Connection

With the inclusion of Artoria, the tides shifted immensely. 

"My King!" 

Artoria blinked as she stared at Percival. Her impassive yellow-gold eyes seemed to glimmer with remembrance. She knew this wasn't the Percival that left, but seeing his ecstatic look when she appeared swayed her heart. Perhaps Percival still wished for the best but couldn't stick with her till the end.

Perhaps he knew she would eventually fail to see what's important until the moment she takes her last breath. A man like Percival was finely attuned to the nature of people's hearts. 

"I'm not the one you know, Sir Percival," Artoria spoke, hoping to cull the childish excitement from the Knight.

"I already know."

"What?"

"I'm not sure why, but it doesn't matter what appearance you take. I chose to follow you. That's all that counts."

Percival's words seemed to move Artoria, if only for a second. The man was…too pure. He is a blessing in disguise for his hardworking and charismatic nature. Of course, Artortia herself won't hate the clueless man for not knowing that she ruled differently from her other counterparts. It would shatter the man's hope in her.

Hope…she never thought she would utter those words.

"Hmph! I want to finish this. Our Master owes me a feast!"

"Huh!" Mars said from his position. 

'Since when did I owe her anything?' 

With the other Servants near Artoria, they suddenly felt a boost in power. It may be one of her skills in effect. It was a small boost in power but enough to finally handle Saint Martha.

"I'll finish this right now," Artoria clasped Excalibur with both hands. 

"Eh?" All the Servants, including Saint Martha.

Mars blinked. "She wouldn't…"

With a surge of energy, something Mars was familiar with, his worries were confirmed. Artoria wasn't holding back. Well, this version of her liked to go all-out on her opponents, even if they weren't up to par with her. She never discriminated between the weak and the strong regarding opponents.

"She is!" 

Portals of golden light shined behind Mars, and staffs of different varieties poked out from the mysterious ripples that connected to a different space. His training with Gilgamesh gave him time to learn about his new power set and how to utilize it fully. 

These staffs weren't for offensive purposes but to bolster shields with tough durability that would take a Noble Phantasm to destroy. Well, together, when used in unison, a singular staff could hold back potent spells. 

Rule Breaker floated next to Mars's head, levitating like a fairy that would whisper in his ears. Two staff emerged from the rippling gold portal and slammed into the ground on opposite sides, followed by the other staff. The wind blew viciously across the terrain that would soon find itself in a state of repair as Artoria's power surged, and unlike before, this was stronger.

Stronger than the one in Singularity F. Mars couldn't help but feel grateful that Artoria decided to pull her punches in that fight. The Golden Child was sure he would've lost that fight. 

"Five-Centered Barrier!" The staffs planted in the ground began to rattle, with each shake causing them to faintly glow, flickering like a bulb before exploding into a burst of light. A singular, controlled light line and the other four other staff curved up. 

A dome of blue energy, followed by green, orange, pink, and red, formed a protective layer around Mars and his Servants, with Artoria standing a few feet outside. 

"Amazing, the amount of power I feel from such a fortified barrier. If this were used as an attack instead of a protection spell, It would be devastating," Atalanta couldn't suppress her surprise. 

"I had the displeasure of facing such a Noble Phantasm before. I only have Mash to thank for being alive still. Hmm, I do owe her something," Mars murmured towards the end. He practically knew her the whole time he was at Chaldea. 

Artoria, from outside the barrier, craned her head, her eyes glinting in appreciation as she could go all out with this attack. 

Turning back to Saint Martha and Tarasque, Artortia's lips frowned. "I hope you'll survive this. It seems Master has a plan that involves you staying alive. However, I don't share the same kindness he does."

After her words were said, the dark typhoon of energy from her sword began to roar wildly, resembling that of her inner Dragon. It was a mighty bellow, one with dominance and the chilling coldness of the arctic. 

"Excalibur…."

Saint Martha looked at Tarasque, smiling with the Dragon before it disappeared immediately. Such an attack would surely destroy her, and from looking at this version of Artoria, she resembled her Master as well. It couldn't be a coincidence. 

'It would seem that even the purest souls can be tragically altered with enough coercion and regret. No, perhaps that has always lived alongside them.'

These were the last words spoken before everything blurred.

.

.

.

Back at the Church, Jalter sat on the makeshift throne that Gilles created out of skeletons. It was a bit over the top but nothing short of perfect for her. These were the skeletons of her once comrades who had done nothing to aid her in her time of need. 

Her dreams last night were a bit hectic for her. She was watching someone, it was a kid, who seemed happy more than anything else. The smile he had made her gut recoil with disgust. There was nothing to smile about. 

At least, that's what she thought at first until she saw the kid's face seemingly glow in the next transition. The kid sat beside a man wearing Eastern-style clothing, standing outside their house in a garden. There was a fountain with a three-headed snake. Typically, one wouldn't use snakes for such a thing.

Jalter only had one question seeing this–Why was she seeing this? It was only until the next transition once again that she found out why.

"So that's your true name? How ironic, a family that gains power from the pits of hell. Is that why we're connected?" 

__________________________________________________________________________

AN: Got this done early, been busier lately, but I was able to finish Fate/Samurai Remnant, and it was beautifully done. Won't get into detail, but I prefer Lancer Jeanne a whole lot than Avenger.  I did struggle a bit with this chapter, but eh, what can you do?

Now, I would like to ask a question, because I've seen this in another story i'm reading. But, how do you all feel about Mars's current level of strength? I've seen complaints about another authors MC being 'Overpowered' when the tag is there stating to expect an overpowered character. I don't mind that, but their reasoning was quite stupid when the Author explained everything about the MC. 

Also, one of my readers asked to bring back Archer version of Mars, but truthfully if I do, I'll just swap to Ruler-Gil. There's no difference as he quite literally Archer/Caster in one. 

Last note, feel free imagine Mars how you want, I quite like to imagine how a character looks than what we're getting, some people just sees Mars as Gilgamesh to begin with, which is totally fine with me. 

I think I went on long enough, Fate/Blood will be uploaded tommorow. Let me know your thoughts! 

Note: I lost my FGO NA account cause my Cousin plays around too much, so I restarted my new ID 

- 876,241,879