash could only watch, looking back and forth between the two with wide eyes as if it was some sort of particularly heated tennis match.
Before she could say anything, a voice called out. “Oi! Came to help but looks like you guys got it covered!” The three looked over to see both the man in blue and Morgana sauntering toward them. Morgana looked a bit more exhausted but fine as always while the man just had an easy grin on his face. “You kids are pretty damn capable, nice work. Especially you two,” he nodded at Ren and Morgana. “Dunno what kind of magecraft that was but can’t say it’s not useful as hell. And you too, shield girl! I can’t tell what class you are, but you know how to take a hit! Moves are a bit sloppy though.”
Mash blushed a bit and bowed at the newcomer. “I’m inexperienced but thank you for the compliment!” she stammered out.
That only caused the druid to laugh in turn. “Ah, lighten up, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it,” he replied, waving off her apology. Then he raised an eyebrow as Olga glared at him.
“Look, thank you for your help, but we don’t know who you are and why we should trust you,” she said, trying to glare down the new Servant. “For all we know, you could be trying to get us to lower our guards before attacking us from behind. What class are you and what are your goals?”
The man in blue sighed and walked forward with a deadpan expression. Everyone tensed up, ready at a moment’s notice to strike. He raised his hand… and flicked Olga in the forehead, causing her to flinch and cradle the spot, glaring speechlessly at him in shock. “Calm down, girlie, I’m not here for anything devastating like that, else we wouldn’t be talking in the first place,” he replied, speaking as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Anyway, I’m a Caster. Was supposed to be the Caster of this Holy Grail War, but honestly everything’s gone to shit – City was suddenly engulfed in flames and all the humans, Masters included, just vanished. The Saber here went nuts and has been going around killing all the other Servants, who come back corrupted by the black mud. So like that Lancer and Assassin.” He pointed at the two spots where the shadow Servants had been to emphasize his point. “I’m the last Servant remaining in the Holy Grail War that she has to kill. And I’ll tell you this much – she’s bad news. You really don’t want her to win.”
Caster then looked over at the group. “But still, what are you lot doing here? You’re the only humans I’ve seen here in a while, and with that kind of magecraft you’re packing, as well as a Servant, no way I wouldn’t have known about you sooner.”
Ren, Mash, and Morgana looked at each other as Olga processed the information. Olga sighed and took it upon herself to explain the whole situation: Their mission, the Singularities, and how they were looking for the source here before they were attacked by the shadow Servants. Caster rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he considered his options.
“Well, we just took down Lancer and Assassin,” he pondered. “And from the description, you also took down Rider as well. That leaves Saber, Archer, and Berserker left.” He shrugged. “Well, that makes our job easier, but not by much. Archer guards Saber and is a real piece of work. Saber is another matter altogether. And Berserker….” He shuddered. “You don’t want to fight him. So long as we don’t enter his territory, we should be okay. But otherwise, nope.” Ren and Morgana blinked in surprise at Caster’s judgement. Caster gave off a kind of cool confidence that was more than reassuring, but if even he suggested not dealing with Berserker, they would take his word for it.
Caster grinned once more. “Alright, I think I know the solution here.” That perked up everyone, eager for information. “The cause of the Singularity is most likely the Greater Grail. Thing’s been pouring out malevolent prana this whole time, with Saber watching over it like a baby. We deal with that and Saber, we’ll probably fix this mess. So, with that in mind, how about you make a temporary contract with me? I wanna just deal with this so I don’t have to continue being hunted down, and you guys want this whole situation fixed. It’s a win-win! Though…” He looked between Olga, Ren, and Morgana. He first turned to Olga. “Sorry. You got a lotta great circuits – high quality ones too – but no aptitude for a Master. There’s gotta be some sort of irony there…” Olga could only turn away, angry and disappointed.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
That left Ren and Morgana. “Hm, you seem like a capable Master,” he commented, looking over at Ren. “But you’re burning through prana both with your magecraft and supporting the girl there.” He pointed at Mash. He looked over at Morgana. “And you, kitty cat. Hm, got a good amount of magic to ya, aptitude to be a Master, and we work together pretty well. How about it? Wanna be my Master for a bit?”
Morgana bristled. “Stop calling me a ‘kitty cat’. My name is Morgana!” he growled out, glaring up at Caster who simply raised his hands in surrender, still grinning. That done, he sighed. “Fine, we can make the contract. I’m curious about this Master business anyway.” Caster grinned and tapped his staff on the ground. Red seals appeared on the back of Morgana’s front paw, taking the shape of… a cat. “Ugh, couldn’t the design be a bit more original…” he grumbled. Discarding the thought, he looked back up at Caster. “Anyway, what’s your name? Gotta know if we wanna know you're capable of.”
Caster nodded and grinned. “Fair enough, kitty – er, Morgana. The name’s Cu Chulainn. It’s not my main class, but I’m still pretty damn powerful with it, rune work and all!” Then he noticed Ren just staring at him after he made his introduction. “What, got a problem with that?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. “Got something on my face?”
Ren blinked. “Ah, no, just…” He thought back to the Cu Chulain he knew back from his adventures. There were definitely a lot of differences between that one and the one standing in front of him, but one of the biggest ones was… “I thought you would be wielding a spear or something.”
The druid blinked several times, then laughed uproariously and patted Ren hard on the shoulder, who winced at the strength of the Servant. “Haha! You, I like you!” he declared. “You know what it’s all about! That’s right, I’m strongest as a Lancer, not a Caster! I’m great with magic and runes, sure, but with a spear in hand, I’m almost unstoppable! But here I am, stuck with Caster. Sheesh, if I had my spear, I probably could’ve easily taken out half the War’s Servants by myself, even after hell dropped on our heads.” He grumbled as Ren and Morgana just looked, nonplussed. Still, that did explain why he seemed to have a grudge against the shadow Lancer.
“If you all are quite done,” Olga snapped, her arms crossed and looking more irritated than ever (and certainly NOT because a damn cat had a better aptitude to be a Master than her, how the hell was that even fair?!). “Caster, where is this Greater Grail?”
Cu jerked a thumb in the general direction. “Over by the temple thataway,” he casually responded. “We’re gonna have to take the northern path though – it’s a bit longer, but it beats having to deal with Berserker. He’s over to the south.” There were no arguments on that plan. They took Caster’s advice about Berserker to heart and began trekking through the ruins. True to form, the only foes that opposed them were skeletons. There was no sign of Berserker, Archer, or Saber. All of them were in their designated places, after all. But as they marched, Mash looked more and more despondent and anxious.
Ren, noticing, pulled up alongside her. “Something the matter, Mash?” he asked.
The girl shook her head. “It’s nothing, senpai. Just…” She took a deep breath. “We’re about to fight some incredibly strong enemy Servants, right?” Ren nodded. “I still don’t have my heroic spirit’s true name or Noble Phantasm. I don’t even know how to use a Noble Phantasm. I’m… I’m worried that I’ll just be a burden and we won’t be able to win because of it.” Ren frowned. True. It sounded like a rather dangerous battle. Even before stealing any Treasures or going up against their greatest foes, Ren made sure his entire team was ready to go – supplies, powers, everything. They were all as strong as they could be when they went in. But here, he wasn’t sure how to go about things.
Meanwhile, Cu looked over. “What, no Noble Phantasm, girlie?” he asked in surprise. He rubbed his chin in thought. “And no true name either.” He considered it, then sighed. “Well, no time like the present then. Skeletons aren’t gonna do the job here, so I’m guessing I’ll have to.” As he talked, he walked away to stand a small distance apart from the group. Everyone else looked at each other, confused.
“Caster, what nonsense are you speaking?” Olga snapped.
The man smirked. “Well, isn’t that obvious? We don’t have much time to find out what her Noble Phantasm is, and besides, she’s overthinking it. It comes from the instinct, the feeling! A Noble Phantasm is part of a Servant, like how an arm is a part of you! You get it, right?”
Ren and Morgana were about to protest – then froze. How Caster said it made it sound like an Awakening. When they were pushed to a corner, they were forced to evaluate what they ultimately wanted, their deepest instincts. And at that moment, everything exploded, culminating in tearing off their masks to unveil their true power. Was this the same? It sounded utterly absurd, but… frankly, from their adventures in the Metaverse to everything that happened in Chaldea, ‘absurd’ seemed to be the new normal at this point. Caster noted their reactions and slowly nodded with a grin. “Finally, some people who understand. You two aren’t greenhorns, are you?”
Olga, in contrast, was having none of it. “Absolutely not, Caster,” she snapped. “We’re not about to try some hairbrained experiment that might get Mash – or any of us – hurt. We can’t spare the resources. Morgana, use your command seal and get Caster to stop.” Nobody moved or reacted. She turned to glare at Morgana. “I gave you an order – use your command seal! Get Caster to stop!”
Morgana took a breath, then crossed his arms. “Sorry, Director,” he replied solemnly. “I’m with Caster on this one. Sometimes, the only way to make any progress is with extreme methods. I’ll heal you guys if it becomes too intense but otherwise, I’m not interfering.”
Cu grinned and nodded. “Heh, knew you were my Master for a reason!” He raised his staff, his grin turning predatory as he faced Mash and Ren. “Just so you know though, girl, I’m not gonna hold back. I’ll be aiming for your Master with all I got. Servant and Master are bound together after all – if one goes down, the other does too.” He looked at Ren specifically. “Oi, kid, I know you got some crazy magecraft but you sit your ass down! This is the girl’s fight! Not yours! If you do anything, she’s not gonna learn or grow! No true names, no Noble Phantasms, nothing! You’re her Master, right? Then act like one and let the Servants do the fighting!”
Mash gaped at Cu Chulainn. A powerful Servant stood in front of her. She could practically feel the power radiating off him. This wasn’t like those shadow Servants before – this was a bonafide hero from legend. He had spells and power that was versatile and powerful. She didn’t have anything. She was a mere demi-Servant at most – barely qualifying as one. She didn’t have her Noble Phantasm. She didn’t know the spirit’s true name. Thinking about it logically, she stood no chance. What if she faltered? What if she failed? What if-
A gentle hand rested on her shoulder. She looked over in surprise at Ren. His smile was soft and his grey eyes were kind. Up until now, they seemed to be either mischievous or deadly serious, depending on the situation. But this was a different Ren she saw now, and she felt a bit of heat coming to her face. This was someone who fully trusted her in this upcoming battle. Not just that, but that she would also win, like it was an inevitability. Where did that confidence come from? Could she perhaps borrow some of it? “I trust you, Mash,” he murmured, his voice warm and encouraging. “You can do this.”
The young Shielder blinked, then her eyes narrowed into determination. “Yes, senpai. Please stand back – I’ll protect you with all my might.” Ren’s smile grew a bit as he moved back. Mash Kyrielight stepped forward, lifting up her shield. She settled into a combat stance, ready for anything.
Cu grinned over at her. “Ah, there’s a look I like!” he complimented. “Guess this won’t be so boring after all! Get ready!” With that, he swung his staff, creating multiple runes that fired a salvo of fireballs straight at her. Mash charged forward, lifting her shield. The fireballs crashed against the metal with resounding explosions. The impacts were heavy, but she pushed through anyway. They were nothing! Crossing the distance to Cu, she swung her shield at the Caster, who dodged and jabbed out with his staff into her side. She gasped in pain as she slid away but shut out the pain as she charged again.
The two Servants danced around the clearing, Cu Chulainn bombarding her with fireballs, trapping her in place with roots, or flanking her with wolves. Mash pushed through all of it, as hard as she could. She weathered storms of fireballs, tore through or dodged past roots, and knocked the wolves away with strong shield slams. Despite Cu’s threat against Ren, he didn’t really try to send attacks his way, trying to goad Mash into using more and more of her energy. As Mash fought her movements became slower and more sluggish, but that determined gaze of her never wavered as she tried kept trying to cross the distance between the two to land a hit.
Finally, Mash was left panting, using the shield for her support, bruised and burned in multiple places but still keeping a wary eye on Cu. The Caster, on the other hand, got a number of bruises from Mash’s shield swings but otherwise wasn’t hurt. Cu sighed. “Well, we took this as far as we can go by the normal method,” he said, resigned. “Guess I gotta pull out the big guns.” He whirled his staff as his power exploded, prana pouring out through the area. Ren, Morgana, and Olga raised their arms to block off the air pressure from the power while Mash’s eyes widened as she gripped her shield more tightly. A magic circle appeared underneath Cu as he fixed a deathly serious stare. “Either you deal with this, or I kill you,” he growled.
He whirled his staff as suddenly, the area around him burst into fire, the heat going from uncomfortably warm to overwhelmingly fierce. “Burn them completely, giant of all trees.” He intoned. With a loud sound of creaking and crashing, a gigantic wooden figure emerged from the conflagration. Bathed in infernal might, its sheer presence dwarfed everyone. This was Caster’s full power made manifest, this behemoth of wood and flame.
“WICKER MAN!”
The power of the Noble Phantasm was beyond what most of them had experienced. Olga let out a faint involuntary whimper as she stared up at it, her mind gone completely blank, unable to think of any magecraft to protect herself or even flee. For Ren and Morgana, the last time they felt this heavy a presence was when they faced Shido atop his golden lion of the masses. Powerful, yes, but they had experienced this before. They held their ground and looked over at Mash.
Mash could only stare up at the titanic figure. The power it radiated threatened to topple her like a house of cards. She involuntarily took a step back as it leaned forward, drawing back its arm. The flames around it kindled higher, scorching the sky. They were going to die. They were going to die, and it was going to be her –
She turned to look and saw them still there. Olga was petrified, but Ren and Morgana hadn’t fled. They were simply looking at her. There weren’t any expectations, nor desperation, nor fear. Ren’s gaze especially. They were cool, calm and understanding. Whatever she wished to do, he would support her. He wouldn’t run away or give in to panic. There was no reason to. After all, he trusted her.
Even everything that had happened, he trusted her.
At that, Mash gripped her shield tighter. Her master, her senpai was giving his utmost trust in her. He wasn’t afraid because he knew she would pull through no matter what. He didn’t flee because he believed in her ability. In her strength as a Servant. True name or Noble Phantasm be damned. She was Mash Kyrielight. She was a Servant. And with her shield, she would protect them. She would protect Olga. Morgana. She would protect Ren.
She would protect everyone.
Racing forward, she placed herself between the Noble Phantasm and the group. She raised her shield and braced for impact. No matter what was thrown at her, she would hold fast and protect them, no matter what. She felt a surge of power that only rose to match her determination. She would hold. She was unassailable, unbreakable. For those who were behind her shield, she wouldn’t yield to any power less than fate itself. Her shield was her strength, her might. The weight behind the shield was heavy as the Noble Phantasm rammed against it with all its strength, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. She stood firm, bracing herself against the storm of flame and wood, power raging all around her and –
It was over.
She blinked as she lowered her shield. She barely noticed the light fading away from the front of her shield as her strength gave out. The power was drained out of her but somehow she felt more satisfied, more… complete. Like she rammed through a wall and was granted power as a prize. Cu grinned happily as he lowered his staff. “Congrats, girl! That’s your Noble Phantasm!” he called out. “And I gotta say, that’s a damn good one! So, what’s its name?”
Its… name?
Mash thought back, hoping the name came instinctively, but… nothing. She shook her head. Olga’s and Cu’s expressions fell into shock. “No…. no name?” Olga stammered. “You used a Noble Phantasm, and yet you don’t have a name for it?” Mash again shook her head. Olga sighed. “Well, at the very least, it’s something. For now, we’ll name it Lord Chaldeas. You’ll be our bulwark and sentinel, Mash. We’ll all be counting on you.”
Lord Chaldeas… Mash felt the name on her tongue. Warmth bloomed from her heart as a smile spread across her lips. Yes. That was a good name. It was strong. She would be a solid wall, protecting those behind her with her shield. She still didn’t have the full strength of the Noble Phantasm, not yet, but it would come. She knew it would.
Especially as Ren walked over and offered her a hand up. His smile was proud and radiant, his eyes gleaming with happiness. The warmth spread to her face and her smile only grew as she took his hand.
Her Master trusted her, after all.