Perhaps this was destiny.
In Fate/Prototype, the origin of the Fate series, where the Knight King and the Hero King were only mentioned by name but never fully revealed, this was the same scenario.
One was in the sky, summoning a terrifying flood with the Sword of The End. The other was on the ground—or more accurately, in the water—unleashing the Round Table's restraint, delivering an earth-shattering strike.
Now, on a different world line, this scene was repeating itself.
The Sword of the End, Enki, symbolizing the destruction of the world, and Rhongomyniad, the lance that shone from afar, representing the beginning of humanity's era—both had passed their charging phases and were now entering the final explosion of power.
In Fate/Prototype, this clash ended with the Knight King's victory and the Hero King's defeat.
What would the result be this time?
No one knew the answer, not even the two kings, who stood above and below. Because, at the moment just before Gilgamesh released his arrow and Artoria thrust her holy lance, a gentle breeze swept across the battlefield, carrying a soft voice that entered everyone's ears.
"Ahem, this is Caster Roman. Sorry, but I need to interrupt for a moment."
Upon hearing this voice, Artoria below maintained her stance, her lance still raised, ready to release her strongest strike at any moment. In contrast, Gilgamesh loosened his grip on the bowstring, looking up in displeasure and slight surprise toward the sky, where his flying vessel, Vimana, hovered.
The wind continued to blow, and the voice carried on.
"Just now, I received a ceasefire request from the Holy Grail War's overseer: As of now, the Holy Grail War is temporarily suspended, and all Masters and Servants are prohibited from engaging in any form of combat. Anyone who violates this rule will face retaliation from the Church and the combined forces of the other Masters and Servants. That's all. Uh, these are the overseer's words, not mine. If you're unhappy about it, please don't come after me, okay? Thanks—"
Towards the end, the message became garbled, as if the magic transmission had been disrupted. Faintly, a woman's complaint could still be heard.
"Y-You, stop talking. It's too embarrassing."
"But what if someone tries to cause us trouble…"
"Hmph, what kind of trick are you trying to pull now?"
Gilgamesh grumbled, his words unclear. He dismissed his full-armament mode and descended from the sky. Seeing this, Artoria also put away her holy sword and lance—the latter reverting to its sealed form and quietly returning to its previous owner's grasp.
Soon after, Vimana descended, and there were now several more people aboard than there had been moments ago.
Lancer Cú Chulainn and his Master, Bazett, stood there. Cú Chulainn eyed Lorelei with a strange look, his hand gripping his glowing spear as his mouth twitched.
Rider Medusa and her Master, Sakura Matou, quickly ran over to Shinji, with Sakura asking in concern, "Brother, are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, but what about you—"
As his gaze focused on Sakura, Shinji's expression darkened. Sakura now looked no different from how Rin and Luvia had appeared that afternoon—her body was torn and bruised, with visible injuries.
Medusa standing beside her wasn't in much better shape, sporting over a dozen wounds. With Shinji's keen eyes, he could tell at a glance that these were caused by Gáe Bolg, Cú Chulainn's cursed spear.
As for Sakura's injuries, it was obvious—they had been inflicted by Bazett.
"You two went all out, didn't you?"
Shinji's gaze turned hostile as he looked at Bazett's group.
Bazett immediately tensed, entering a combat-ready state, but Cú Chulainn remained cheerful, waving his hand nonchalantly.
"Don't be mad, brother. It's not like only they got hurt—we're in the same boat."
Indeed, as he said, both Bazett and Cú Chulainn were also injured, though most of their wounds were blunt force impacts rather than sharp cuts, making them less obvious.
"That's how the Holy Grail War works—either you kill me, or I kill you. If the overseer hadn't stopped us, either Rider or I would've been taken down. As for Bazett and Sakura, well, they probably weren't in too much danger. Probably."
"What exactly happened?"
Shinji's tone softened slightly, but his eyes remained vigilant.
"Well, it's like this—"
Bazett's reason for coming to Fuyuki was quite simple and had nothing to do with Kirei Kotomine. It was purely because of Lorelei's orders. Though proud, Lorelei was also cautious and never put all her eggs in one basket. Bazett was her second card in play.
Under normal circumstances, Bazett was supposed to fight in Fuyuki, keeping a close eye on the developments of the Holy Grail War. Meanwhile, Lorelei and Waver were secretly hunting vampires. If anything unexpected happened, they would provide mutual support.
Just like tonight. Lorelei had tracked down Roa and the others using her methods, and then, with great momentum, led her team to attack.
She had assumed that with her group possessing the combined strength of more than four top-tier Servants, hunting vampires would be a guaranteed success. However, the vampires' strength turned out to be formidable. Even caught off-guard, they were still able to hold their own against her team.
The combination of Fabro and Souren Araya was enough to hold off two Iskandars, as well as Gray and Svin.
Lorelei, Altera, and the support team of Flat and Caules were trapped by an Assassin's mist, which prevented them from advancing. Though it wasn't particularly dangerous, they couldn't find a way out.
Out of options, Lorelei had sent a message to Bazett, asking for reinforcements. Bazett had rushed over as quickly as possible because the mist had suddenly dispersed, and she was worried that something had gone wrong on Waver's end. That's why she and Altera performed a combination technique to arrive quickly.
Altera used her skill Civilization Erosion to temporarily turn a wooden plank into a Photon Ray (Fake) and fired it off like a Noble Phantasm. Lorelei sat on the plank, using wind magic to adjust her direction and speed, quickly heading to the scene. Altera, meanwhile, led Flat and Caules on foot.
In the end, a hurried Lorelei ran right into Shinji, sparking the series of battles that followed.
Because she was in the middle of a fight, Lorelei hadn't canceled Bazett's summon. So Bazett and Cú Chulainn had continued rushing toward her.
At the same time, Rin's group had left the Tohsaka residence aboard Vimana. While flying, Medusa had spotted Cú Chulainn and Bazett. After a brief observation, she realized they were headed for the battlefield and that they were enemies, not allies.
Perhaps influenced by Shinji's strong protective instinct toward the girls, they too had developed a similar attitude. After confirming that Shinji's side held the advantage, Medusa and Sakura jumped down to intercept Bazett and Cú Chulainn.
With the experience of their last battle and having observed them in secret, Sakura and Medusa had adapted their tactics this time.
Medusa summoned Pegasus—yes, the same Pegasus that Perseus had given to Shinji—and repeatedly charged at Cú Chulainn.
Sakura kept a careful distance from Bazett. As a disciple of Scathach, her close-combat skills were certainly not lacking, but she knew she couldn't match someone like Bazett, who could fight Cú Chulainn head-on. She wasn't about to throw herself into unnecessary danger.
However, she had her advantages. Taught directly by Scathach, her mastery of Rune Magic was second only to Aozaki Touko among modern magi. To her, the runes inscribed on Bazett's body weren't obstacles—they were opportunities for attack.
Of course, Bazett and Cú Chulainn weren't pushovers. Even though they were being targeted, they demonstrated formidable strength, with both sides locked in a battle of endurance.
The fighting only stopped when the overseer of the Church arrived and gave a certain explanation. At that point, both sides ceased hostilities and made their way to the current scene. They first ascended to Vimana, where they explained the situation to Rin, Luvia, and the others, convincing them to cooperate. Then, they used Roman's magic to transmit the message to everyone nearby.
And that was how the previous scene had unfolded.