Riding Fate

I picked up the leftovers from the various takeout orders I brought back to earn Illyasveil and Skadi's forgiveness for not being there to make lunch. Fuyuki actually has both French and Italian restaurants with Japanese influences around the city that are pretty good, and I even found a Chinese restaurant. Overall today was full of takeout from these places, so I did not have to cook lunch or supper, and everyone enjoyed it. I threw away the last of the trash from getting so much takeout today, and the sun has finally set.

I went outside to find Caster waiting for me, and she asked.

" What do you intend to do tonight, Silva?"

" The Holy Grail War ends tonight, Skadi."

I replied with a grin as I intended to face both Rider and Saber on my own. Iskandar's Noble Phantasms are of no real threat to me as his Chariot lacks the necessary firepower, and his army is only an army made of Servants far weaker than me, which I can confidently say I will tear to shreds. Artoria is another matter. Her Excalibur could very well one-shot me, but only if it hits me and is given enough time to charge up. I may be stuck in this world for the next 60 years, but I won't live my time here full of regrets but living as well as I can.

" Well, my dear Skadi, shall we?"

" Who are you calling, "my dear Skadi," you insolent little!"

I smirked at Skadi's blushing face as she bristled at my teasing and went off to face my first opponent, as I wanted to face at least a few Servants at their full strength before drawing the fourth Holy Grail War to an end.

***

Waver was outside with Iskandar in front of the Mackenzie household. Rider summoned his chariot and got in, then noticed the young Mage not making any effort to get in and said.

" Well, come on, boy, we have a battlefield to get to!"

Waver looked at his Command Seals and made a decision.

" By the power of my Command Seals, I order you, Iskandar, King of Conquers, to win!"

The young Mage did not stop there as he used his second Command Seal.

" With all your power, defeat your opponents!"

He then used his last Command Seal to disqualify himself as a Master.

" Retrieve the Grail and do not return otherwise!"

Waver sighed as he felt a load off his shoulders and told Iskandar.

" Good luck."

As the young Mage turned to leave but was picked up by the scruff of his shirt by Rider, he asked with an exaggerated expression.

" Now, wait a moment, boy, where are you going after giving me all those annoying orders?"

" Put me down! I am no longer your Master, so go do what you want!"

Isankdar put Waver inside his chariot and told him with a broad smile.

" Come now, boy, you may have given up, but why not see this through to the end at least? After all, our time together may have been brief, but I do consider you a friend."

The young Mage looked Rider in surprise at being called his friend, more so because he never had a friend. He asked the Servant with tears forming in his eyes.

" Are you fine with me? I mean, I am weak; I can't help you in any meaningful way."

Iskandar had a wry smile as he said.

" I would be glad to have you by my side, boy, no, Waver Velvet."

An unfamiliar voice said with a neutral tone.

" How touching."

The Servant and former Master turned to see a man as tall as Iskandar at 7 feet tall and every bit as broad, holding a polearm equal to his stature. He wore a dark gray cloak in contrast to his pale gray hair and steely gray eyes. All the hairs on Waver's body stood on end for some reason as the tall man introduced himself.

" I am the Master of Caster, Silva Branwen, and I am here to face you, King of Conquers, Iskandar."

" Ho-oh! Then tell me, Master of Caster, where is your Servant?"

" Caster had more important things to do than fighting you."

Currently, Skadi is working over a lay line at the residential area of Fuyuki to set everything up for the purification ritual for the Holy Grail. At the same time, Silva deals with Rider and Saber tonight. Rider looked at the Master with interest and offered with a boisterous smile.

" How about you and Caster come to serve me in my army!?"

" Caster would probably hold you in contempt, and I have no interest in something as boring as world conquest."

" HOW IS CONQUERING THE WORLD BORING?!"

Iskandar asked in shock at Silva's statement, as he had never heard such a thing, and the Master answered seriously.

" For starters, most warfare these days is fought from a range with weapons that make killing humans so easy that even a child could kill a veteran with a well-placed shot with a small caliber gun. Then there is the aftermath filled with politics and paperwork that never ends that would require your personal signature. Then after that, there is always going to be someone dissatisfied with the regime to the point of having insurgents trying to bring back the good old days. And even more politics and paperwork.

Even if you manage to pull it off, you are dooming yourself to an early grave with the amount of work involved in managing the world, which is quite possibly the most pathetic way to die. This also applies to the subordinates you acquire to achieve your conquest of the world to help you in managing paperwork and bureaucracy. Of course, you can't live forever, so you also need to raise an appropriate heir in taking over your dynasty, which would be no small feat in of itself."

Iskandar looked at Silva like he was looking at a bizarre being from another world that he could not comprehend. Waver was not much better, as everything he said made sense to him to a degree, but he still wanted to help his friend. Rider turned to his former Master and asked.

" Is what he said true?"

" Well... It makes sense for the most part; after all, things are more complicated in this era than yours on many different things, plus the world is not as small as you thought it was in your day."

Iskandar grimaced at Waver's confirmation and muttered to himself.

" First order of business is setting up a council of sages to deal with the annoying stuff."

Rider then looked towards the first potential member of his sage council and offered.

" Tell me, Master of Caster, is there no way for me to convince you to join my endeavor?"

" You can't pay me enough."

Silva curtly replied with a look of disgust and asked back.

" Can we just go ahead and fight one another? I also have Saber waiting for me."

" Oh? You intend on facing both me and Saber?"

" I want to end the Holy Grail War tonight and get my wish."

Iskandar looked at the Master of Caster with curiosity as he asked.

" And what is your wish for the Grail?"

" To reach my homeland that can not be reached by ordinary methods or known magical methods that come at a price I am not willing to pay."

Rider looked at the Master with a scrutinizing look and felt he was telling the truth in the end. The Servant nodded in understanding as he exclaimed.

" Very well then, Master of Caster, let us see who is worthy of the Grail at the end between us!"

Iskandar was about to charge at Silva in his chariot but was stopped by Waver.

" Wait a second, Rider! If you fight here, you will get a lot of people caught in the crossfire!"

" Oh, right!"

Rider scratched the back of his sheepishly at getting caught up in the excitement of facing a challenger, and the Master of Caster called out.

" If you want to pick out a spot where we wouldn't get interrupted, go ahead!"

" Then follow me!"

Iskandar called out as he took off with Waver into the sky, and Silva took flight through his Magic. Rider noticed this and grinned as he asked his former Master.

" Boy, how rare is it to see a Mage capable of flight?"

" It shouldn't be possible, Rider, or rather, no Mage would bother with such an idea since it would reveal the existence of Magecraft to the mundane side of the world, and there are plenty of alternatives to wasting precious magical energy on such a thing."

" Then how would you rate the Master of Caster?"

At Iskandar's question, Waver shook his as he answered.

" I don't know. I can see him flying, but I can't pick up his Mana level, and I can't even guess how he is doing it."

Rider just grinned at the answer as he was now looking forward to the confrontation with the Master of Caster. He soon found a clearing that was far enough away to avoid attracting attention and landed, then had his former Master get off. After Silva landed in the clearing, he asked Iskandar.

" Can we get started already?"

" Certainly!"

Rider immediately charged at the Master in his chariot with the intent of running him over, but what happened next stunned him and Waver. Silva had grabbed ahold of the oxen sons of Zeus by their heads as they pushed him back as his feet dug into the earth and then slammed them into the ground. Not only were their skulls crushed under the Master's might, but Iskandar was sent flying from his chariot as he was catapulted. Rider landed on his feet and drew his sword to face his opponent, and laughed as he called out.

" Not even Darius III could stop my charge so thoroughly!"

" If you don't come at me with everything you have, King of Conquers, or you will regret it."

" We shall see!"

Silva wasted no time in confronting Iskandar with his polearm. The Servant raised his sword to block the strike of the Master and was forced to one of his knees as spiderweb cracks formed beneath him from the attack. Waver could not believe his eyes that a non-Servant was dominating a fight against Rider so far. It took the Servant both his arms and all his strength to defend from the Master's surprisingly monstrous strength. He could not push back the attack as he strained not to be crushed by it, but Rider soon found himself being sent flying with a kick from the Master of Caster.

Iskandar picked himself up after being kicked away and saw his chest armor fall to pieces, then looked at Silva with renewed interest. A Master as strong as a high-class Berserker in terms of strength was absurd considering the knowledge the Grail provided of the current era that stated such strength was not possible anymore outside of Servants. Rider decided he couldn't defeat the Master before him by himself, so he made a choice. He pointed his sword to the sky and called out.

"Come, gather around again, fearless fighters who all dreamed of reaching the farthest land. The marks we make here will be our glory!

Ionioi Hetairoi!"

Seeing familiar faces stand with him again on the sands that served for countless battlefields in his conquest Iskandar smiled as he declared.

" Master of Caster, before you is my army, the ones who decided to serve me in my conquest, and their bonds with me follow me beyond death and the Throne of Heroes. They are my greatest treasure!"

The army cheered at their king's words, but Silva did not show any fear as he gripped Snærkló tightly and grinned. Rider saw this and asked.

" Oh? Seeing the majesty of my army amazes you? Then allow me to renew my offer to join me in my conquest of the world. I have found that I am in need of a sage council to help in my endeavors. Seeing how the world has drastically changed since my era."

" Oh, no, don't misunderstand King of Conquers. I am not in awe in the way you think, but I feel excited that I can finally stop holding back."

The air around the Master of Caster changed, and a pulse of energy was sent out that the entire army could feel. Waver felt it as well and could not understand what he felt as it was not simply a blast of air or Mana but something else entirely. Iskandar now felt he was no longer facing someone on bar with Heroic Spirits but something far less human and more terrifying than anything he had felt before. He asked with a solemn expression.

" What are you?"

The polearm of Silva conjured a massive black blade that reached for the sky, which made more than a few members of Rider's army take a step back. The Master then leaped at the hoard with reckless abandon and took out several dozens with a single sweep of his weapon. Iskandar watched as a single man-no monster started to tear through his army. With each swing of Silva's weapon, more of his army was turned into red stains against the sand. Swords and spears could not pierce him; arrows were ineffective; shields and armor could not stop him.

The Master shrugged off Mystic Codes from the army Mages, trampled any officer on horseback, and any attacks from behind did nothing to stop him. Rider watched his allies, his friends, get torn through by a Phantasmal Creature in the form of a man. Waver went up next to Iskandar and asked with horror.

" What is he?!"

" I don't know, but it brings up the question. If the Master is this monstrous, then what of Caster?"

The young Mage paled at Rider's question and continued to watch. The army surrounded Silva, but he slammed his weapon into the sand to create a massive dust cloud that did not impede his ability, but the same could not be said of Iskandar's army. Iskandar had enough as he got on his black steed and got ready to join the fray, but before he did, he got Waver's attention.

" Waver Velvet!"

" Yes!"

The young Mage called out in surprise, and Rider asked him.

" Would you be willing to be my subordinate?"

" I... Yes, I will, my king!"

Waver agreed after a moment of hesitation, as he had come to respect and even admire the man before him despite his brief time with him. Iskandar smiled and then gave his order to his new subordinate.

" As a king, I must inspire others to greatness, and this also extends to my allies, so Waver Velvet, my first and last order is to live to inspire the next generation!"

The young Mage understood what his King was going to do next but agreed to the order nonetheless.

" I... Understand, my king..."

Iskandar smiled, then let loose a warcry as he charged at Silva, which was tearing through his armies. Despite their king joining them, the soldiers and warriors under his command only felt absurdity and despair at losing to one man. The Master continued to reap the lives of the conquering army and heard the war cry over the whimpers and despairing cries. Silva had his fun, so he decided to end it since the army was not putting up as much of a fight as before.

The Master of Caster charged at Rider and sliced off one of the black steed's legs which forced the Servant to stand on his own two feet. Before Iskandar could do anything else, he found himself coughing up blood and a sudden pain in his gut. He looked to see Silva piercing him and said, in defeat.

" I guess I misjudged my chances..."

The Reality Mable broke as Rider faded away, and the battle ended. The Master of Caster walked over to Waver and asked with a neutral tone.

" Do you hate me?"

The young Mage was surprised by the question but was more surprised at his answer.

" No... I don't."

Waver did not feel any hatred toward the monster before him as he realized that, in the end, it was a War he was fighting in, and death was inevitable. Silva walked past the young Mage as he said.

" I see..."