Chapter 17: Separation
"Then we just have to finish off Saber before she defeats Caster." Julius smiled.
Artoria Pendragon in the alter version of her was a formidable opponent. Julius acted like a bitter grandfather most of the time, however, he actually loved a challenge. For this reason, he had fully immersed himself in a Holy Grail War as chaotic as Fuyuki's, because only through difficulties can someone fully evolve.
He spent years of his life trying to reach Sequence 5, and he only needed a few days in the war to be ready.
'Whether it's Saber Alter or Leff Leinur, I can't wait for our battle…' Julius suppressed the laugh he was about to release.
"Yes, that would probably end the Holy Grail War here. But I don't know whether things would return to normal." Caster replied.
"I see." Olga Marie intervened in the conversation. "You helped us, but in the end, it was for your own sake, huh?"
Caster shrugged. "Well, I don't think I can defeat Saber without help. But it doesn't seem like a bad deal, does it?"
"In fact, we also need his help, Director" Ritsuka decided to give his opinion.
"Looks like we have company." Julius looked to the side and everyone turned to the direction he was looking.
"Yikes!" Olga Marie hurried to cover.
"These things seem to go on forever..." Caster braced himself to fight. "They are like cockroaches. I will take this opportunity to show you that it is good to have allies."
Julius didn't get into a fighting stance. "You guys take care of these guys, I'll go see if I can find some information."
"Huh? Wait!" Olga Marie wanted to stop him, but he disappeared into nowhere.
Rin let out a breath. "Let him do what he wants, it's impossible to stop him. We can take care of these skeletons ourselves."
Caster nodded.
"Get ready!" He ordered.
000000000000000000000000 (AN: I'm going to use this from now on to separate scenarios.)
Julius stopped on top of a burning rooftop. He used [Freezeing] to slightly stop the spread of the fire.
"Let's see, there's still Saber and Archer left. Ah, there's Berserker too." He muttered to himself. "If I remember correctly, the Greater Grail should be at the Ryuudou Temple."
He took a step and the world began to distort. [Travel] used up more energy the longer the distance traveled. In fact, this ability actually used the time distortion between realities to simulate high-speed movements, which at short distances was no different from teleportation.
In no time, Julius was situated on the slope of Mount Enzou. He began to calmly climb the stairs that led to the temple.
"I see, below is Archer, and here is Berserker." He noticed the Servant that he seemed to be guarding the entrance. "To think that Heracles would be reduced to a gatekeeper, what a pity, what a pity."
An incredibly dense fog began to envelop the place as Julius continued up the stairs.
Berserker was quick to notice and went on guard with a roar worthy of his class. However, due to the fog, he couldn't see the person passing by him, completely ignoring him.
"I already fought you once, I don't feel like doing it again." Julius commented as he stopped at the temple entrance. "Hm, there is no doubt that the Grail is here, although it seems that they have made a chamber to store it underground."
Julius wondered if he should speedrun this Singularity.
'No, for now, it will be better to stick to the plan.' He thought. 'Fujimaru needs to grow a bit more as a master, since for the next missions I won't be there anymore. Also, the only way for the Animusphere girl to mature is to realize what Leff Lainur really is, at this point, she's been manipulated for far too long by him.'
For this reason, he had separated from the group, he wanted to make sure they got the necessary experience, and Rin was included. After all, even during the war in their world, she hadn't fought beyond the initial skirmish with Lancer.
'Ah, still, I think I'll try to go against Saber.' Julius suddenly seemed to sink into the earth as if it were intangible. 'I love this pathway.'
He arrived at a strange and supernatural huge room. The ceiling seemed to be the sky, albeit a red and purple color.
'Leff is here, I must not let him see me.' He quickly realized where both the demon and the Servant were.
Leff seemed to be staring at the entrance, waiting for the Chaldeans to arrive, while Saber stood without moving. Julius thanked whoever the deity reincarnated him with a skill like [Disruption].
He appeared like a ghost behind Saber and put his hand on her shoulder. Artoria reacted instantly and tried to turn around with Excalibur in her hand.
But at the same instant, the whole world changed, causing her to stumble a little, disoriented.
"Okay, this is a good place to fight without anyone bothering us." Saber noticed that the person had let her go. She scrambled to her feet and jumped back. Whoever this guy was, he seemed powerful. "You've changed since I last saw you, Saber."
Artoria saw the man, he had long black hair with some silver streaks. He had one hand outstretched, and above his palm floated a sphere of blue.