"What are you two doing here?"
Madara crossed his arms, his expression one of unmistakable annoyance as he looked at the two Servants who had just leaped from the modified car.
"Obeying orders from the Masters to provide reinforcements," Siegfried replied with his characteristic solemnity.
"Hey, don't be so cold!" Natsu added, crawling out of the car and shaking off the last of his motion sickness. He stood up, cracking his neck with a familiar, easygoing grin.
"Darnic... that man. I already told him I am more than enough for this war."
Madara clearly had no intention of playing nice, even if his teammates were here. He was more than confident in his ability to handle whatever the Red Faction threw at him.
"Besides... I despise having anyone standing behind me."
Madara's voice was like grinding stone. He had zero patience for tactical coordination or babysitting.
"Then I'll just stand next to you!"
Natsu nonchalantly walked up to the Uchiha's side, completely ignoring,or perhaps failing to perceive,Madara's hostile aura.
"..."
Madara glanced at Natsu. In his past life, anyone who tried to stand beside him without his permission would have been cut down on the spot. Only Hashirama Senju had ever earned that right.
But then he remembered his conversation with Hashirama earlier. He let out a soft snort and decided not to waste his breath arguing with the fire-breather.
"It seems their last member has arrived as well."
Siegfried stood beside Natsu, his eyes fixed on the figure sprinting toward them from the distance. It was a knight clad in silver-and-red armor, their helmet masking their identity.
"I made it in time!"
Mordred skidded to a halt beside Minato and Karna, her breath coming in heavy gasps. She looked at the three opposing Servants, her grip tightening on the hilt of her Greatsword.
"Setting up such a ridiculous spectacle on the very first day..."
"I would have been devastated if I'd missed the show!"
She stared at the trio with feral excitement, her fighting spirit flaring.
"Be careful," Minato warned, his eyes never leaving the enemy.
"Heh! I saw those shockwaves from miles away. I know what I'm getting into," Mordred laughed. She wasn't one to be intimidated by raw power. In her mind, a Noble Phantasm of that scale couldn't possibly be fired repeatedly in short succession.
With that logic firmly in place, she had no reason to fear. And even if things went south, she trusted Kairi to use a Command Spell to extract her if necessary.
"Leave the other two to you guys," Karna said, his battle intent reigniting as he focused on Madara. "I will be the one to finish him."
He didn't care about the odds. As a hero, he would face his opponent with everything he had, and let fate decide the rest.
"This is getting interesting," Natsu mused, looking at the matchups. "So, who's fighting who?"
"I don't mind either way," Siegfried replied, shaking his head.
Siegfried was a man who lived to fulfill the wishes of others. He rarely had any personal desires, let alone a preferred opponent.
"Wait, you don't even have a single person you 'want' to fight?" Natsu asked, genuinely baffled by the Dragon-Blooded Knight's selflessness.
Siegfried blinked, his expression neutral.
"In that case, I'll take the lead. Don't go regretting it later!"
Natsu stepped forward, his arms erupting in a mantle of intense orange flames. He walked directly toward Mordred, his eyes burning with excitement.
Regret?
"..."
Siegfried didn't think he was capable of such an emotion. He drew his greatsword, [Balmung], and turned his attention toward the blonde man standing a distance away.
Wait,the blonde man's silhouette suddenly flickered and vanished, appearing even further away in a blur of gold.
Siegfried immediately gave chase, his heavy boots thundering against the earth as he followed the [Yellow Flash].
Meanwhile, Natsu and Mordred moved laterally across the battlefield, deliberately creating distance between themselves and the duel between Madara and Karna. They were both warriors who preferred the clarity of a one-on-one duel over the chaos of a brawl.
"You look dissatisfied with the current situation," Karna noted, pointing his spear at Madara.
"Just a bunch of children playing at war," Madara replied, finally lowering his arms and facing the Red Lancer.
"Fine. Let's settle our score first."
Madara's eyes flared, and the invisible shadows of [Limbo] surged forward.
'BANG!!'
Karna swung his spear in a wide arc, the weapon cutting through the air, but he felt no physical resistance.
'THUD!'
A heavy blow struck him nonetheless,the same invisible force he had encountered before.
'BOOM!!'
The earth shattered beneath him, the shockwave of the collision echoing across the valley.
**'
"They've split up. The distance between them is quite large. If Saber can lure them together, I might have a clean shot."
Red Archer (Emiya) drew his bow, his eyes narrowed as he observed the three separate battles from his vantage point. The raw power on display was staggering; he knew he couldn't afford any hesitation.
This war... it was abnormal. He had already sensed that his summoning wasn't a mere coincidence. There was a deeper design at work here, one that transcended the usual Holy Grail ritual.
He glanced to his side, only to find that the dark silhouette of Emiya Alter had vanished.
"Hmm?"
Emiya's heart skipped a beat. He knew his "alternate self" wasn't keen on cooperation, but his sudden disappearance without a word was chilling.
He tightened his grip on his bow, scanning his surroundings. He didn't want to be backstabbed while he was aiming.
Little did he know, Emiya Alter had already moved deep into the shadows, heading toward a specific coordinate.
"Such a tragic creature," a voice whispered from within the Black Archer.
"But I'll take this opportunity to see what's on the other side."
Yubel was satisfied with her new host. Although his memories were a shattered, illegible mess, the sheer volume of madness and fallen despair within his heart was the finest vintage she had ever tasted.
This man had been gifted an "unforgettable love" by someone.
How wonderful.
She hoped to bring that same kind of "love" to Judai one day.
This pain... this indignation... this crushing despair...
That was what "True Love" looked like.
...
'CLANG!'
SCRAPE!!
Mordred's greatsword was caught between Natsu's bare hands. She flooded her body with magical energy, trying to shove the boy back with raw physical force.
"I knew it... you smell like a dragon."
A grin spread across Natsu's face. His flaming hands didn't budge; instead, he seemed to be confirming a suspicion. Even with her helmet and armor masking her scent, there was no hiding it from a [Dragon Slayer].
"So what if I do?!"
Mordred gritted her teeth and wrenched her sword free, sending Natsu skidding back with a powerful horizontal slash.
What if she had the scent of a dragon? It was one of the symbols she had inherited from her father, a mark of her royal bloodline. To her, it was a source of pride and power.
"No..."
"It's just that it's my first time seeing a dragon from another world. I'm getting excited!"
Natsu flipped through the air and landed perfectly on his feet, his eyes wide with genuine joy.
"Excited to see a dragon?" Mordred muttered, a bad feeling beginning to gnaw at her.
"Yeah!"
"I've been wondering... does my [Dragon Slayer Magic] work on dragons from other worlds too?"
"Don't you think that's something to look forward to?"
Intense heat radiated from Natsu's body, the temperature rising so sharply that the air itself began to crackle and pop.
"Dragon... Slaying... Magic?!"
The term itself sent a shiver down Mordred's spine. She braced herself, her unease growing into full-blown alarm.
'Dragon Slayer... Is this guy some kind of Magus who specialized in hunting my kind?!'
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]