Arthur had switched roles with Karna. He was now the one carrying Haruka bride-style as he and the Indian lancer flew through the air, heading towards Yggdmillenia Castle. In his arms, Haruka stared ahead almost blankly, and Arthur sent a mental question towards Karna. What happened?
She threatened and almost killed Darnic Prestone Yggdmillenia.
Arthur winced. Back at Chaldea, almost all the Servants shared the idea that their Master shouldn't be the one to shed any blood. Sure, Haruka often threatened Shakespeare or Blackbeard with her Black Keys, but she had never once injured them. When interacting with humans in singularities, she hadn't lifted a single finger to harm any of them and just told the less scrupulous Servants to dispose of them quietly if they were a genuine threat to her life.
Will she be alright?
I don't know. How were things on your end?
Astolfo was ordered by his Master to kill Sieg, but I intervened and Siegfried kept him safe. I held off Astolfo but was then called here, so I'm hoping Siegfried and Frankenstein are able to hold Astolfo off. They had the idea of killing Celenike and getting Astolfo to contract to Haruka, but obviously, she was in the Hanging Gardens and could not do so.
Let us head towards them then. We can talk with the rest of the Black Faction later.
Arthur nodded and with a very small Mana Burst, he changed course to where he had originally been on the battlefield. From his height, he could see Astolfo and Siegfried clashing, with Sieg not far behind at Frankenstein's side. Celenike hadn't approached Sieg.
Haruka spoke up then, her voice sounding normal. "Arthur, is Celenike still alive?"
"She was just before you called me," Arthur said cautiously.
"Sieg's obviously going to want to rescue Astolfo from the creepy woman. I'll contract with him and redirect the mana consumption to Sieg."
"Alright."
They landed right beside Sieg and Frankenstein. Haruka held her hand out to Sieg. "Glad to see you're still alive. I'm guessing you want to rescue Astolfo. Give me the Book of the False Attendant; I'll handle the rest."
Sieg handed the book over, surprise written in his features.
"Now then… I believe there's an extra guest here. Jackie, there's someone for you to kill," Haruka called.
A young girl's laughter was heard in the wind, and Jack materialized in her battle attire. "Onee-chan! How did you notice we were here?"
Haruka smiled and rubbed the young girl's head, causing Jack to giggle. "I had a feeling. See that creepy lady over there?"
Celenike didn't even seem to be paying attention to them anymore, instead relishing the desperate fight Astolfo was putting up. For his credit, Siegfried was holding back, trying to draw Astolfo away from Sieg and Frankenstein.
"She looks scary," Jack whispered.
"She is," Haruka said. "If you take her out, that's one less creepy Master we'll have to deal with."
"Okay, we'll kill her!"
Jack disappeared, Presence Concealment activated.
Celenike was laughing maniacally as the tired Astolfo begged her to stop, but then he and Siegfried stopped clashing as a pair of knives swiftly dismembered the woman. Jack reappeared, her knives dripping blood. "The creepy lady's gone!" She cheered.
Astolfo dropped to his knees, and Sieg rushed over to him. "Are you alright?" He asked.
"Y-yeah… but… it looks like this is where my part ends… in the very least, I'm glad I got to rescue you." Astolfo smiled, but his eyes were bright with tears as he began fading into motes of prana.
"Then would you take a second chance if you had it?" Haruka asked, walking up to him. Siegfried gave Haruka a wary glance but didn't move.
"Yes! Wait, who are you?"
"I rescued Sieg over here; you can trust me."
Astolfo looked to Sieg for confirmation and was met with a nod. "What do I need to do?"
"Hold my hand; I'll handle the rest. Sieg, you're fine with maintaining his prana supply, right? I'll give you some apples later." Haruka grasped Astolfo's outstretched hand and dropped 3 quartz she had taken out earlier onto the pages of the Book of the False Attendant, her Command Seals glowing brightly to complete the contract. After a few seconds, the glow subsided and Astolfo's body stopped dematerializing, the Rider now back in the world.
"Thank you so much!" Astolfo cried, shaking Haruka's hand enthusiastically.
"No problem," she replied as she tossed the book back at Sieg. "We should get to Yggdmillenia Castle; there's some stuff we have to settle." Haruka turned to Jack and ruffled her hair. "Good work, Jackie. Why don't you go back to your mommy? I'll visit you soon."
"Okay! Thanks, Onee-chan!" Jack dematerialized.
Haruka sighed as Jack disappeared, reaching out to latch onto Karna's arm for support. "I'm tired."
"I understand, Master, but we still have to talk with Vlad."
"I just want to sleep," Haruka whined. Remembering that Siegfried and Frankenstein hadn't said a single word upon her arrival, she waved to them. "Thanks for taking care of Sieg. Long story short; the Red Faction's broken apart so I'm allying myself with you guys. Vlad and Chiron should be back at the castle with Jeanne, so we should go there and discuss what's going to happen."
"You were the supposed rogue Master after all?" Siegfried asked.
"Yeah. I wanted to trip you guys up a bit, but I guess the cat's out of the bag. I probably shouldn't have saved Vlad if I wanted to maintain my secrecy a bit longer, but I couldn't resist. Oh well. I'll tell you guys everything at the castle. Deal?"
Siegfried nodded. "Thank you for rescuing Sieg."
Frankenstein nodded in agreement. "Uuu!"
"I do what I want; but if you guys are happy, it's fine. Now come on. Karna, carry me?"
"Alright."
Karna lifted Haruka into his arms, and disappeared into the distance, making use of his agility to quickly head to Yggdmillenia Castle. After a moment's hesitation, Siegfried, Frankenstein, and Arthur dematerialized, leaving Sieg and Astolfo alone.
"Well, shall we get going as well?" The androgynous Rider asked with a grin.
"Yes."
When everyone had gathered in the ruins of Yggdmillenia Castle, Vlad spoke up first. "As of now, the Greater Grail War has fallen apart. The Red Faction possesses the Great Grail but it is entirely controlled by one man: Shirou Tokisada Amakusa. Our main objective is to take him down. Through this incident, though, we have gained an ally formerly of the Red Faction." He gestured to Haruka, who gave a tired wave.
"My name's Haruka Fujimaru. Most of you I haven't told, but I'm a magus from the future. The easy story is I'm here to prevent Shirou Tokisada Amakusa from achieving his wish since that would bring ruin to humanity, but Zelretch actually sent me here for his amusement."
At the mention of the Wizard Marshall's name, Fiore and Gordes paled.
Noticing this, Haruka tried to smile sympathetically. "I'd apologize for messing up your war, but Amakusa's going to mess it up more than me. Zelretch also offered me a reward I couldn't refuse. Also, on an unrelated note. Vlad, how are you still alive?"
"I left Darnic confined in his room and barely alive," Vlad stated simply. "However, there is no other Master to contract with me and I must kill him soon for betraying me."
"Are you going to die then, and regret missing your opportunity to reach the Grail?"
"I would take the opportunity to contract with another Master, but there is no one here, is there?" Vlad asked, gazing pointedly at Haruka.
Noticing his gaze, she shot a questioning one back. "What?"
"Was what you were saying back at the Hanging Gardens true? And will you be able to contract with me?"
"No. Complete bluff. I am contracted to over 100 Servants—one of them being you, by the way—but it is impossible for me to call them here with just a Command Seal. I summoned Karna and Arthur with summoning circles, and even then, I've redirected Arthur's mana consumption to Sieg over here since I can't sustain the both of them during a fight. As for me contracting to you, I suppose I could because your Spirit Origin is different from the Vlad III I summoned back in Chaldea, but what would you do once the war is over? I doubt I can bring you back with me."
"That is fine. A temporary contract with you will suffice. I was summoned into this world and I will remain in this world until my end. The Black Faction is still able to redirect mana consumption, but it seems we are lacking homunculi…" Vlad turned to glare at Sieg, who stared back resolutely with no fear in his eyes.
"I will do it," a female voice spoke up, and all eyes turned to a short-haired homunculus with a bandaged leg.
"Tool?" Sieg asked.
"You rescued us, so this is the most logical way to pay you back," the female homunculus replied. She turned to Haruka. "What do I need to do?"
"Take this, for one," Haruka said, tossing a Book of the False Attendant and 3 quartz at Tool. "Drop the quartz into the book and I'll handle the rest." She went over to Vlad and took his hand, her Command Seals glowing brightly. They faded after a few seconds and she let go, and Tool nodded at her, feeling the slight prana drain.
Gordes eyed the book with obvious interest. "What does that do?"
"It's originally supposed to transfer Command Seals over to an unqualified Master and let the original Master handle the mana, but after I summoned Medea, she reversed the functions. I don't need to use them back home since we have prana generators that can sustain all the Servants during battle, but they have their uses. I believe the original creators were… the Matou? That's what Medusa said, at least."
"Matou? I have not heard of them."
"Uh… I think they used to be called the Makiri? One of the founding families for the Grail, or at least that's what Ishtar told me."
"And just how were you able to summon a goddess? Divine Spirits can't be summoned by the Grail!"
"Uhh… Ishtar's a Pseudo-Servant case. She possessed the body of a magus… I think her name was Rin Tohsaka. Look, you can ask me all you want later. We're here for a strategy meeting, not an interrogation session."
"You're working with us now?" Fiore asked. "Did you betray the Red Faction?"
"I never claimed to be part of them in the first place. Okay, I might have been leeching off them a bit, but I play for my side only. I'm working with you guys for now since that's clearly a better option. Don't worry; I have no desire to betray you. Our goals are the exact same; to take down Shirou Tokisada Amakusa."
"Do we have a concrete plan?" Caules asked.
"No; so we're formulating one. Where's Caster's Master, by the way?"
"Roche? He was pretty despondent after he realized Caster died, so I think he's sulking…"
Vlad subtly shook his head at Haruka, warning her not to tell the truth of what happened in the Gardens.
"Alright, so we're missing someone else, then…"
A loud crash caused some to jump, and everyone turned to the door to see a furious Mordred and a resigned-looking Kairi. "The party started without us?! Father! Why didn't you tell them to wait?!" Mordred stomped over to Arthur, causing most Servants to tense as they all knew the legend, but everyone gaped when Arthur simply smiled and ruffled Mordred's hair.
"Sorry, Mordred. I was about to, but they had other business to take care of. Now stop pouting. You're here now, aren't you?"
Everyone turned to stare at Haruka and Karna, who simply watched as if nothing was wrong.
"I thought King Arthur and Mordred had… issues?" Jeanne asked carefully.
"Not here they don't. Also, I know you know they're technically the Red Faction, but they're on my side. At this point, how about you guys just accept things as they are? It'll make understanding everything a whole lot easier. Oh, and by the way, Jack the Ripper is Assassin of Black and the cutest little girl you'll ever meet. I'll pass along any plans we make to her so we can include her in the fighting since she likes to dismember people just like she did with Astolfo's former Master."
"I don't think I get anything anymore," Caules groaned.
"Uuu!" Frankenstein agreed.