199 Preparations

The group safely arrived at their temporary base in this Singularity without any inconvenience. It was something to be thankful for considering that they had an injured Mordred with them, and fighting again would make her a liability.

First, they knocked on the door with a certain rhythm that Jekyll had taught them before to make sure that the person wanting to enter was not someone... uninvited. it took a few seconds of waiting until the door opened and they were greeted by the owner of the house himself.

Once he saw the state Saber was in, though, he let them in in a hurry. Telling Seth and Chronos to vacate the sofa they were sitting in so that Mordred could rest, the Doctor went to his little workshop to find any elixirs that could help with the Knight's condition.

He didn't have a miraculous panacea that could instantly heal all of her injuries, but if it came down to potions that could stop bleedings, then he had a few.

Meanwhile, the two Gods watched the deplorable conditions of the girl for a few seconds before giving way and going to sit on the sofa opposite to them where Marfisa was. Lancer regarded them with a flat stare but said nothing. The black-haired man she could understand since he was fighting on the outside, but the other one had been doing nothing more than drinking tea the whole day, so she didn't understand the need for him to pester her. Still, she let them do as they pleased. Though, one wrong movement and her lance would find itself pointed to where the sun does not shine.

So, as they each sat to one of her sides, the blond woman redirected her gaze to her fallen companion who was being carried by the girl with the shield. Her fellow Knight had sure seen better days. Although not outwardly showing it, she was concerned for her.

However, she knew that panicking or suddenly throwing herself over her wounded body would not only be futile, but it would also show weakness—a weakness that she didn't want to show in front of others.

"She will live. The damage is mostly on the outside. With enough Magical Energy she should be able to recover since her Spirit Core wasn't affected." It seemed she was not that good at hiding it as the Lancer next to her commented on her condition apparently to himself.

Even so, "She will live" didn't equate to her condition being good. Unless they are able to produce some miracle, Mordred would be staying out of commission for a long while. She was already seeing herself having to knock out Saber since she was sure the stubborn woman would want to go to fight regardless of her condition.

"Speaking of which, you do know how to transfer it directly, don't you?" The strange, wimpy Doctor asked a question that made her look at him with disgust. If he was in front of her he would have already been pierced.

"Is that true?!" The young Master asked a little too hopeful. If she recalled correctly, his reserves were not that vast, to begin with. He had a Mystic Code with healing capacities as well, though it seemed it only worked for superficial wounds. Something of this level would probably be outside of its scope.

"Huh? Oh, about that. Yes, I can. Just a heads up, though. My Mana is poisonous. There's no telling what might happen if I transfer it. The remedy could very well end up being worse than the disease." The two kids deflated at that, but it seemed the Doctor wasn't over.

"But how can you maintain your own Servants then?" It was a valid question; one she found herself raising her eyebrows at.

...

'Romani... You can't take a hint, can you?' Seth wanted to facepalm right now. He wanted to think that the man was an idiot, but he was smarter than he let on. For whatever reason, the orange-haired man wanted to trouble him today.

"The link between us is able to... cleanse, let's just say, my Mana into workable and proper Magical Energy. Externally, I can do the transfer easily by putting a finger on her forehead and sharing enough for her to recover. But as I said, giving it to her just like that would probably turn her into an alternate version of herself in the best of cases." Some of the people present flinched at that. The Alters they knew so far had gone from good to bad. What would be the case with Saber? From bad to worse? A small chill went through their spines at the thought.

"And before you even ask, I am not going to form a contract with her. Not only is she in no condition to agree, but I also want to avoid such a troublesome woman if possible. I have enough of crazy blondes." That earned an elbow to his ribs courtesy of Marfisa and a chuckle from the other resident God.

"Why are you even taking it personally? I didn't even look at you..." Seth wanted to say that she was only proving his point, but that would create a situation he wasn't willing to take part in, so he only grumbled a bit and did nothing more.

"Honestly, why do you have to be so useless when it matters the most?" The Egyptian God rolled his eyes at Carmilla's question. The woman was no doubt still upset about the events in Orleans. He wondered if she would stop holding onto past grudges soon. Not that he was one to talk, but at least he wasn't allied with his pantheon, so there was no reason to be a decent being around them.

"For your information, I didn't get my strength from flowers and butterflies. I had to descend to levels that you people would find morally deplorable, so there is no way I am not tainted." He was careful with his wording in order to not set any flags with the woman next to him. One look at Khronos as soon as he arrived and he already knew the idiot had said more than he had to. He didn't any more of that.

He was sure that if the Chaldeans knew about the reason why he avoided her, they would tell him that he was exaggerating. However, what they didn't know was that her personality was so bad that she immediately triggered a reaction in his very self in order to avoid meddling with her. She was so crazy that she made his instincts do something as troublesome as making him remember most of his life as Charlemagne just so that he could know what made her tick.

"Ah, your times as a gluttonous beast, right? I have to say, no matter the place, we are all very alike, aren't we?" Khronos chose that moment to intervene with a happy laugh and a joyful mood.

"Huh? What are you talking about? I am not someone who likes to eat much." Meanwhile, Seth sent a puzzled glance at his fellow God, though inside those 'confused' eyes there was a warning to leave the matter there. If he knew of his history as he presumed to do, then he would know he had killed Gods for less.

"Got it!" As if called by the prayers of the souls in this Singularity, Jekyll chose that moment to appear with a vial on his hand. Everyone redirected their attention to him as he went straight to the unconscious Mordred.

Carefully placing his hand below her head, she raised it a little, causing the woman to groan slightly in her 'sleep'. Fortunately, that also allowed him to pour the elixir in her mouth without having to forcefully open it himself.

Acting on instinct, Saber drank the liquid greedily. Jekyll was cautious not to send the liquid through the wrong tube. Otherwise, it would be for nothing.

After a few moments, Mordred finished drinking everything, so he put her back down with the same care. Nothing extraordinary happened on the outside, but at least the bleeding stopped completely. Fujimaru had done what he could his Mystic Code, and now this sealed the deal.

"Will she be okay?" Mash asked concerned. Such a ghastly sight from an ally was uncommon to her, so it was natural that she was worried. Add to the fact that they couldn't do much to help her condition, it all was a neverending nightmare.

The Doctor smiled at her reassuringly. "For now, her condition should be able to improve, or at least not worsen. She will still need more proper healing and good rest, but she will nonetheless be fine. I advise that you don't count too much of her, though. She is in no condition to fight for the foreseeable future."

"Don't worry about her recuperation. As long as I get my workshop running, I can heal her in no time." Medea said with a tone as if it couldn't be helped. This form wasn't as healing-oriented as her younger and...foolish version. However, she didn't need the aid of a Noble Phantasm to utilize her Magic for healing. Still, reconstructing tissue and missing body parts required her to properly prepare, so that's why she only aided a bit in making the experience as painless to Saber as possible and left the harder work for when she got here.

Jekyll nodded, accepting without any seconds thoughts. "I will trouble you with it. As for you, Lancer, do you mind removing Saber's armor and cleaning her of her blood so that the lady there can work on her?" For obvious reasons, he couldn't do that himself, so chose the best next option, who was the person that had spent the most time with Mordred, and was also a girl.

Heaving a deep sigh of resignation, the woman assented without much fuss. As if that wasn't enough, she had to hear 'encouraging' words from the lazy idiot. Yet, her face did a one-eighty, settling for a smug smile at Jekyll's next words.

"As for you, Archer. Since you have been doing nothing all day; how about cleaning all the blood from the couch and carpet?" Looking to the people present for a volunteer, Khronos found himself without allies. The only notable reaction was from the two kids, who looked kind of sheepish, considering it was THEIR mess he was about to clean up. The other Servants merely retired for the day once they knew they could call it a day, leaving only the shield girl, the Master, Lancer, Jekyll, Seth, and Caster.

"Fujimaru, come with me outside. I want to hear how things went, and I also want to know about your progress." Saying so, Seth stood up and moved to exit the house; not before 'accidentally' hitting Khronos' cup and spilling it all over his clothes.

"Oh... my bad. But since you are going to clean anyway, you wouldn't mind a little extra, right? I am going to send you a gift basket as an apology." With such an obviously fake regret, the black-haired man continued his way to the door. The other Master followed him quite awkwardly, not knowing how to handle the situation without making things worse.

"And I would like to send virgins for you to defile before eating them." ...is what he would have said normally. Instead, he just sported his classical smile while accepting his words easily. "Of course, I look forward to it."

There was no point in arguing now, no point in saying things that couldn't be proved with factual evidence either. 'But you know... An interesting thing about Time is that it can easily show people their past selves. And as same as the past, nobody can escape Time. Yet... It also shows the future. On that note, let me tell you something interesting, my fellow kin. The God known as Seth has no future past this Singularity. So go. Fight, escape, experience loss once more, find the courage to face your fears and... perish.'

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"Then? How did things go?" Once they were outside, Seth picked Fujimaru and jumped to the roof of Jekyll's house. There was no point in staying in plain sight. That was just asking for them to be interrupted.

"Not good I'm afraid..." Lying would be useless. After all, he had already seen Mordred's condition. "The enemy wasn't strong per se but... he employed tactics that made him annoying to deal with. He ambushed us with hundreds of Automata that had bombs inside them, so we had to be extra careful. Not to mention that if we did something wrong, we could have killed the innocent people inside."

Seth hummed in thought. These kinds of things were why he preferred to be a Villain than a Hero. You didn't have to worry about holding back unless that worked in your favor somewhat. "What about your Magecraft?"

The youth furrowed his brows at that question. To be honest, he had been excited to try it out, but the chance just didn't show itself. "I wanted to use it..."

One of Seth's eyebrows rose at the pause. "But?"

"I don't know how to explain it. I just got this nagging feeling in the back of my head that I would fail and that I was going to end up hurting myself if I tried. I know this sounds weird, but it is what I felt at the moment." He sounded as embarrassed as he did contemplative, half expecting the man in front of me to scold him. However, the said person merely nodded as if understanding the situation.

"You don't have to worry about that. You should always listen to those feelings whenever they appear. It seems you are developing an instinct after going through many ordeals in this short time." It wasn't like he didn't expect the kid to get it eventually, yet so soon was a surprise. A welcome one, though.

"An... instinct?" He tested the word in his mouth, the meaning understood by his brain but foreign to his soul. He was used to associating it more with animals than human beings, so it was no wonder he felt a little weird on the inside.

"Mhm. That will certainly help you in the future. For now, I would say you did a fairly good job, and you deserve some rest for it." The corner of his mouth arched slightly upwards at seeing the wry smile on Fujimaru's face. 'A perfectionist, is it? It's not like it's a bad thing to always strive to improve.'

"I am not sure about that... Saber is enough proof that I didn't do a good job." He meant every word he said. He could deal with light injuries. He wouldn't be happy, but he could deal with it. However, Mordred's condition couldn't be considered light by any means.

"Now, don't say that. You had it rough and still were able to come out on top. We both know Mordred acted on her own, so her condition is her own fault. I would consider you a manipulator of the highest level if you could make her listen to you after knowing each other for so little. It would be praiseworthy, not going to lie. That aside... let me give you a word of advice. Don't undermine your efforts. The moment you start doing that, you will find the people around you doing the same. And trust me, when it matters the most, seeing your hard work mean nothing to those you helped will leave you feeling rancorous." Sometimes, Ritsuka forgot how old Se—Kuro was. He might look like he's barely a few years older than him, but the truth was that he had lived for more than he could count.

He didn't know if what he said will eventually apply to him in the future but... the least he could do with someone that had helped him this much was listen to his advice. "I will keep that in mind... Thank you."

Seth nodded before standing up. "All right, I will bring you down, then you can go to sleep. It was a long day for you, and you will have to be in top condition for what's to come."

The Japanese youth also stood up and let himself be grabbed. Unceremoniously, the black-haired God jumped down, though still careful not to injure Fujimaru with their fall.

"You should go now. I am sure you will be able to test the Magecraft I taught you soon, so get a good night's rest." Ritsuka scratched the back of his head in embarrassment before noticing something strange. Kuro was still in the same place as before.

"Aren't you... going inside?" He asked with a little hesitation, for some reason. As if the very act of proving for his intention was taboo.

Seth shook his head at his question. "Not for a while. I want to organize my thoughts for a while. A good mental state is as important as a healthy body, so I need to be also prepared for what it's to come."

Though unsure, Ritsuka still nodded slowly. Although going by his face, he still wanted to say more. In the end, he waved his goodbyes and entered the house through the door that had been left slightly open in the meantime.

The Egyptian God waited for a few moments before turning on the watch-like device on his wrist, making the image of a tired Romani appear.

"I assumed you wanted to talk with me so I stayed awake. Da Vinci scolded me for that as well as my numerous uses of coffee, so I hope it is important." The Doctor said with a yawn. He didn't even have the energy to act upbeat at this point.

"We are screwed." That sentence alone managed to fully wake the orange-haired man as if he had had a 24hs rest.

"What... did you say?" He hoped he was joking, but as everyone knew in Chaldea, the man was terrible at doing jokes.

Seth turned his gaze to the ground, and Romani saw something on that face that was soon turning into one of frustration, something the Doctor never would have thought he would see in the black-haired man: regret.

"There is some demented Servant here... A Caster, if I am not wrong. He plans to make this Singularity a battleground for Gods like us. When I went to investigate, I saw many traces of a Ritual being performed. He sacrificed hundreds, possibly thousands in order to call forth a God, maybe even more than one." If he wasn't awake before, he was now, and if he wasn't sure his panicking would be heard from all over Chaldea, he would be mumbling incoherently to himself and crashing against all the computers in the room.

It was then that a thought struck him, and he couldn't help but voice it out loud. "Wait... the situation can still be salvaged. It's true that Caster might be able to summon them, but that doesn't mean they would listen to him. And if you get to them before he does, there is a chance for you to convince them to fight for us since you are the same in nature!"

"Hope is such a stupid thing..." Seth sighed at Romani's words. He understood, but the reality was crueler than he thought. "First of all, he doesn't need them to listen to him. Gods are by definition walking disasters. Make one go through a river and it will dry, make one go through green pastures and they will turn into scorched earth. Just by being here, they will cause the destruction he wants."

The Egyptian God paused for a second, reconsidering his words before eventually continuing. "And I don't know if you are starting to forget, but my reputation is not the greatest out there. While I am a God of Foreigners and have more facilities when it comes to reasoning with them, they will instantly see me as a purge target since I didn't announce a meeting between them and me. Not to mention, "reasonable" doesn't strike me as something that Caster would want to summon. A good theory I have is that he wants to bring forth the most warmongers of my kind. The type to kill first and ask questions to corpses later. And if a fight against fellow Gods wasn't enough motivation for them, that crazy bastard managed to get a relic so powerful it would instantly get them to fight for it with all their might."

"...Shit." He wasn't one to curse, but the situation certainly merited it. Now he understood why Seth had said they were screwed. "What relic is it that could make Gods even more aggressive than they already are? And speaking of that, do you have any idea who will be coming?"

"I do know what it is. However, I prefer to keep it a secret for now. The fewer people know about it, the better. I don't want more competition. As for Gods... I only know two so far. They are going to be part of the Wild Hunt. Odin and... Thor." The latter was said with more difficulty, but Romani didn't pick on that, because he was more surprised at the names and... another, but no less surprising thing entirely.

"Odin and Thor... They are top-tier Divine Spirits, comparable to Zeus and Ares in Greek Mythology or Ra and you in the Egyptian one." He slouched in his chair, suddenly out of all the energy the coffee had given him. "Can we even win?"

It was not like he didn't believe in Seth's strength, it was just that they were two against one! Romani wanted to cry at the moment. He didn't know if Khronos could be on par with them, not to mention that those two were only the ones their helper God knew would come, there could be more of them. However...

"You said that you wanted that relic at all costs. Is it that important that it would make you actively fight for it?" He was not a former Heroic Spirit for nothing, he knew Seth never entered fights willingly unless the situation required for him to fight in order for them to emerge victorious from their struggles. That was also why he never fought all out against anyone. That he had seen, at least.

"Yes... I could care less about the power it holds, but it has a significant sentimental value for me. Not for good reasons, but it still does. That is why I can't allow anyone else to have it. And if worse comes to worst I... No. It's better not to work with what-ifs." Well, that was as ominous as it was reassuring, Romani thought.

"If you say that much... I will trust you can come out on top." That brought a smirk to Seth's face; the God leaving his somber mood behind. "But of course, I am the Pioneer of God and King Slaying. If nothing else, I hold the conceptual advantage over them."

'Though... it will take a lot of me to put it to use against those two. As I said to Fujimaru, I better prepare myself mentally for facing those two again. Even if they are fundamentally different people than the once I knew.' He added in his mind, preferring to keep this part to himself.

"By the way, is that Asterios I am detecting next to you?" With his name being mentioned, Berserker manifested next to Seth, inclining his head slightly in acknowledgment.

"Since he feels uncomfortable being around other people that he doesn't know, I let himself be in Spirit Form for the time being." The Minotaur's cheeks gained a red tint at his social awkwardness being called out but grunted in affirmation anyway.

"Now that we are on topic, tell Darwin to be prepared to come tomorrow. She and Asterios will be key in our next fights." Romani's eyes brightened. Since she was a new addition, she nearly forgot about her. Of course! She was an Anti-Divine Servant! He mentally kicked himself in the head for nearly missing such an important asset they had at their disposal. Now the future didn't look as bleak anymore.

"I will get to it as soon as I wake up tomorrow! Though, Seth... did you do something strange with your being while we weren't looking?" At first, the Doctor was excited, but then, his excitement transformed into confusion, something the Kingslayer mirrored.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Were you listening to Magi☆Mari's delusions again?"

"Wha—! Of course not! And they aren't delusions, thank you very much! She is the only one who understands my heart!" Romani rectified heatedly as if Seth had just said heresy of the highest order.

"She keeps telling you ways in which you could kill yourself..." Meanwhile, the Egyptian God just deadpanned at his answer, not at all interested in his... what do young people call it nowadays? Simping? for that virtual idol... whatever that meant.

"She is a tsundere! That's exactly how they demonstrate their love!" Dr. Roman actually pouted, though with a little strain on his voice.

Seth rolled his eyes while Romani calmed down, now remembering that he was supposed to be quiet lest he gets an angry mob outside of the Command Room asking for his head because he didn't let them sleep.

"Now seriously, though. I am detecting some high levels of Magical Energy from you, and they seem to be... Demonic in nature." He said after considering his words a little. It was certainly strange, so much so that he thought the machine was malfunctioning. The Egyptian God should have detected it if that was the case. What with the real truth behind the Gods of his Pantheon and whatnot.

"Oh, so that's what you meant." Seth snapped his fingers, and Romani bore witness to the space shift unsteadily behind the black-haired man as if it was a mirage. His jaw then nearly hit the floor at what was staring back at him.

"I met this Demon casually on the road, and he agreed to come with me." The black-haired man explained as if that resolved all the issues that existed with this.

"Demons are not something you can casually pick on the road! What kind of common sense do you have?!" This will be a long night, there was no doubt about it.

"Ahem. Romani, it seems you are enjoying yourself at this hour. Are you sure you have the free time to do that?" Da Vinci's voice behind him made him pause. He stood corrected, the night was over for him. The Genius' chop in the back of his head made sure of it.