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As I held the Mini-Hakkero, another thought crossed my mind. Could I push Celestial Fire into it?

Celestial Fire was pure conceptual destruction, all wrapped up in fire form. I didn't know if that would wreck the Mini-Hakkero and didn't want to break it.

I could make simple repairs, but if I needed to replace the metal, that would be an issue. Taking a deep breath, I pushed a sliver of Celestial Fire into the amplification side of the Mini-Hakkero.

I jerked back as a gout of brilliant flame scorched the grass before dying off. As I looked over the Mini-Hakkero, it was only a little burnt, and that could be buffed out.

Max power with Celestial Fire would most likely wreck it, but small bits would be just fine. Taking my palm, I buffed out the few marks.

Knowing Fate, I would have to use this max power by the war's end. In preparation, I needed to know how to fix it if need be.

Walking over to the forge, I nodded to 5.0 as he retooled the circles. Sitting down, I started fiddling with the device.

As I looked it over and started figuring it out, I learned it was less of a device and more of a complex enchanted item.

The enchantments would be very hard to replicate but not impossible. The bigger issue was the metal.

Running it through some simple tests showed that while very similar to mithril, it was heavier but amplified magic slightly when pushed into it.

I couldn't replicate it, but if I needed to make repairs, I could substitute mithril; however, it would cause a drop in efficacy, and the Master Spark would be less potent.

Looking up, I checked my mental timer and saw that several hours had passed, and it was now early into the next day.

Standing up, I noted an upside of the new form: I didn't get cramps from sitting down too long.

I now had around a day and a half to spare; tapping my foot, I let ideas sift through my mind. I was almost out of Dust; 6.0 and 7.0 were making filters to replenish the supply.

I didn't have the time or materials to make new items; I could make a simple ring at most, but that wouldn't help.

As I was thinking, a thought struck me; I needed to reinforce my soul gem. If that broke, it was game over; no matter how tough I was, if they could shatter a simple gem, I was done.

For additional irony, the Toshaka's specialized in Gemcraft made it more likely that they could figure out that my soul gem was unique.

If I did anything grandiose, they would just target it. I also couldn't leave it because if I traveled away from it, I couldn't puppet my body.

Thinking with portals might be the solution, depending on how the range works. I could make a small portal with my current skill set; if I just linked it up with my home, I could theoretically extend the range.

The only issue was that the portals were temporary, which would require building something; if that item broke, it would be an issue.

People would also be able to attack through the portal, and I wouldn't be able to check how much I could use before becoming a Witch.

Even with all these flaws, it was still a better option than having my weak spot on my body for all to see.

Picking up the almost empty Dust bag, I walked to the forge and got to work. Translating the Dust into a pair of mithril, I started etching sigils on it.

Master Craftsman was feeding me ideas on how I would get them to work. I would be replicating my portal ability inside these rings, which would link up.

Humming as I got to work, I started feeding each ring mana. This process was precarious and prone to blowing up in my face, so I took it slowly.

As I finished that part, the most time-consuming portion came up. I now needed to enhance the dam thing.

Luckily I was much faster now than when I first got Sorcery - Enchantment. It would have taken around nine days to enchant this now; it would alone take around a day, give or take a few hours.

The process wasn't arduous. It was just very time-consuming, and I needed to focus. As I focused, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that 6.0 and 7.0 had come back.

As quickly as they arrived, they left, leaving a small bag of Dust in their wake. Through that, I continued with my work.

A long time later, I had finished with the portal rings. I was tempted to call them sling rings, but I didn't want to piss off the mouse's lawyers.

Pushing down a chuckle, I dropped the first ring down and tucked the second away. Opening a path, I walked towards where I had first been summoned.

As I walked inside, I felt like hitting myself. There was police tape everywhere, and I heard voices outside; of course, they would investigate the crime scene.

Teleporting out, I jumped a few houses away until I was far away from the police. Opening the path back up, I walked back to the first ring and dropped my soul gem next to it.

Walking back out, I was perfectly fine; even teleporting around, I was fine. Grinning, I walked back to my house; I now needed to tuck both deeper into my home.

Rummaging through my home, I tossed both in the bottom of the underwear drawer. Tucking both under the underwear, I doubted anybody would search there.

I checked both the time and my boost from the moon phase. It was 3:26 pm, a waxing crescent, respectively.

The time meant I should head to the beach to prepare myself. The waxing crescent also meant that I would get more powerful as the war went on.

As I was walking out, 6.0 and 7.0 arrived; both of them sported bags of Dust. As I collected both bags, 6.0 spoke.

"We didn't find any Masters or Servants; we got a fair few simple filters set up." As 6.0 stopped talking, 7.0 spoke up.

"We'll be heading out every morning to collect the Dust." Nodding, I gestured for them to follow me as I spoke to 5.0.

"You got the circle retooled yet?" Nodding, 5.0 turned to face me while speaking. "Yup, they should be working in a few minutes."

"I need you to stay here and get defense set up; I have a ring in my underwear drawer that needs to be able to open a portal."

Nodding, he walked off as Komainu walked up and simply hugged me before running off.

As I walked out, the Grimoire's power grew before simmering back down. Teleporting to the nearby houses at the beach, I started setting up a temporary base.

It wasn't fancy, but it would keep prying eyes from peeking in and act as a safe place to open a path.

As we settled down to wait, I could sense Lancer broadcasting a challenge. I decided to stay because while I could jump Kayneth right now, there was a fair chance he would call Lancer back.

If Lancer were in a fight, however, he would likely hesitate, and that hesitation could cost him.

Pulling out my Grimoire, I started to reread it. This was shaping up to be a tedious wait; 6.0 and 7.0 were playing sticks as we waited.

Time passed until I felt two pulses of mana walking across the beach. The first was Artoria; I could feel the massive pool of energy roiling and churning.

The second was much smaller and felt empty as if it had yet to be filled, which meant it was Irisviel. I now only had to wait until Iskander showed up.

From what I remembered, Kayneth and Iskander shouted at each other for a bit until Lancelot showed up and started kicking ass.

Following that, Gilgamesh arrives and fights with Lancelot before being called back with a command seal.

The plan so far was to wait until Iskander shows up, then find Lancer's Master and kill him. If I couldn't find Kayneth, I would stick around to make sure the fight went as it did in canon, then leave.

Peaking out of my hiding spot, I saw that Lancer and Artoria had already started to fight. I couldn't hear if they were saying anything, but the fight was on.

Fighting back and forth, it was beautiful. I wasn't some weapon master, but even to my untrained eyes, both of them were the epitome of a fighter.

As I saw Artoria dismiss her armor, I started to creep closer. I and my simulacrum hid next to one of the shipping crates as I waited for Iskander to arrive.

It wasn't too long until the rumbling of thunder peaked, and a chariot arrived—Poilted by the man who had conquered most of the known world.

He was larger than life, and I could see where that Charisma skill came from. I missed the first portion, but as silence fell and he waited for a response, I stepped forward.

As I emerged from the shadow, I froze; a little over thirty feet away, a man clad in golden armor had also appeared.

Gilgamesh, King of Heros, the most powerful person in this war; I was swearing a storm in my head as we looked at each other.

I had forgotten that he would be here at this time, but I should have known he would not have let Iskander's challenge go unmatched.

As he peered at me, his red eyes narrowed for a moment before he turned back and faced the rest of the Servent. Leaning on my staff, I would have been dripping with sweat if I could.

Looking at the Servents, I could see a mana trail leading towards their Master. The issue was that it was harder to see the further away it was from the Servent following it now could easily lead to me being tailed and attacked.

As Gilgamesh finished his boast, I stepped forward and gave a little bow before speaking. "Pleasure to meet all of you, sincerely. I don't have any boasts, so let's get on with this Murder-Death-Kill, shall we."

As I finished speaking, I raised my staff and sent a salvo of Eldritch Blasts at Lancer, forcing him to dodge out of the way.

Right after my attack, a roaring figure exploded out of the shadows screaming. Stepping back, I teleported towards the shoreline while 6.0 and 7.0 followed.

We all raised our staffs and sent a flurry of fireballs soaring towards Artoria and Lancer. Swearing, Lancer dodged back but was still hit while Artoria was almost entirely unscathed.

"Hello, ladies and gents; I hope you don't mind me interrupting your little fight."

As Lancer charged toward me, Artoria held back as the Grimoire grew. As I darted back, I noticed Gilgamesh's eyes snap over me before he vanished from a command seal.

As I was forced back on the defensive, I was reminded of the gap between us. I could barely weave around his attacks with my teleportation; I could tell he was simply probing my defenses.

In addition, once Artoria joined the fight, I would be dead. Fortunately, she was being hounded by Lancelot at the moment and was exchanging blows with him.

As I teleported half a dozen feet behind him, I swept my staff in front of me, conjuring a wave of Celestial Fire. Charging into the blaze, he sliced forward with the red spear and avoided a large portion of the flame.

Charging forward, he was on top of me and was swiftly on the attack. As opposed to before, I barely had any room to breathe and could tell he was done testing the waters.

As I teleported back on top of the frothing waves flying just above them, I saw that Iskander had charged Lancelot and was currently pushing him back.

I couldn't use the full extent of my magic power's due to Lancer's Noble Phantasm; it could cut through magic as if it wasn't there, and I didn't want him to kill a Leviathan with a single slash.

Trudging out into the water, he pointed his red spear toward me before shouting. "Come and face me on land, like a man!"

Casting a look towards my simulacrum, I saw that they had made themself scarce and were currently assisting in driving off Lancelot; as I watched, he vanished like how Gilgamesh was called back earlier.

Grinning back at Lancer, I raised my Mini-Hakkero and started channeling mana into it. Noticing what was happening, Lancer charged toward me as Artoria and Iskander moved to avoid the oncoming blast.

As the energy filled the Mini-Hakkero, I started to chant, "Ray of Destruction: Master Spark!"

At the release of my 'Noble Phantasm.' Lancer's eyes widened before narrowing in the face of the oncoming storm of mana.

Iskander pulled hard on the reigns of the Gorudias Wheel, escaping with barely a scratch as Artoria threw herself to the side in an attempt to avoid the blast.

The blast engulfed the beach with light and sound; as the light faded, I saw what Master Spark had wrought.

In the wake of the blast, Lancer collapsed forward, most of his skin and muscles burnt off before vanishing as Lancelot and Gilgamesh had earlier. Artoria escaped with it, only hitting her below the knees.

As she pushed herself to her feet, I saw that the armor was scorched and her flesh was most likely covered in burns that would hamper her movement.

The more significant issue was Iskander, who had escaped with nary a scratch. The Gordius Wheel allowing him to avoid all damage; in addition, I was running low on mana after that Master Spark.

I couldn't, however, show that and gave him a grin and wave. With Lancer out of the way, I decided to push my luck; tapping my staff on the water, I pulled deep on my soul gem and summoned a Leviathan.

Standing at over 300 feet long and made of pure water was the Leviathan. It was an elder elemental, and I grinned as euphoria swept over me.

As the elemental put its head under my feet and raised itself to Iskander's level, I caught the brief moment of panic on his face before he schooled it and laughed.

Grinning, I spoke to him; my voice tinged with mania. "So, would you say that's a good entrance or not."

Grinning back, he spoke in a loud booming voice as he pulled Waver up to stand tall next to him. "I must admit the entrance was wonderful!"

As we looked at each other, I could see his hands tensing on the reins as he prepared to charge me.

"So what do ya say? Drinks at my place tomorrow?"

I replied as my grin grew; I wanted to fight him, but I needed him for the fight against Gilgamesh, and after summoning Leviathan, I could assume I was running high on grief.

Blinking for a moment, he looked startled before laughing uproariously and almost doubling over before speaking through chuckles.

"Of course, that sounds wonderful!"

As we both grinned at each other, I spoke while gesturing to the beach. "Shall we meet here at, let's say, noon"

Nodding, Iskander gave me a nod before snapping the reins of the Gordius Wheel and zooming off.

Directing the Leviathan to bend its head down, I stepped off and walked over to the injured Artoria as my simulacrum joined behind me.

I could see Irisviel hesitantly approaching as I looked Artoria up and down. I was never a fan of her as a character, but I could see why Gilgamesh was captivated by her for a moment.

The burns to her legs would likely be healed soon, and she would probably be gunning for me, given that I interrupted her duel.

As we stared off, my grin grew wider and wider as she shifted and held Excalibur, ready to attack at any moment.

As the moment dragged on, I nodded. My eyes were firmly locked on Excalibur; it was The Sword of Promised Victory built by the fae in the heart of the world and the hopes and dreams of mankind.

It was a Divine Construct and thus beyond my abilities to make, but I promised myself that I would eventually construct a blade that could surpass it.

Giving her a nod, I vanished and teleported back to the hideout. As my simulacrum followed behind me, I started barking out orders.

"6.0 I want you following Artoria and her group, scout out Castle Einzbern, and report back. 7.0 scout out the Church; do not get caught by Gilgamesh."

Nodding, 6.0 vanished as 7.0 hesitated before complying. Looking towards the trail left by Lancer's escape via command seal, I saw it leading towards an upper-class hotel.

I needed to conserve mana, so a brisk walk would have to do. Dismissing my magical girl form, I started walking towards the hotel.

As I was walking, my Grimore's energy peaked again before crashing down into the ever-pervasive pool of power, growing it larger.

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