Battle on the horizon.

Ruler woke up to a wonderful smell permeating the entire building.

She quickly went over to her dresser and changed out of her sleepwear. She was able to purchase some new clothes, courtesy of her new protector.

He had yet to explain everything to her. How he had currency of this era, how he seemed to know things he shouldn't as he wasn't summoned by the grail. How he was simply existing without the support of the grail itself. Spending as much time with him as she had already, she could make a few deductions about his situation. Also, she had some minor revelations regarding him as well, nothing in a negative sense.

It was mostly some small reassurances. A few images here and there of him interacting with people she didn't recognize. There was a small nun in one that he was doting over. Then there was a child with green eyes that affectionately called him 'uncle'. Then of course was that one with a purple-haired woman. It was a very intimate moment where the two were merely sitting together as they held hands. These images were odd In of themselves, it wasn't the usual way that her revelations came about. Her revelations while somewhat random could usually be 'directed'. She was still curious about this person who swore to protect her so she had tried often to gleam something about his existence. But every time she received an image or two…..it felt forced.

Like a separate power was actively working against her, not in a malicious way, but more in a passive capacity. With everything that had been added together that she had discovered, she did not believe he was actually a servant. He simply didn't 'feel' like one when she got down to it.

The power rolled off him like any other being in this level of strength, but his innate existence just felt different.

Regardless of the secrets he was keeping, he hadn't ever lied to her. Told her half-truths and maybe even stretch it a bit, but never out-right lied. Even with all of that, she couldn't help but trust him. His presence was very reassuring.

It's not like she didn't have a couple secrets of her own. She was telling the truth when she said her parameters were heavily deteriorated. She just didn't say which parameters. Her strength, endurance, agility and mana were barely within the realm of a servant but her charisma and, most importantly, her Magic Resistance were still [EX] Rank.

This was important because her noble phantasm worked based on her magic resistance. It pushed her innate resistance outward, forming a protective barrier. And her other noble phantasm…..well that wasn't something that needed to be talked about. It's effect was simple and didn't matter in regards to her parameters. It was her ultimate trump card and she hoped she wouldn't have to use it.

After she quickly got dressed, she made her way downstairs to the quant little dining room adjacent to the kitchen were she saw both Arthur and Sieg making breakfast.

She quietly sat down as she saw the knight wearing a bright pink apron and giving directions to Sieg on how to prepare certain ingredients as he carefully diced up some items with a knife.

It was a very heart-warming experience. For this brief moment she was able to let go of any accumulated stress or unwanted thoughts as she just basked in the normality of the situation she found herself in.

Arthur had created a sibling dynamic between them which she rather enjoyed indulging herself in. And Sieg….well…..Siegfried's heart had done wonders for him.

She couldn't help but notice the physical features of his that had rapidly changed. His clothing had become rather tight in certain…..areas, her eyes trailing downwards on his body. His body had essentially been resculpted due to the heart and had more defined muscles. His facial features got a little more defined and his hair was less unruly.

She couldn't help but wonder what he looked like under his shirt..."NO! Bad Jeanne!" She screamed internally as her face heated up a bit.

Ruler had to use all her self-control from squealing as she was broken from her thoughts when Sieg set a plate down in front of her.

"Are you okay ruler? Your face looks rather red." Sieg asked.

"YES! I mean yes, I am fine." She blurted out as she turned her head away to hide the small blush.

Her eyes met Arthur's who was watching her. She noticed the smirk he was giving her. The 'I know' smirk that caused her to get more flustered.

"He made that jussssssst~ for you" Alex called out from the kitchen.

Ruler did her best to give him a death stare in response only for him to start chuckling.

She looked up at Sieg who gave her a genuine smile, oblivious to everything else that was going on around him. The awkwardness almost disappeared immediately as she reciprocated. It was nice dealing with someone who didn't try to hide their emotions behind any facades. A simple, genuine smile, because he was happy that he was able to create the dish and give it to her. The novel experience being surreal to the new-born homunculus.

"Thank you, Sieg" She said softly as she took a bite. A pleasant surprise passed through her mouth as it was rather good.

***

Alex was currently sitting at a table out in the city. Well, a bit out in the city. It was a café that was kinda tucked away in a corner and he was sitting at the outside portion.

Ruler wanted to take Sieg to explore the city a bit and help acclimate him to a 'normal' life.

He made sure to give them space for their 'date'. And he made sure to tell Ruler he would be doing such. She was just too cute when she got flustered.

Having nothing really important to do, he also wandered around a bit until he found this little area. He had faith that no one would attack Ruler during the day and she had seals to summon him in an emergency so he didn't have any stress about that situation.

Spending a bit of alone time would also do him some good at the moment. He a bounded field up around the building, making people not want to come near and to not even notice the place. He was also going to make sure to leave a rather 'generous' tip since he basically high-jacked the café for the evening. He also set up a smaller, but stronger field around himself and the table he was sitting at. This was more of a forceful barrier to protect the surroundings.

He had a pile of palm-sized rocks sitting next to his coffee. Also set next to these items were a set of odd-shaped knifes. Nothing like one would think to be used in a house-setting nor would one bring them into combat. They were curved at weird angles, some looking like minature sickles. While others had different edge thicknesses on either side.

Alex was happy he found this in the gate. While not a noble phantasm, it was one of the uncountable mystic codes that laid inside. The gate having the culmination of all human knowledge and what-not, it was more than just noble phantasms.

They were carving knifes. They had a northern origin, either Scandinavian or Celtic in nature. To be more specific, they were used for carving runes on more dense objects. Their intricate designs lent to the ability to define the shapes on objects that lacked streamlined-formality, like a rock for example. The curved shape of the specific knife he was holding allowed him to reach into the rock and carve the symbols much easier than a regular-shaped knife.

Reverse 'Laguz', which is normally ice related. 'Sowilo' to invoke solar power. Adding in 'Isa' for a stasis effect. A reverse 'Gebo' to disrupt the balance, and finally 'Berkano' that absorbs the ambient mana from the earth.

It took a few minutes, but when he finished, he tossed the rock onto the nearby ground.

As soon as it made contact with the earth, it grabbed hold of the mana nearby, the chain of runes caused the mana to be sent into the 'Gebo' rune so the whole chain of runes became unstable. The 'Isa' rune that was situated between the 'Laguz' and 'Sowilo' got burnt out so the stasis ended causing the two contradictory runes to connect. The result was a small explosion on the level of a firecracker. This all happened in a fraction of a second.

It was more a proof of concept than anything. Merely playing around with rune combination concepts while keeping the power at a minimum. If he truly desired, he could increase the power of the explosion to probably take out the café.

Still, there was a small smile creeping up on his face. While his overall talent in magecraft was rather low, he still drew joy from it. Who wouldn't find magic amusing in some capacity?

The dumb smile on his face suddenly fell when he looked up at noticed someone at the end of the street.

The street wasn't very well traveled. Only a few pedestrians could be seen here, so she stuck out much more than usual, even without the ability to sense another's power.

She stood there, red jacket, jean shorts and a white tube-top. Her blonde hair pulled back into a pony tale and her green eyes staring right at him. Strangely, she was holding a black cat in her arms.

This was the second time they had 'run into' each other. At this point he was starting to wonder if his luck correlated to bad or good.

***

Shirou Kotomine, the 'leader' of the red faction. The priest that all the other red servants had met at this point.

"Master, preparations are complete." Semiramis stated as the priest stared out the window at the city below.

The church they were using as their headquarters was situated on a hill that had a rather good view.

"WONDERFUL!" A voice called out from the other side of the building. "Finally, all the pieces are set and the curtain shall rise on this magnificent play." He finished by striking an over-the-top pose.

"I wasn't speaking to you, caster." She hissed towards his direction. Truly she did not like this servant. His flamboyant attitude and rather lack of any use for their side. Adding on his constant rambling and excitement over the 'play' that was unfolding. He really began to grate on her nerves.

She also knew that he was the one that whispered into Berserker's ear to get him to go on a rampage.

"It's fine, Shakespeare is just a little excited for the battle to truly begin." Shirou stated.

Yes, caster of red's true identity is the play-write William Shakespeare. His combat efficiency is rather lacking but he had a strategic mind oddly enough and his noble phantasm was...interesting.

"Ah, you know me so well Master. Let us make haste to the gardens in the sky and prepare for the confrontation!"

Assassin had a strong urge to drop him off of her garden once they reached it's peak height in the air.

A moment later, the other three servants appeared inside the church as well, having received a mental command from Shirou.

"Make any final preparations you require, tonight we assault the Black faction's stronghold."

Achilles smiled, Karna nodded and Atalanta acknowledged the command. The servants all astralized to prepare.

***

Inside castle Yggdamillennia, the servants and masters were all gathered.

Lancer sat on his throne as he eyed the others in the room. Darnic at his side as he too looked over all the preparations they had made thus far.

"We have bound Berserker of Red, tonight we begin our assault." Darnic stated.

"He's willing to fight with us?" Rider asked.

"He is merely a weapon in which a direction we must point him in." Caster replied.

"What about Assassin and Archer?" Celenike, Rider's master, asked.

"Archer and his master are currently investigating Assassin's whereabouts. Regardless of the outcome Archer will be ready for battle as the fight starts." Darnic replied.

He would be coming from behind the enemy lines if he wasn't to be discovered. It was a tad risky all around, but the worse case scenario, Archer could retreat even if his master died with his independent action and they could bind him to a new master before he disappeared.

Their own Berserker just growled and nodded in response. She was relatively mindful even with her mad enhancement activated. She couldn't speak but she wasn't going to go off on a rampage as easily as the other side's berserker.

"How goes your own noble phantasm, caster?" Lancer asked.

"It is almost complete, only I fear it won't be ready for the fight tonight." Caster replied. His noble phantasm was one of their strongest trump cards.

Similar to the hanging gardens of the other side, it required resources and prep time and it was no weaker than the gardens when it was completed. In fact, it was potentially a world-ending calamity if left unchecked.

Though Caster was rather vague on the details and the others didn't seem to push for much. They only knew that it was more of a 'war asset' than an attack.

"I would ask you to remain in the castle then and work on completing it. It should be fine to have another trump card to hold back incase this assault fails. But I would also like you to make sure we have enough golems prepared for the battle." Lancer stated.

"My....apprentice has made great strides since my summoning and has been able to produce more than adequate in numbers and quality." Caster stated. His master was an eccentric like him. A young boy who delved into the art of golem making since his birth. Ever since his summoning, his master had adopted a more 'apprentice' relationship and even called him 'sensei'.

Darnic hummed in amusement. It was mildly lucky for such a caster to be summoned to a master like so. Their crafts basically the same, so the servant was able to bring forth a lot of hidden potential in the young boy. This would only go to further strengthen their faction in the long run.

"WOO!" Rider suddenly shouted out as he did a fist pump into the air. "I can finally take my boo out to play!"

"Your....boo?" Lancer looked at him in confusion.

"YEAH, LOOK!" He shouted in glee as he summoned forth his hippogriff into the middle of the dining room.

The rather large and majestic animal…..began to thrash around as it was summoned in a rather awkward manner. It let out what could be described as a cross between a 'caw' and a 'neigh' as it tried it's best to situate itself.

"DAMMIT RIDER, WHAT THE HELL!?" Rider's master shouted as she hid under a table.