We end up reuniting with Hanam at roughly the halfway point - the large bridge from the urban area of town to the more suburban zone.
"Yo, Assassin." says Cu. "Find anything good?"
"...Nothing unexpected." The skull-masked man replies. "Lancer is nowhere to be found - I combed the area around Ryuudou temple thoroughly, and didn't detect anyone other than Archer and Saber."
"Well, I'm fine with just ignoring her if she's not going to stop us." I say. I mean, she should be erased along with the singularity, right? "Did you find all your knives?"
"...I was able to find and salvage around half of them. I now have thirty-nine dirks to my name."
"Well, that's better than nothing! Shame you missed our calisthenics, though. I hope you don't cramp up later." I joke. It's the solemn duty of Natsuki Subaru to make sure his friends get their daily exercise, after all.
"Servants don't get cramps, so I doubt that will be a problem." Interjects the Director. "Rather, I'm surprised that Mordred and Cu Chulainn wasted their time joining in on that pointless exercise."
"Eh? Just because it won't give any physical benefit doesn't mean it's pointless." Says Mordred. "It's about the feeling of the thing, you know? Gets you in the right state of mind. Same reason I don't like going around astralized - it feels weird not having my feet on the ground."
Cu nods. "It's like that, basically. We may have been dead for a while, but we still remember being alive like it was yesterday. Pointless things like eating, sleeping, and exercise are still good for morale if nothing else."
Mordred nods sagely. "The Hound gets it. Humans should act human. Man, I wish we had more people like him in Camelot - most of the other knights were a buncha stuffy idiots who kept trying to turn themselves into robots or something."
"Ain't that just like the English, though? Shoulda been born a Celt, lass! Least we know how to have a good time!" The Druid shoots back with a grin.
"Oi, who are you calling 'lass'!? You wanna fight?" Mordred says, scowling. "Also, I'm Welsh, not English."
"Hey, leave your backwards gender stereotypes at the door! I might get offended on my teacher's behalf." Cu says, grin widening. "And hell yes I want to fight!"
Mordred's face shifts into a similarly vicious grin, and she opens her mouth to respond, but I cut her off. "Save it for after we deal with Saber, you two."
"Yeah, yeah. Wouldn't want to run out of gas when fighting Archer anyway." says Cu with a sigh.
"Right, it'd be a shame if I lost to Father after I got injured kicking your ass." says Mordred.
"Hah, dream on!"
***
"Stop." Caster calls out as we near the mountain on which Ryuudou Temple stands. "We're reaching the outer edge of Archer's range. I've boosted the range of my Protection From Arrows, so that should take care of his more simple projectiles, but the bigger ones are all you, Shielder."
"R-right! I'll do my best!" Mash answers nervously.
"Let's go, then. Assassin, you handle Subaru." He says - and then, in an explosion of sonic force, he begins sprinting towards the peak of the mountain. Hanam grabs me, and the three servants I've contracted directly take off at a similar pace.
A few seconds later, the arrows start flying. Like concentrated machine gun fire, glowing red bolts rain down upon us, exploding on impact. But any that might have hit their mark are deflected by a faint barrier projected from Cu's body, and a moment later, the arrows stop.
"He's gonna start using Noble Phantasms! Get ready!"
A moment later, a sword is launched down the slopes at us. No, at me. As Hanam moves out of its path the sword-turned-arrow curves in midair, correcting its trajectory towards him, and by extension, me.
"Haaah!" Mash cries, and her shield smashes it out of the air, the blade detonating as she strikes it.
More copies of the same sword follow in its wake, but each is slapped out of the air by Mordred, Caster, and Mash working in tandem. Eventually, those attacks stop as well, and I can feel an oppressive wave of mana as we near the top of the Temple stairs.
"That'll be [Caladbolg]!" Yells Caster, slowing his pace. "Mash Kyrielight, this one's all yours!"
Mash takes the lead, and pauses, taking a deep breath. "I can do this. I can do this."
She raises her shield, a blue magic circle forming at its center. "Beginning Pseudo-deployment of Noble Phantasm! [Lord…!"
In an eruption of light, the blade is launched down the slope at us, annihilating the stone stairs in its wake.
"...Chaldeas]!" Mash yells, and a flawless wall of marble is raised in the arrow's path.
Unstoppable force meets immovable object. Light streams forth from [Caladbolg] as it impacts the [Lord Chaldeas], spiraling waves of light in all the colors of the rainbow. The ground ahead of us is torn to pieces, stone and dirt filling the air.
And then, finally, in one final explosion of blue light, sword surrenders to shield.
"Haah… Haaah… I did it… I did it!" Mash says, smiling. Caster sprints ahead again, and disappears through the temple gate.
"Heh. Like some lame-ass knockoff Excalibur could breach that wall. As long as your will holds strong… there's no way that shield would ever fail." Mordred says with a scoff.
And then so quietly that I can barely hear her, I hear her mumble to herself. "...Damn bastard. If he had been there, then Father…"
***
"So you couldn't take me on your own, so you decided to get help, huh?" Says a tanned man with white hair. He's wearing black body armor, and has faintly glowing red lines running along his skin. "Well, I suppose it's to be expected of you. Dogs hunt in packs after all."
"Nah, they're just here to make sure you don't go crying to Saber for help when I'm about to win." Says Cu. The two are slowly circling each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move - except, that works in our favor. I can barely make them out, but Caster has been leaving runes on the ground as he moves.
"Hmph. Mordred to fight off Arthur, huh?" Archer says, eyes flicking towards the knight. "Well, frankly I'd advise you to turn back. You won't find anything other than misery if you face her as weak as you are now."
"Hah! You think I'm scared of father!? Please, I'm twice the swordsman he is. There's no way I'll lose."
"I wasn't talking about your physical capacity. Well, it's not like you'll listen to me anyway." The man says with a small shrug and a smirk. "In any case, thanks for the new toys. Trace, on!"
And then, a familiar red blade appears in his grip.
"What the-!?" Mordred exclaims.
"Wait, is that projection magecraft!?" Olga Marie yells over her holographic link.
"[Clarent.." The man snarls, blade glowing as he points it towards us.
"[Ath nGabla]." says Cu, and a crimson circle appears around the two of them.
"Tch." says Archer, blade disappearing from his grip. "So you placed the runes as you were moving, huh? How troublesome."
"What, not gonna try and use it on me?" says Caster with a smirk.
"And leave myself wide open to your [Wicker Man]? As if."
"So, same as always then?" Cu says, grinning as his staff ignites and he assumes a spear stance with it.
"Same as always." Archer replies, and a pair of dao-patterned shortswords appear in his hands.
Cu lunges, his staff smashing against Archer's blades, which crack under the force of the blow. For a moment, I think Caster has already sealed the deal - but then Archer drops the blades, a new pair appearing in his hands
"Well?" Cu calls out. "Get going! I've got him trapped fighting only me, and Saber's not gonna kill herself! I'll catch up with you in five minutes or so!"
"Heh. Don't die, Cu Chulainn! You still owe me that fight!" Mordred yells as we walk past the two.
"Worry about yourself!" He says with a chuckle, and we proceed deeper into the Ryuudou Temple.
***
Hanam leads us to a cave, deep within the forest behind the Temple, and we follow him in.
"So, Saber is in here, huh?" I mutter. It's one hell of a place for a king to have hidden himself away - more like the type of thing a Western dragon would do, now that I think about it.
"...From what I remember, this is the location of the Greater Grail. My recollection of the time after I was [Altered] is hazy, but I remember returning to existence in this cave." He says.
Eventually, the twisting tunnel gives way to a massive cavern. A faint purple light is visible from behind a curved stone wall, lighting the whole cavern. And atop that wall is-!
"Father! I've come to take the Grail off your hands!" Yells Mordred gleefully.
The woman on the wall gazes down on us. I can see the resemblance - their faces are almost completely identical. But Arthur's hair is tied back into a neat bun as opposed to Mordred's sloppy ponytail, and the differences only get bigger from there. Arthur's eyes are cold yellow as opposed to Mordred's green, and her armor is dark black as opposed to Mordred's silver.
She says nothing in response to Mordred. She merely raises her blade and…
"[Excalibur…"
Oi, she's opening with her strongest move!?
"Mash!"
"Yes, Senpai! Pseudo-deployment, begin! [Lord…Chaldeas]!" She yells, the now-familiar white wall appearing in front of us.
"...Morgan]!" roars Arthur, and darkness pours forth from her blade.