"ow….."
Gudako rubbed her cheek and felt the sting from where the Director had slapped her. She flipped off the door to the room where everyone else was and turned around to see the pink haired girl looking at her with her head tilted to the side,
"What was that hand gesture you just made Senpai? I didn't sense any mana when you performed it…."
Seriously how sheltered can you get….
Putting her hand into her pocket she decided to change the subject to the white fluffball sitting on the other girls shoulder,
"uhh… Don't worry about it. Anyway….Do you want to explain why this…. Okay what is Fou anyway? And is that his name or his species or what?"
She watched as Mash reached up to scratch under Fous chin causing him to purr while she thought to herself for a few seconds,
"Well...The first thing that came into my mind when I thought about what to call him was 'Fou' and as for what he is… I don't actually know."
Running a hand through her hair and blowing out her cheeks she looked around,
"Might as well go find something to do while the presentation is going on…."
"oh! Then I can show you to your room senpai!"
"Mash I'm not your-"
She began to say only for Mash to run ahead a bit and then turn around to look at her with that same head tilt as before. Sighing she made sure she had everything that she went into the room with by quickly patting herself down, pausing as she felt the familiar lump in her jacket pocket. Curling her fingers around its shape as she smiled,
Thankfully they let me keep my lucky tsuba.
As she finished checking herself over and, satisfied that she had everything she came into the facility with, gestured for Mash to lead ahead but glanced back at the doors as she walked away,
Sorry Ophie, Sorry Kadoc…. After you guys went and vouched for me too….
"Senpai?"
"Coming!"
Gudako turned around and jogged up to fall into step beside Mash as she talked about the various parts of Chaldea. Content to let the pink haired girl chatter away, she herself looked around the hallways until they passed by some massive windows and she paused to look into the whiteout blizzard beyond them. Mash stopped a few steps ahead,
"When did a blizzard this intense get here…." she muttered touching her fingers to the cold glass.
"Oh the blizzard is there almost every day of the year."
Blinking she looked to her right as Mash came up beside her,
"Every so often though the blizzard subsides and there's this… beautiful pure blue sky. It seems close enough to reach out and touch but... I don't think I'll ever be able to.... anyway! Let me show you the rest of the facilities."
After showing Gudako the Cafeteria, rec-floor, alongside five different other areas they eventually they stopped in front of a door,
"This is your room Senpai. It should already be keyed to your biometrics so just place your palm on the scanner and it should open."
Mash nodded and began to walk away as Gudako scrutinized the keypad in the wall.
"Right…. Hey Mash?"
The pink haired girl turned around,
"What squad are you on anyway? Shouldn't you be in there listening to the presentation instead of walking me around?"
Gudako asked, turning to look at the other girl who paused and seemed to force a smile,
"I'm in Squad A. Its full of super elite mages and… as for whether or not I should have been in there with them….."
The girl shook her head as if shaking off an unpleasant thought and waved farewell before she jogged back down the hallway. Gudako watched her leave and then turned to the door, placed her palm on the scanner, felt the spell go off, and then once it confirmed who she was the door slid open with a soft hiss. Upon stepping through she paused as a man with red hair who had been sitting on the bed eating chips panicked,
"Hey! This rooms vacant! This is my secret spot to relax so get out of here!"
"Sooo…. About that. This is apparently my room and you better not be getting crumbs on my bed."
Gudako said folding her arms as the man looked at her realization dawning in his eyes,
"Ohhhh…. You're one of the Masters we recruited from the general public aren't you? Why aren't you in the presentation with everyone else?"
The man slid himself to the edge of the bed as she walked into her new room and looked around.
"I was kicked out by the director. I don't think she likes me very much."
"That makes the both of us then." The man said mirthlessly as he shook his head, "Still… She has big shoes to fill and frankly she hasn't had the time or space to grow into them properly…"
After looking around her room a bit she pulled a chair over from a nearby table to sit nearby the bed. She held out her hand and gave the man a look before he rolled his eyes and held out the bag of chips. After reaching in to grab some chips and eating a few,
"So, whats this about the Director and shoes?"
"Oh- Uhh… ah! Right!"
The man quickly wiped his hand on his pants which is when she noticed that he was wearing medical scrubs. He held out his hand to shake,
"Dr. Romani Archiman. Pleasure to meet you. Everyone calls me Dr. Roman."
"Gudako Fujimaru. Reject Master." She said grinning and shaking his hand as they both chuckled.
"I highly doubt they'll reject you Ms. Fujimaru. We need all the help we can get if I'm being honest."
Gudako hummed at this and grabbed some more chips. They fell into silence.
"So… Aside from the director. Have you met anyone else?"
"I met this girl called Mash, some squirrel-cat-rabbit thing called Fou, and this guy with a weird green top hat called Lev Laniur."
She said ticking off her fingers and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Romani paused for a fraction of a second when she said Levs name.
Bad blood between them?
...None of my business.
"Aside from them and the Director I haven't met or talked with anyone else. Mash found me asleep in the middle of the hallway actually a little bit after I first arrived."
"Oh? Do you suffer from insomnia?"
Gudako leaned back a bit her eyes widening at Romani's sudden interest as he leaned forward towards her,
"Apparently when you do the simulator battle you can fall asleep afterwards… which I... guess happened to me?"
She said trailing off uncertainly as she watched Romani look at her with renewed interest,
"Do you remember the simulator battle? How did you feel during it?"
Arching an eyebrow she asked,
"What do you mean?"
"The Servants. What did you think of them?"
"I… didn't? Servants are just personalities from history overlaid onto a familiar right?"
"Ah. Yes that… is what Servants are in… the most technical and literal sense."
Looking away from the man she briefly wondered why he said it that way.
Should I not view them as just familiars then?
She thought about it some more as she ate another chip,
Well… If I was summoned as a Servant I'd want to be treated like someone who lived as a person and not viewed as some disposable familiar or tool...
Opening her mouth to ask Romani his thoughts about her current line of thinking she was suddenly knocked off her chair to the floor as an explosion rocked the base. Romani swore and ran to something mounted in the wall as she stood up and shook herself out while the man frantically yelled into what she realized was a wall mounted terminal,
"What do you mean you can't see!? The cameras are offline!?!"
He punched the wall next to the terminal and then stiffened to look back at her, firming his jaw clearly about to speak,
"What can I do to help."
Gudako saw Romanis face go through several different emotions as he heard her say what she did before eventually settling on grim determination,
"The explosion was centered in the room where the presentation was being held. The cameras are offline and the mana detectors are going haywire so its safe to assume we are under attack. As for what or by who I don't know but we need to move."
Opening the door they entered the darkened hallway that was being lit a eerie blood red by the klaxon lights. She began to run only for Romani to grab her arm,
"Not that way! We need to get to the evacuation tunnels. Come on!"
"People might need help though in the presentation room! Aren't you a doctor?!"
Romani wore a pained expression on his face and opened his mouth to respond. A metallic clunk sounded from further ahead of her and she watched as two giant walls of metal began to close off the corridor.
Gudako ripped her arm out of Romanis hand and ran,
"If anyones alive I'll bring them back! So get ready to operate! Got it?"
She yelled over her shoulder as she ran to the closing bulkhead, dropped into a slide, and got under it before she pushed off the floor to keep running. As she did so the smell of smoke got stronger and stronger along with… a different smell. A smell that made her gut curl in on itself as she flashed back over five years. Shaking her head clear as best she could she refocused,
"It was around here somewhere….aha!"
Finding the doors to the room was easy enough and she managed to pull them apart just enough for her to slip through after using reinforcement magecraft. She got onto the other side of the doors, ignoring the burning sensation coming from her circuits, and held her sleeve up to her mouth as she began to yell,
"Is anyone alive?"
"Can anyone hear me!?"
"Hello!?!"
She walked down into the pit behind the room and felt bile in her mouth as she saw the bodies of everyone who had been in the presentation. Quickly swallowing the bile back down she went from body to body going from the ones in the weird tubes to the people on the ground,
"They're… all dead. Did no one-"
"Se- Senpai?"
Gudako whirled around and her eyes locked onto bright pink that was under a part of the collapsed ceiling. She ran over and slid onto her knees as Mash looked up at her with wonder in her eyes,
"You… Came back…"
"After an explosion that big I couldn't just stand by. Are you hurt besides…"
She gestured at the rubble,
"I'm… a bit tired if I'm being honest Senpai…"
Gudakos eyes widened,
"DO NOT FALL ASLEEP. UNDERSTAND? I'll go get help just-"
Another explosion from the room overseeing the area they were in went off and for the briefest moments Gudako thought she saw something green only for her attention to be dragged back to Mash as she coughed up blood.
"Shit I- What-"
"Senpai? Could I… ask a favor?"
"Name it." Gudako said as she tried to get under the rubble pinning Mash to the ground. She fired her circuits and immediately felt the strain of trying to reinforce herself twice. She grit her teeth and pushed only for the rubble to barely move.
"Senpai…. Senpai? Its getting hard to see you..."
"Yeah Mash, hang on. I'm trying to lift-"
"Could you…. hold my hand?"
Gudako froze as she flashed back again. She watched as her brother reached out to her to try and hold her hand before he was carried away by the doctors who swore they would help him. Gritting her teeth she went back to kneel in front of Mash.
"Of course."
She said smiling her best smile. Mash stared up at her with awe in her eyes and slowly raised her arm up but didn't have the strength to maintain it as her arm began to drop only for Gudako to catch her hand. She felt the girl firm her grip around her fingers,
"Your hand is…. warm….."
A giant flash of brilliant white light was the last thing Gudako saw as Mash smiled at her happily.
#####
"-npai? Hello?!"
Gudako grimaced and curled up into a ball determined to sleep some more,
"Five more minutes…."
"No! Senpai wake up! I need you to give me orders!"
Gudako opened an amber eye to glare at the person yelling at her only to open both of them in shock before quickly sitting upright. She was in the middle of a ruined building, there was smoke in the air, and even with her lackluster circuits she could sense the residual mana all around her.
"Oh good. Senpa- No. Master! Give me your orders!"
She quickly looked over and saw Mash but-
"Wait. Mash!? When did you change clothes? Whats with that giant shield!? Where the fuck are we!?!"
Mash turned to look at her and Gudako paused at the look in her eyes causing her to firm her jaw then stand up, shaking out her limbs. As she did so she looked herself over seeing that aside from some light burn damage the clothes Chaldea had given her were fine. She walked over to Mash only for her to making a shushing motion with one finger and then signal her to move quietly. Dropping into a half crouch Gudako came up beside her noticing that the girl was hiding behind a collapsed support pillar and then sucked in a breath seeing the sheer number of risen skeletons just from where she was,
"We have enemies in front and to the sides of us. What are your orders?"
Mash asked quietly as Gudako hissed back,
"You keep asking me for orders, I don't know what you-"
The other girl grabbed her right wrist and held up her hand in front of her eyes causing her to blink as she stared opened mouthed at the red marks on the back of her hand,
"You are the only Master right now that can give orders to Servants. Which includes me."
Mash looked at her expectantly as her mind whirled with a million questions. As she was about to ask why Mash meant by that her danger sense flashed an alarm and she quickly grabbed Mash's shoulder to pull them both behind the pillar. She felt sweat drip down her neck and listened for what set it off not having to wait long.
"Maste-"
"shhhhhhhhhh."
Gudako shushed Mash and held her hand over her mouth as she felt a presence seemingly appear out of nowhere on the street in front of them. What immediately followed was a mass of clattering and the screeching of hundreds of undead followed by a rapid fire thunking sound that she didn't recognize. After almost three minutes of the thunking noise it cut off like someone had thrown a switch, then the presence vanished, and Gudako waited for another minute before she cautiously looked up and over the pillar. She narrowed her eyes as she caught the lingering trails of dispersing mana from the remains of the defeated undead.
"Whoever that was took care of every undead in under three minutes. There had to be at least three hundred…. We need to move to someplace less open."
She said firmly as she vaulted over the pillar and slowly moved to the entrance of the building glancing over her shoulder hearing the clank of armor behind her to see Mash following closely. Giving the other girl a once over and frowning she decided to ask about where the armor came from later before stopping just short of the door leading out to the ruined street holding out a hand to stop Mash from going further.
Bending down she picked up a few random stones, filled one with a bit of mana feeling a bit of strain in the process, and then tossed it out into the street where it bounced a few times before coming to a stop on the far side.
"What are you-"
"I'm testing for something. Hang on."
Gudako said softly as she remembered the lessons her mother had taught her alongside the survival classes she had taken at her fathers insistence.
Three seconds passed with nothing.
"Am I just being paranoid…?" She muttered to herself as she stepped out of the door frame and into the street.
"What were you expecting to happen?" Mash asked. Gudako turned her head to look at her,
"Some undead are drawn to mana and I wanted to make sure that there weren't any left." She half lied as she walked over to the stone. She bent down to pick it up and looked around, frowning.
Seems the mystery man who killed all of them wasn't tracking us based on mana….
Assuming we are being tracked at all.
She firmed her lips,
"We need to find shelter first and foremost. From there we can plan on how to…" Gudako trailed off as she felt a chill run down her spine seconds before she heard someone screaming for help. She was moving before she could even think about it as Mash called after her and, after sprinting in the direction of the scream, turned a corner to see-
"Thats-"
Gudako froze as she saw easily a hundred more undead clawing up at a woman with silver hair and expensive clothes who was standing on top of several cars in a partially sunken part of the road. Mash rounded the corner and paused her eyes wide before looking at her expectantly. Noticing her look she grit her teeth,
"Mash. We're rescuing the Director. I don't know how much help I'll be but be sure not to use mana beyond what you need to use to fight… and be safe."
"Yes Master! Orders Received!"
Gudako shielded her face from the windshear as Mash jumped into the air, held her shield in front of her, and then crashed down into the edge of the mob of undead. She quickly cut her way through the horde, using the edge of the shield along with the four prongs as a weapon, until she finally swung the shield up in an uppercut and blew the final skeleton apart. Sliding down into the depression she jogged over as Mash jumped up onto the cars, grabbed the director, and then jumped back down,
"My thanks for the rescue Mash Kyr- YOU!?"
She firmed her lips at the Directors shock and folded her arms.
"Where is Team A? Lev? Where-"
"I'm sorry Director…" Mash said lowering her head as the white haired woman was shocked into silence.
"Look. I get that you need to process this but-"
"How are you even here?! I removed you from the lecture!!" the woman shrieked. Gudako quickly moved forward and covered her mouth her her hand as they glared at each other,
"Right now we are in enemy territory. Any noise we make will draw people or worse to us. Would you like to have your breakdown here in the open or someplace safe?"
Gudako tried to not let her irritation slip through but clearly didn't a good enough job as the Director narrowed her eyes at her, grabbed her hand, and removed it from in front of her mouth.
"We will discuss what happened once we have found shelter."
Groaning she watched as the white haired woman stuck her nose up at her and turned on her heel.
"I'm surprised you had the courage to cover her mouth Senpai…." Mash said in wonder. Gudako glanced at the girl and rolled her shoulders to loosen her muscles.
"Might as well follow Ms. Richie Rich and see if that gets us anywhere." She muttered as she followed the Director along the road.
#####
"What do you mean you can't cast magecraft?" Gudako asked incredulous as Olga Marie Animusphere stammered and fidgeted under her gaze. They were on the second floor of a small konbini that seemed to be relatively intact at least structurally after they had been wandering around for several hours during which Mash had more than proven her worth as a Servant. The girl had gone out to scout around while Gudako and Olga had stayed put.
Dr. Roman had gotten in touch with them as well and informed Olga of the status of the Chaldea base which had been half an hour ago. Gudako sighed and ran her fingers through her hair as she thought to herself. The idea was that Olga would set up bounded fields to alert them if anyone came calling but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen.
"I can't use any magecraft so- Its not like I haven't been trying you know!" Olga said angrily as she kicked an empty can across the floor from where they were sitting. Gudako took in a slow breath to calm her nerves as she rested her chin in her hand. After a few seconds she stood up and began to walk towards the stairs.
"Where are you going!?"
She looked over her shoulder at Olgas panicked face and firmed her lips,
"Since we can't put up bounded fields or wards due to you not being able to cast spells for whatever and my circuits, as you so kindly put it in the meeting being 'utter commoner trash', I figured I'd try to make something to at least give us the time to get up to the roof and escape if we have to."
Turning back around she walked downstairs sensing that Olga was following her. Sighing she began to look around for what she needed and after finding everything she set about making some metal can alarms. Olga watched clearly intrigued only to freeze when she was handed a finished alarm.
"Go hang this just behind the front door so that when the door hits it, it makes noise. Don't hang it where it can be seen from the outside."
"Where… None of this was ever taught at the Clocktower…" She muttered as Gudako handed her a hand stapler she had also found.
"Of course it wasn't. I've always had to adapt and think ahead due to my shit tier magecraft and equally shit circuits as you and everyone else have been so kind to point out every chance you get. The thing is with all you people who are rich -either in money or circuits- is that you rely on them too much and don't try to learn anything beyond them. These can alarms? They were used in 1940s during the Second Great War. Soldiers would tie a spent casing inside each can on the string so that when something or someone touched any part of it the entire thing would make this awful jangling noise which would then alert the squad that they were being flanked by the enemy."
She explained as she walked over to examine Olgas work. She nodded, gave Olga a quick 'Good job', pat her on the shoulder, and then moved to hang her own alarm completely missing Olgas blush at the praise. After this was done they went back upstairs to wait for Mash to get back.
"She should have been back by now…" Olga muttered after a few minutes of tense silence. Gudako bounced her foot and nodded slowly.
"We can either wait for her to get back or-"
A loud jangling sound came from below them followed by cursing.
"That… didn't sound like Mash." Olga said as she locked eyes with Gudako.
"We need to move. NOW!" Gudako said as they both raced for the service ladder that led to the roof. As they did so fire shot through the floor and blew apart the ceiling.
"Keep going!" She yelled.
"Hey! Little Lady!" came a mans voice from below.
"Not interested!" Gudako shouting behind her as Olga got to the roof first.
Just a few more rungs. Then we can-
Gudako yelped as she felt something crawl over her ankles pinning her to the ladder. She looked down and saw that the wooden floor boards had suddenly grown tree limbs which had wrapped around her ankles. Reaching down she began to tear at the bark as someone came upstairs causing her to activate her circuits for the third time that day, immediately feeling like she had fire running through her limbs. Aiming with her fingers she fired a gandr shot that shot over the top of the stairs.
A clean miss.
"That wasn't very nice."
Gritting her teeth in pain and clinging to the ladder, she watched as a man with blue hair and robes as well as a staff, came up the stairs. He looked at her and then she noticed his red eyes flick above her to the roof before he ran a hand over his face,
"Don't even try it. You'll just embarrass yourself."
Silence and then a clattering of several cans came from above Gudakos head as Olga peeked through the hole in the ceiling.
"How did you even find us and-"
"Where is Mash. What did you do to her?"
Gudako spat as she willed the pain from her overused circuits to weaken. The man raised his eyebrows.
"Nothing. I just got here ahead of her. She helped me and I figured I'd return the favor."
He tapped his staff on the floorboards and the wood retreated from around Gudako's ankles. She gingerly went back down the ladder, limped over to stand in front of the man noting that the sense he gave off wasn't human, and glowered up at him as all he did was quirk an eyebrow at her,
"Been a while since anyone's given me a glare like that." he half chuckled and then he stiffened as Olga dropped down from the ladder herself before narrowing his eyes at her and then looking back to Gudako.
"How… much do either of you know about whats going on here? How did you even get here?"
"Nothing beyond that it looks like someone brought Hell up to the surface. As for how we got here..." Gudako said folding her arms and glancing at Olga who nodded and began to explain the purpose of Chaldea. The man sighed after she finished and tapped his staff on the floor causing the floorboards to morph into a stump that he sat down on with a tired groan,
"This Hellscape as you so aptly put it was the location of a Holy Grail War that went sideways. I am Caster, as you can tell, but I'll be keeping my true name to myself for now. I'm also more than likely the only servant left who hasn't given themselves over to the source of this blasted place."
Gudako blinked as Olga tilted her head clearly curious,
"Did someone override the Master/Servant contract? That shouldn't be possible."
"Not someone Missy. Something. The war's over and all the servants that fought in it now fight a never ending war themselves, Never quite dying but never coming back as they were before."
Olga went silent,
"Caster."
"Hm?"
"You said this entire city was the site of a Holy Grail War but…" Gudako shook her head as her stomach growled. The man chuckled, reached into his robes, and pulled out an apple. He offered it to her and she eyed it warily.
"While its smart to be suspicious of free gifts little lady," He said chuckling as he flicked his hand and caused a second apple to appear behind the first, "I'd like to think I'm above poison."
He tossed the second apple into his free hand, letting his staff rest on his shoulder, and took a bite out of it before extending the first apple to Gudako again.
"...Fine."
She took the apple from his hand and looked it over eventually taking a bite and her eyes widened at the taste and texture. Before she knew it she had eaten the apple to the core.
"Master?"
Gudako smiled hearing Mash's voice,
"Upstairs with Caster!"
"Okay! Be up in a-"
More noisy jangling followed by an audible yelp came from below them. Caster chuckled and closed an eye as he pretended not to notice Mash's blush as she came up the stairs.
_____
"So you've taken out Rider and Lancer?" Olga asked causing Caster to nod.
Gudako was sitting by a window and lost in her own thoughts when Mash gently touched her shoulder making her jump in place,
"Sorry Senpai but…. Earlier where you woke up- I've felt something was off since then. I've been sensing a lot but while you were asleep I thought I sensed two distinct mana profiles…"
"Oh so you've sensed both of them too? Thought I was going insane for a bit there."
Gudako looked past Mash and arched an eyebrow at Caster who shrugged,
"'Them'? Who the hell would want to come here?"
"That I don't know but they've made a right mess of the place since they got here. One of them crashed through a building but was still alive so I led the other one to them. Call it a whim of the moment. However what I didn't realize was that that damn Archer had been tracking either me or them. He got to the person who had crashed before I could and I didn't see what happened next but I know for a fact I felt a bizarre combination of mana, holy energy, and hell energy that I know I hadn't ever felt before. The source of said combination actually managed to drive off Archer so I wouldn't want to mess with them if I were you. Anyone that can drive off that bow bastard is someone you don't want to mess with."
Gudako tilted her head,
"Have you and this archer fought before?"
Caster chuckled darkly,
"You could say that. You could also say that we're Fated to fight each other to the death anytime we meet. Got nothing against the guy professionally but I just don't like him. Simple as that."
"Is there anything different about this time?"
"Well there's the fact I'm a Caster and not a Lancer for one thing."
"Are you not normally a Caster?" Gudako asked causing the man to chuckle.
"Not normally no. I guess I learned enough Runes however to be summoned as one."
"Runes?" Olga asked curiously causing the man to nod and extend a finger. He conjured a single shape made of blue mana above his finger.
"Runes don't require any vocal component so they are faster to cast than normal spells. They also have the benefit of being able to be combined to produce or enhance an effect."
He dispersed the mana and stood up, stretching as he did so. He tapped his staff on the floor boards causing them to grow until they formed a walkable surface and then looked at Gudako smirking a little.
"As the only Master left alive in this hellhole you're going to need a quick crash course in what it means to be one if you're gonna survive from here on out. Follow me. There's a leyline nearby."
She firmed her lips and stood up with Mash soon following her as they all left through the backdoor to the shop and began to walk for several minutes. Just as Gudako was getting suspicious they turned a corner of the street and her eyes landed on the ruins of an old European style manor that looked vaguely familiar. Caster paused and looked back at her grinning,
"No need to worry about who 'owns' this leyline. They're dead and long buried."
"And if they're not?" Olga asked worriedly as Caster walked forward and opened the front gate with a loud metallic creak, "This is a Magus families estate is it not? Surely they would have survived…"
Gudako was about to comment when her gaze was drawn to one of the windows on the upper floor and she stared at the opaque glass while squinting her eyes to see if she could see it again.
There was a flicker of something sapphire blue from the room behind that window.
Which means…
Mash came up beside her and followed her gaze,
"Master? Did you see something?"
Flicking her eyes to the girl next to her she feigned a smile as she stretched before walking onto the grounds without any hesitation before Mash or Olga could stop her. She stopped right beside Caster who had arched his eyebrows at her either in surprise or grudging respect. Deciding it was respect she walked further past him, right up to the front door doing her best to remember what her mother had mentioned the few times she talked about when she had trained with one of the Magus families in Fuyuki.
Assuming this is even the same house...
"Gudako what are you-"
She heard Olga cut off her question as she knelt down in front of the door and briefly channeled mana into a specific brick. Grinning she watched as the wards in the house briefly flickered visibly in the air and everyone tensed as she pushed the brick in and to the side managing to get the tip of her finger on the surface of an outer wardstone. Praying to whatever god might be listening that it would accept her crap circuits she attempted to attune herself to what was left of the wards and bounded fields. There was a faint buzzing sound in the back of her mind and then she felt the wards attune themselves to her causing her to breathe out a sigh of relief before she pulled her arm out and made sure to reset the brick,
"Not sure how much of a home there is left but come on in. We should be safe here at least for a bit."
Gudako gripped the door handle and felt it unlock right before she pushed it open to step into the ruins of the manor.
~~~~~~~~~
They quickly found rooms for themselves but all within reach to help if needed. Caster set about reinforcing the wards and bounded fields after she had told him what she knew of her mothers magecraft along with what she could remember of the people she had trained with. She had watched him go off and then walked over to a burnt armchair to collapse into it, closing her eyes and leaning her head back onto the chair, tempted to lose herself in the soft cushions and just sleep for a few minutes.
Eventually she opened her eyes as she heard Mash yelp from somewhere nearby and she found the girl muttering anxiously in the kitchen clearly having attempted to get some canned goods off of a tall shelf. Smiling sheepishly the other girl looked at her,
"Sorry Master I just- Master?"
Gudako blinked as she felt a single tear leak from her eye. She quickly rubbed her face on her sleeve and grinned at Mash,
"Its nothing. I take it you were looking for some food?"
Mash stared at her and then nodded,
"I was actually. You and Olga still need to eat due to being human. I'm not sure about Caster but I'm fine without food for a few days."
Right as she said this her stomach grumbled loudly enough for them both to hear it causing Gudako arch a single eyebrow while her lips curved up into a smile as Mash's face burned scarlet. She walked past the other girl and began to rummage through the cabinets herself,
"How about making food for all of us then. Lets see what we have…."
Several minutes later they had found some camping supplies in a storage closet that she had set up along with a set of matches while Mash worked on opening the cans. She looked at all the cans to try and figure out what she could make with it when Caster came back looking satisfied,
"Defenses are upgraded as best as I could make them. They should keep everything out short of a servant or a really determined monster but by that point we'll have escaped or fought it off," He glanced down and tilted his head at what she and Mash were doing before he suddenly grinned, "If you're making food I should be able to help. I can at least make sure its not burned."
Gudako smiled and waved him over to sit before she went back to looking at the cans eventually settling on mixing four cans together in a relatively undamaged pot Mash had found. Soon enough the smell of food began to waft through the house followed by the sound of a door opening above them not long after. Gudako grinned at Caster who just smiled and shook his head before turning to spirit form as Olga came into the room,
"I want some."
She raised her eyebrows, tempted to poke fun at the lack of decorum, but decided against it.
"Come on over and take a seat. Should be done cooking in another minute or two. Not sure what kind of meals you ate as the Daughter of a Lord but-"
"I'm hungry now and it smells good. What more do you want me to say?"
Chuckling to herself she turned the camp stove burner down to low which is when she realized they didn't have any bowls and turned to ask Mash who caught her look,
"Bowls right? On it. I'll try to find some that are in one piece."
She stood up and jogged out of the room then around the corner out of their sight. Gudako eyed Olga who noticed her staring,
"What."
"Would you rather me interrogate you on what the hell Mash is before or after you've eaten?"
Olga visibly winced at this and her gaze flicked to the door where the pink haired girl had left as she bit her lip. She looked back at Gudako who just raised her eyebrows in an unspoken prompt causing the other woman to sigh,
"Mash… is a demi-servant. She was… is a test tube baby and was entirely created and raised within Chaldea itself with the sole purpose of merging a Heroic Spirit with a human. Chaldea summoned a few servants before the Master Selection process started with the idea being that one of them would merge with Mash. Except they didn't. They told us we were monsters for trying to even attempt it and refused to help us in any way shape or form."
"Well they were all damn right to think that." Gudako said flatly making Olga wince again. She stirred the pot waiting for Olga to keep talking since she clearly needed to get this off her chest by how bitter her voice was,
"And yet for some reason one of them did merge with Mash. Hence why she has the abilities of a Heroic Spirit inspite of being human."
Gudako remembered something Mash had said only hours earlier.
"Every so often the blizzard subsides and there's this...beautiful pure blue sky. It seems close enough to reach out and touch but... I don't think I'll ever be able to."
"Just to make sure of something. You aren't the one who ordered that shit to happen did you?"
"No. No I wasn't. That… was my father. If I knew I would have spoken out against it… for all the good it would have done."
Gudako hummed approvingly right as Mash came back with four bowls which she quickly filled with food before handing a bowl to Mash then giving Olga her portion and looking around, waited a bit for Caster to show up, but then eventually poured herself her own bowl. She noticed that Mash had also gotten them silverware and she quickly scooped some of the food into her mouth sighing happily at the taste,
"Could use some salt…" Olga muttered only for her eyes to widen as she opened her mouth to apologize right as Gudako chuckled,
"Yeah it could use some salt couldn't it. What about you Mash? What do you think of it?"
"Its really good. I've never had anything like it before… What is it? I couldn't read the cans."
Gudako leaned over and picked up the cans she had used,
"'Canned beef', 'sliced veggies', and some condensed beef broth along with canned water. Only thing missing is rice and we'd have everything for campfire curry."
Gudako ate another spoonful of the soup and savored the taste as the only sounds for a bit were the sounds of food being eaten. After she had set aside a bowl for Caster she stood up and stretched,
"Alright. I'm gonna explore the house a bit. See what I can find. Who knows maybe we'll find some magecraft thing to get us out of here."
Olga gave her a look that she ignored as she walked out of the room and upstairs mentally tracing where the room would be that that sapphire flash had been in. Eventually she came to a stop outside a closed door on the third floor that had a bounded field on it that was kept separate from the rest of the houses wards. She frowned, examined it, and then sighed while shaking her head fondly as a soft smile curved her lips,
"For someone who's always telling me to outgrow my bad habits its a bit ironic to see you doing the same stuff now that you've apparently been doing since before I even was born."
She turned around on the spot and lifted her gaze to an AC vent on the ceiling before she activated her circuits, ignored the brief flash of pain, and aimed a gundo shot at the vent. She fired at the vent causing a sharp cracking sound and then as expected the vent dissolved to show a cracked ruby embedded in the ceiling. After shaking the ache out of her arm she felt the bounded field behind her fall apart before she turned around to open the door and enter the room.
What struck her immediately was the state the room was in. The bed was unmade, there were clothes all over the floor as though the occupant couldn't decide what to wear for that day, and there was a small stand with a cracked mirror on it that had various make up bottles and other beauty supplies sitting on it. Gudako slowly walked over to the stand and caught sight of her reflection for the first time since she had gotten here,
"Damn… I look rough."
She chuckled mirthlessly to herself as she idly touched a lock of her ash-covered orange hair. Her face was covered in soot and the jacket that Chaldea had given her had several tears in one sleeve while the other sleeve was partially burnt. Looking down at her slacks she frowned seeing that they were ripped and torn as well. Sighing she looked around and her gaze lingered on the clothes on the floor,
"...Surely we're not that different in sizes right? How old did she say she was when she was training here…?"
Several minutes later Gudako was openly smirking as she pulled the shoulder straps of the bra off of her shoulders,
"I knew I was bigger than her when she was my age. Means I won that particular bet… assuming I ever get back to cash in on it."
Frowning she looked at the outfit she had picked out. It was a black-grey pleated skirt, a red cropped spaghetti tank top that exposed her midriff, as well as a grey and white cropped zip-up hoodie. Quickly getting changed she noticed that as soon as the clothes touched her skin they seemed to mold to her form causing her to raise her eyebrows,
"I know mom is proud of her figure but turning clothes into mystic codes purely to show off your curves? ….I actually can't even make fun of her for that. If I had the mana and skill I'd do it to."
Turning to look at her reflection in the mirror she struck a few poses, spun around, and then sighed closing her eyes as she checked the wards she was linked to again.
"Still nothing… then why do I still feel like I'm being watched…."
She muttered to herself as she pulled the tsuba out of her old jacket and held it in her hand noting as usual that it wasn't anything impressive beyond the fact that it was old and made of iron. Her dad had brought it back from an archaeological dig off the coast of Tsushima and had given it to her for her sixteenth birthday. As she wrapped her fingers around it she took comfort in the constant warmth that was always coming off of it and put it into an inner pocket of the zip up hoodie she was wearing.
"Alright. New clothes get. Now for the reason I'm here to start with." She turned around to look at a specific bookshelf in a series of them on one wall. Walking up to it she quickly skimmed the titles on the spines of the books on all the shelves before infusing her finger with mana. Feeling herself start to sweat due to the strain she tapped book spines one after another in a specific order moving down the wall,
"A Magic History of Gemcraft… The Odds and Ends of Mr. Penderson…. The Britannica World Dictionary volume 16 of 34…." She felt her circuits burning beneath her skin as she tapped the rest of the books before finally tapping the unmarked black spine of the final book causing a clicking sound from the bookshelf she had started at as it moved forward slightly. Shuttering her mana she staggered a bit before standing upright and moving over to the book shelf to grab the edge of it and pull on it causing it to silently open on oiled hinges exposing a floor-to-ceiling wall of jewelers drawers.
She began to pull them open one by one in a specific pattern starting with the top right one not entirely sure what she was looking for but she knew she'd know it when she saw it.
"Aha… there you are." She murmured under her breath as she opened the final drawer in the pattern inside of which sitting on a white velvet silk cushion was a single brilliant sapphire blue pearl. It didn't have any mana coming off it and there was nothing mystical about it either as it appeared to just be a simple pure ocean blue pearl. Gudako reached out and picked up the pearl between two fingers to hold it up to her eyeline as she remembered what her mother had told her a little bit before the same birthday she had gotten her lucky tsuba from her dad,
"If there ever comes a time that you desperately need help and neither your father or I are there to help you, go to Fuyuki, go to the Tohsaka manor and give the current head my old last name. Once you're inside go up to the fourth room on the left of the third floor and enter it. Infuse your fingertip with mana and touch the books on the bookshelves inside in a specific order I'll tell you later. Once the bookshelf opens you'll see every gem I'd ever gotten my hands on. All primed and ready for gem magecraft.
Ignore them.
Go through the drawers starting from the top right in a Golden Ratio pattern and when you get to the final drawer in that pattern open it and take out whats inside. Its something that…. A friend from a far away place gave me when I was about your age. You know the summoning ritual for a Servant right? Use what you find inside as the catalyst alongside something precious to you. Help will come. I promise."
She stared at the pearl and not for the first time felt annoyance at her mother and her constant vagueness. Sighing she stuck the pearl into the same pocket as the tsuba before leaving the room and going back downstairs,
"Alright Caster! Get your ass out here so I can summon my servant."
A shimmering light spawned at the bottom of the stairs and out of it Caster formed grinning at her while he leaned back against a post railing,
"Alright Little Lady. Lets get you your servant."
~~~~~~~
A few minutes later and they were out back behind the manor. Thankfully the wards extended far enough to cover them but Gudako was still nervous watching on as Caster and Mash walked back and forth across the yard trying to find the optimal spot for the summoning since it had to be on a leyline. He looked up at her as Olga came out of the house having changed into different clothes herself,
"Have you ever summoned a servant before Little Lady?"
"Nope. Never had a reason to. I was followed back to my apartment by Chaldea reps and coerced into signing the form to become one of the fourty-eight Masters in Chaldea due to my 'latent rayshift compatibility' whatever the fuck that means."
"I'm sorry- Coerced!?" Olga said outraged, "None of my staff would ever-"
"They promised me a sign on bonus of 500,000USD, a competitive monthly global salary, benefits up to and including dental as well as vision, matching contributions to my retirement up to 40%, and a position of my choice in any department of the Clocktower once Chaldea's mission was completed. Also depending on the quality of servant I first summoned, my salary would be increased appropriately in accordance with my level as a potential Master up to and including upgrading my rank within the Clocktower itself."
Gudako said folding her arms and turning to look at Olga who'd turned white as a sheet. Behind her she heard Caster telling Mash to lay her shield down onto the ground.
"I- Would you be… willing to negotiate once we get back…. Ms. Fujimaru?" she said hoarsely.
"Oh its 'Ms. Fujimaru' now, is it? Not 'Commoner' or any of the other things you called me after you slapped me and ejected me from the meeting?"
Olga winced as Gudako sighed and leaned her head back closing her eyes,
"Fine. We can talk once we get back… just stop… Stop looking like a freshly kicked puppy. Please?"
Olga choked on air,
"A freshly kicked what-"
"If you two are done then we need to get this show started."
Thankful for the change of topic Gudako turned around and noticed that Mash's shield had been placed so that the front of it was facing upwards. As for the spot itself Gudako quickly figured it out as she walked over and felt the density of the mana increase,
"One of the basics of summoning, normally at least, is that you use a leyline to handle the bulk of the mana cost. Normally you'd also have the grail helping too but trust me when I say we don't want the grail interfering with this so I've set up the wards to prevent it from interfering as best I can. Do you have anything on you that can be used as a catalyst?"
"Uhhhhh... Yeah, I do actually." She pulled out the pearl as well as the tsuba from the pocket they had both been in and, once again, she felt warmth from the Tsuba before she noticed that it seemed to pulse in time with the pearl as it warmed as well. Furrowing her brow she looked at them as Caster whistled appreciatively,
"Now THAT is a catalyst. You should be able to get a nice Servant with that."
Olga came over and her mouth fell open as she saw it sitting in Gudakos hand and then looked at her with open shock causing her to give the white haired woman a flat look,
"Okay its just blue pearl and an old iron tsuba my dad found at a dig site so I don't see how either could be a relic or catalyst or whatever. Wouldn't either or both of them need to be waterfalling mana or something?"
"Not... necessarily," Olga said walking over and reaching out to touch the tsuba. Gudako offered it to her to hold causing her to blink and then smile a bit as she took it from her hand with something bordering on reverence, "Relics can be anything and don't have to contain mana. They just need to be something that can be directly tied to the person the Servant was when they were alive."
Caster agreed with a hum and then looked at Gudako who folded her arms and looked around,
"So how are we going to summon a servant without drawing attention to ourselves? I don't see a circle or anything like that."
"We'll use my shield in place of the magic circle." Mash said confidently causing Gudako to blink and glance back at Olga who nodded and handed the tsuba back to her then took a few steps away.
"Then I'll block us from sight so no one bothers us." Caster said, grinning and drawing several runes into the dirt with the end of his staff. The runes glowed blue then green before everyone felt another bounded field envelope them as the wards from the house reinforced themselves further. She looked at the items in her hand and weighed them as she frowned, hesitating,
"Not going to use it little lady?" Caster asked clearly surprised, "You'd get a strong servant with it for sure."
Shaking her head she focused on the shield,
"Its nothing. Just hoping I summon someone I can work with is all since... I'm not much of a mage. I just hope they don't mind that since we'd be partners."
Caster rubbed his chin and seemed to reevaluate her as she placed the tsuba in the center of the shield before placing the pearl where the blade would slide through. She slowly breathed out and nodded at him before looking Mash and Olga. Mash nodded back at her full of confidence while Olga seemed to hesitate her eyes flicking between her and the shield,
"You…. do know the incantation right?" Olga eventually asked, clearly unsure as she took a few more paces away. Gudako rolled her eyes and turned back towards the shield extending her right palm towards it as her command seals seeming to shine from within,
"If I didn't memorize I'm pretty sure my mom would have carved it into my forehead once she heard what I was doing."
Olga blinked,
"Why would your mom do that?"
Gudako focused her mana and channeled it into the shield which began to glow,
"Because she and my dad both fought in a Holy Grail War when she was nineteen. Now be quiet. I need to make sure I don't fuck this up."
She felt her circuits activate again and the pain was immediate causing her to stumble, almost falling to one knee, only for Caster to catch her arm and looking at him through her blurring vision she thought she saw him write a rune on her arm. Immediately her vision cleared and she blinked as the pain vanished. He nodded to her,
"I've blocked your pain receptors. Go on."
He gestured towards the shield and she refocused feeling excitement as for the first time she was able to use her circuits without any pain. She had a feral grin on her face as she started the chant,
Let silver and steel be the essence.
Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.
Let Raven Black be the color I pay tribute to.
Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.
Let the four cardinal gates close.
Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.
The smell of the sea suddenly enveloped them and she could have sworn she heard gulls overhead along with the sound of ocean waves. She refocused on putting mana into the ritual as the shield glowed bright blue while mana began to crackle and arc through the air as she gripped her wrist and her command spells glowed more brightly,
Let it be declared now;
your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword.
Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail.
Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth.
Even through Casters rune she felt her circuits running red hot under her skin. She felt her grin take on a mad edge as she poured more mana into the shield and vaguely heard Mash yell something about a building collapsing as an explosion sounded from somewhere in the distance. She ignored all of it as she reveled in the feeling of being able to use her circuits without any pain,
An oath shall be sworn here.
I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven;
I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell.
##########
She blinked and everything around her changed.
She was standing on a beach with perfectly white sand and an ocean so blue it almost looked painted when suddenly the world around her brightened as a cloud moved overhead and unblocked the sun moments before she heard humming from behind her. Turning around in place her eyes widened as she saw a woman with pale white skin and a blue, grey, and white kimono tied to show off her curves along with wooden geta. Her hair was a vibrant red mane that reached down to her calves but it was what was coming out of her head that made Gudako suck in a breath.
From just behind her hairline were two horns shaped like flowing pearl white coral branches which were decorated with gold and silver jewelry that caught the light and glimmered like stars. The woman came up to stand beside Gudako who openly stared at her before she sighed and shook her head, frowning out at the ocean,
"It would seem that my help is required after all."
Gudako watched as she reached into her kimono sleeve and withdrew a silver and white fan which she flicked open with a rattling snap. She pivoted in place and wind began to blow by them as she settled into a pose that reminded Gudako of some of the martial arts stances she knew. One leg was positioned behind the other while her left arm was held upright at an angle and the unfolded fan was being held at her left hip in her right hand. The ocean itself seemed to pause as the woman held the stance for several seconds.
Then out of nowhere mana pulsed off of her as the wind increased from a light breeze to a windstorm in half a second while she swung the fan up and away from her hip to collide with her left hand above her head which collapsed the fan with a rattling snap. As the fan snapped shut a funnel of water began to form out of the ocean a couple hundred meters out that only seemed to grow more and more violent as it moved away from the mainland.
"Fufufufufufu~ Enjoy your trip to the bottom of the sea you bastards."
She looked from the hurricane that the woman had created back to her and saw for the briefest moments a melancholic sadness on her face right before she heard a mans voice behind them. Immediately the womans face brightened and she twirled on the spot to hold out two fingers in a victory sign as the man spoke,
"Yes. Victory to you. Although I'm sure you would have rather gone out there and fought them yourself."
The woman huffed and rolled her eyes which Gudako noticed at that moment were the same shade of blue as the pearl she had found and yet they were clearly draconic as the slit pupils seemed dilate slightly looking in the direction of the mans voice,
"As if anyone in that pitiful collection of boats they call a fleet is worth my personal time. No. The hurricane I sent is more than what they deserve. Now then~"
The woman walked back up the beach and Gudako turned around to see her walking towards a man in a simple black kimono with a gold cord tying it shut and ocean blue hair tied in a bun who just shook his head fondly,
"I think I deserve a kiss."
She demanded as the man chuckled. She looped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her as he responded,
"Of course, my beautiful Dragon Goddess."
___________
Gudako blinked again and she was back in the yard. She had an idea of who that woman was but if her hunch was right she'd need to put her entire being and then some into this ritual. Shunting every last bit of mana she had into the shield caused it to move from a steady blue glow to rapidly spinning and shifting in the colors of the rainbow. She tasted blood in her mouth but she didn't care as she roared,
From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power,
come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!
An explosion of steam blew out of the shield that knocked Gudako back several meters to land on her back, knocking the wind out of her as Caster swore in a language she didn't know while she heard Mash shout her name. The area was quickly filled with steam as she sensed a presence that wasn't human a few meters in front of her followed by soft laughter,
"Fufufufufufu~ It would seem that that spoiled brat was correct."
The steam was blown away in an instant as Gudako saw the woman from before flick her fan closed to rest in her other hand. She was wearing different clothes, something very similar to what Gudako had changed into but with jet black jeans and a sleeveless grey fitted t-shirt instead of a skirt and a cropped spaghetti top. Other than that she was identical to the woman she had seen in her vision right down to the shade of blue in her draconic eyes,
"It would seem you have landed in quite the mess… Oh Master Mine~"
She chuckled and the fan vanished into golden motes as she stepped off the shield to walk over to Gudako. Putting a hand on her hip she smiled down at her which is when she noticed that the womans incisors were sharpened like needlepoints,
"Servant, Ruler. Divine Dragon Goddess of the Seas, Storms, and Medicine. My name is Ryujin and I do hope you won't bore me while I'm here."
Servant Profile: Ryujin, Ryūjin, The Dragon Goddess of Seas, Storms, and Medicine
Class: Ruler(currently)
Alignment: Chaotic Balanced
Parameters:
Strength: A+
Endurance: B
Agility: A+
Mana: EX
Luck: C
Noble Phantasm: B(EX++)
Class Skills:
Imperial Privilege EX+: Ryujin has access to this skill in every permutation of herself she can appear in due to her being the direct ancestor of the original Japanese Imperial Family.
Divinity D- => EX: Ryujin deliberately lowered her divinity as low as she could in order for Gudako to be able to summon her. Apparently as Gudako grows in skill she will gradually let more of her divinity out but for right now and as of this entry it is rank "D-".
Riding B+: Why a Ruler such as Ryujin would have the Riding Skill, and one as highly ranked as she does, is unknown. All Ryujin will say is that the reason is personal as she purposely moves away from the topic.
Eternal Arms Mastery A++: Ryujin is surprisingly adaptable when it comes to weapons from almost any age even showing proficiency with modern firearms.
"While I prefer my usual weapons and my fan, I'm fine with just about anything when it comes to weapons. I will never use anything made with ill intent or thats been cursed though. Using anything like that just makes my skin all clammy…"
Personal Skills:
Advanced Multi-Summon: Due to this skill Ryujin is able to be summoned as any of the standard seven classes plus the Ruler class. She has this skill instead of the normal skillset a Ruler Servant would have yet she insists she almost never manifests or is summoned as a Ruler.
Total Offense Ruler Kit: While typically Ruler Servants are sent to simply oversee or guide Holy Grail Wars in need of an Overseer or that have gone off track of their original goal, there are a handful of Ruler-class Servants who possess the required offensive capability by default that is needed to forcefully end entire Grail Wars on their own. Ruler Servants in this third set are sent in by the Grail War System when a Grail War has gone beyond requiring correction and has entered a state where it needs to be stopped by force before the Counterforce itself gets directly involved.
This Skill also allows for Ruler Servants that have it to temporarily change their class to any of the standard seven classes gaining both that classes advantages and disadvantages against the other classes as well as being able to acquire almost any skill associated with said class. Ryujin is able to take this skill further by using her some of her own blood to augment and improve the class and/or skills she obtains into up to a specific power level.
Independant Action A+: She is semi-self sustaining as a Servant due to how Dragons function as masses of mana given form however she can still take in mana from external sources. Generally speaking she doesn't truly need an external mana source to survive as a Servant.
"Mana? Oh, I have plenty of that on my own. Anything extra I might need I'll just get from eating something tasty or taking a quick nap."
True Dragons Blood EX: She only has this skill while in her Ruler origin given that her blood is almost pure liquid mana. Utilizing this fact she can empower or enhance any strike, spell, or skill she might use at the cost of some of her own blood. This in combination with her rank of Independant Action effectively means that she has no need for a Master whatsoever when summoned as a Ruler.
Noble Phantasm:
"Umi no Arashi no Shinseina Zangeki, Origin of Storms and Seas."
Rank: B (EX++)
Type: Anti-Army (World Resetting)
Ryujin in the original myth was the God of Storms and Seas as well as Medicine. They are credited with protecting and nurturing the nation of Japan in its earliest stages as well as being the direct ancestor to the first Japanese Imperial Royal Family. This specific Noble Phantasm has been partially sealed by Ryujin herself in order to protect her allies and those she cares about as well as the world "He" loved so much.
The B-rank version of this Noble Phantasm is based on an event approximately in the 13th century where she created and sent a hurricane to destroy the Mongolian armies that were invading Japan. This manifests specifically as a massive funnel that sucks up and eviscerates anything thats caught in it due to it not being made of water but instead being made of "liquid blades" that cut through anything she wants similar to how a water cutter works. She has total control over the size and force of the funnel but it can never have a larger surface area than the hurricane that destroyed the Mongol Invasion.
The EX++ version of this Noble Phantasm was given the preliminary rank of "World Resetting" for a few reasons as noted by the staff overseeing her ranking. Using the fact that she is the Mother of the woman who would birth the first of the Japanese Imperial family, in addition to her being the God of Storms and Seas, the unsealed version of her Noble Phantasm uses these facts to create a primordial flood that wipes away all Human Civilization leaving only an unbroken ocean's surface. To her knowledge she has never used the fully unsealed version of her Noble Phantasm at any point in her existence.