Chapter 19: You Are Already Dead

Chapter 19: You Are Already Dead

As Saber trailed off, still a look of disbelief on her face, Julius had to drop to one knee.

Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead and he was breathing hard, but he remained conscious.

'I need to take a break, this fight was exhausting.' He thought as he tried to compose himself.

He had spammed all of his abilities during the fight like he was throwing candy, and all that while he kept the Reality Marble active. Luckily, he hadn't needed to use his Mythological Creature form as that would probably have incapacitated him for at least a few hours.

He was almost out of strength, but he was satisfied that he had been able to defeat such a strong Servant single-handedly, even if he had have to use various dirty tricks.

Because, in the end, in a fight two things were used: the mind and the body. If people neglected either of these two parts, they were weakening themselves. Julius liked to fight, and it is for this reason that when he fought he did everything possible to win.

"Alright, there is still the last act of the day, I have to get going." He slowly got up as he prepared to deal with a certain demon.

000000000000000000

The rest of the group had continued to the temple without Julius. Along the way, they had managed to defeat Berserker and finally reach the grail chamber.

"Okay, now we just need to deal with Saber, she'll show up any minute now." Cú kept his guard up, but something happened that he did not expect. "This...!"

"Caster?" Olga Marie was startled when she saw that the Servant began to disappear into golden particles.

They all surrounded him in confusion.

"Oh, I see." Caster closed his eyes and smiled.

"What's going on? Weren't you supposed to last until we finished Saber?" Ritsuka asked nervously. He knew that without the Servant, the battle would be much more difficult.

Cú Chulainn let out a laugh.

"It seems that our friend has done more than just explore the area, to think that he was such a scary guy all this time..." With the last of his strength, he gave them all some final words. "I don't like this, but whatever. I'll leave the rest to you. And you, Master, if there's a next time try to summon me as Lancer!"

Without further ado, he disappeared from the place without a trace.

"Wait, does that mean Julius took care of Saber?" Olga Marie was incredulous, as she couldn't believe that a magus could defeat a Servant as mighty as King Arthur, even if that magus had strange abilities that could come close to True Magic.

"Well, actually I expected something like that..." Rin smiled wryly. She had already figured out that Julius wouldn't just bother to investigate, she had sensed his love for challenges.

They didn't have much time to consider this new information either, as a new voice put them all on alert.

"Well, I didn't expect you'd get this far. Beyond my plan's expectations and my own tolerances. Master Candidate #48. It was my mistake to naively overlook you as an improbable child."

"Professor Leff?" Mash spoke with a small voice.

"Leff! Professor Leff is there? Is that what you are saying?" Romani spoke to them.

"Hm, is that Romani I hear? So, you survived as well." Leff maintained an easy smile. "I told you to come to the command room immediately, but it seems you didn't listen. Honestly... trash who can't even follow orders. Just the mere sight of it makes me want to throw up."

"Master, fall back." Mash understood everything that was happening quickly and stood in front of Ritsuka to protect him.

Rin also had no connection to Leff Leinur, so she had no problem seeing the meaning behind the professor's words.

"Leff... Oh, Leff! Leff! You're alive!" Olga Marie was the complete opposite. "Thank goodness! Without you, I don't know how I could protect Chaldea!"

Mash tried to warn her seeing that she was closing in on the traitor.

"Director! Stop, that person is..."

However, she did not listen.

"Hi, Olga. You seem well. Looks like you've had a rough time, too." Professor Leff greeted the girl who seemed incredibly happy.

"Yes, yes, that's right, Leff! The command room blew up, the city is in ruins, and I can't return to Chaldea!" She started explaining everything like a little girl to her mother after school. "I'm going crazy by all these unforeseen complications! But it's okay, as long as you're here we'll be fine, right? That's how it's always been, right? You'll help me this time too, won't you?"

A crazed look appeared on Leff.

"Yes, of course. Honestly, all these complications have irritated me." he commented. "And the biggest complication is you, Olga. I set the bomb right under your feet, yet you still live."

Olga's smile faltered for a moment.

"Wha...? L-Leff? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sorry, you're not actually alive. You're already dead. Your body, at least, long ago."

—-------------------------

I'm back home, so I'm back to updating, yorokobe shounen. In any case, the next chapter will be the end of this arc, although there will be some things to solve that will be for a little more in the future.