Breathing hard, the team rounded the corner and ran straight into the hanger.
"Hah....hah....We finally made it back...! Everyone's still okay...!"
Goredolf, who was lagging behind everyone else by a little, slowed down a little to look at the large metallic box. He reached up with a gloved hand to wipe off a layer of sweat.
"So this is the hangar. It's a lot bigger than it looked in the file!"
"Just shut it and don't slow down coglione! We have to make it into the container! I can feel the cold breathing down our necks!"
"Fou, fooou!"
Meuniere poked his head out the door again, having heard the voices and the echoing sound of steps.
"Heyyy! Over here! Quicklyyy! The ice is right behind you! Look!"
"Don't look! Focus on making it in!"
"But Da Vinci! Master! The enemy Servant's closing in! I'll go fight her off!"
Childe suddenly whirled around, his hands raised in front of him in preparation to fight. Glaring at the little cracks of ice slowly making their way into the hanger, his eyes narrowed.
"No need, little miss. I'll handle her! You guys just focus on making it in!"
"Childe! There's no need for that! They'll never catch up to us at this pace! One more step and victory is ours! I'll bring up the rear. The rest of you–"
Fischl's head suddenly jerked around, her single eye sharply glancing around the room before landing on Da Vinci's slightly confused face.
"Envoy of the weltanschauung! Look naught to what appears before you!"
"Huh- Wha-?"
In an instant, Fischl had drawn her bow and fired an arrow that flew over Da Vinci's shoulder and embedded itself into the metallic wall behind it, slicing a small mark on the face of Da Vinci's assailant. Said assailant flipped backwards, landing gracefully on his feet a couple feet away, his face already fixed into a strange smile.
"Hmm. How intriguing. I was certain that none of you would notice me in time. It seems that the new, strangely clothed young lady has quite the keen perception."
"...the Priest!"
"Although, I do apologize. It is an old habit of mine. You left your heart open, and that seemed the fastest way to end you. But, unexpectedly, the new Servant noticed me before I could reach you."
Fischl, having kept her eye on the man the whole time, raised one gloved hand to point at the Priest.
"...What in the name of the Immernachtreich are you?"
"...Interesting question, little lady. But I do believe now is not the best time to answer that."
As if on cue, Childe suddenly appeared behind the Priest, a blue, hydro blade already formed in his hand as he swung down. The blade sliced through the air silently in the place the Father was just moments ago.
"Tch, you move fast don't you?"
"The same could be said for you."
"Haha. Thanks for the compliment. And Priest? Your moves are nothing like those peaceful folks who stay in the church preaching about their god. Not that there's anything wrong with them, but you, Mr.Priest, you're an assassin of some sort aren't ya?"
"Spot on, Childe", Da Vinci spat out, "this guy's an Executor of the Church, trained to kill anything that doesn't exactly fall in line with their God's teachings."
"How strange it is to hear people talking about me as if I'm not here. It is quite...rude."
The Priest smiled, his face sending chills up Gudako's spine before he suddenly disappeared without a sound. Fischl whirled around again, her eye searching uselessly for any clue as to where the Father had gone. Childe, having noticed that the ice was growing, turned his attention towards the door, trusting everyone else to catch the Priest.
"Behind you, Da Vinci!"
"Heh, there's no way you can sneak up on me now!"
Da Vinci skidded sideways as she dodged the Priest's hand as he tried to strike her heart again. But suddenly, that hand turned and grabbed onto Da Vinci's arm, stopping her movement for a split second.
And that was all the time that was needed.
"Firearms!", Childe yelled out suddenly.
Bang
"!...Cough!"
"Da Vinci!!"
"Perhaps so, miss Da Vinci, but this time, I wasn't aiming for your heart. With you gone, Chaldea's head is well and truly crushed. Good aim, Koyanskaya."
"Mmm~, seems you've gotten a little rusty if you had to rely on me. That said-"
Koyanskaya was cut off as arrows suddenly flew towards her. Clicking her tongue in annoyance, she dodged them all before brushing her long pink hair back behind her shoulders.
"Well how rude. Don't you know not to interrupt a lady when she's talk-"
"Shut up. Urgh, I should have expected that she made it throught before that slow moving ice princess. Didn't expect her to have a sniper gun though. And Da Vinci paid for that mistake...tsk."
Childe dashed towards Koyanskaya, his blades slashing their way towards her head. In response, Koyanskaya pulled out a couple other firearms, but soon realized that Childe didn't give her enough time to aim and fire any of them.
Fischl on the other hand had taken to keep the Priest at bay with her arrows just narrowly missing the Father as he moved around the room. Oz flew around the area, periodically spitting out lightning whenever the Father or Koyanskaya got too close to the Gudako and Mash.
"Go! Bright star that will illuminate the horizon! We will act as starlights that cast their glow over the path and their shadow over your enemies!"
"Urgh...! Gudako! Take the case!", Da Vinci yelled, her hand trying to staunch the blood flowing from her chest as she kept herself upright.
"But Da Vinci! We can't just run away and leave you behind!"
"Oh, yes you can! Those two are right, you can't stay here any longer. And Gudako, take care of Mash alright? And the case...because that case is the proof of your journey. It is our pride and joy-both mine and the others who aren't with us anymore. And as for me....hey Father! There's repercussions for stabbing a genius you know! Don't think you're getting off that easily!"
Grinning, Da Vinci snapped her fingers, causing the Father to suddenly be pulled towards the ceiling.
"Urgh....magnetic forces huh? Truly a genius aren't you?"
"Heh, stay up there for a little while m'kay? Anyway, Gudako, Mash! The Chaldea you guys knew is gone now, but as long as you and mash are alive, this isn't over. I'm positive that there'll be a new Chaldea in the future."
Da Vinci then collapsed on the floor, having dropped the case earlier due to its weight and her weakening body. She then fell forward, her chest hitting the cold ground, as Da Vinci fought to remain in this world for a little while longer.
Gudako grabbed the case from beside Da Vinci's body, her eyes blinking rapidly as her vision blurred from tears. She looked over at Da Vinci who smiled brightly back at her despite the bullet wound in her chest and the blood that was seeping out of her mouth. Wiping her eyes, Gudako smiled back sadly.
"Ci vediamo, Uomo Universale."
"Farewell...Gudako...Don't give up, and do your best!"
Nodding, Gudako turned away from Da Vinci who was gradually beginning to glow and took off towards the container again, pulling Mash with her.
"Let's go!"
"But....but...! Ghh,ghh....ughh.."
Mash looked back for a moment at Da Vinci's smiling face as the light around Da Vinci's body grew brighter, signaling that it was almost time for Da Vinci to disappear and return to the Throne.
In seconds, the duo jumped up the steps into the container, facing Meuniere and Goredolf who had already made it inside. Standing further away from them in front of numerous screens was Holmes.
"Mash Kyrielight, Gudako, Goredolf Musik. What about the other two?"
Childe yelled out from where he was fighting Koyanskaya, his blades clashing with her guns.
"Hurry up and go! We're not from around here anyway, so it doesn't matter what happens to us!"
"But, we can't just leave you two behind!"
"....How unbecoming of a subject! Oz! Teach these oblivious creatures how to correctly obey a royal decree!"
"Yes, Mein Fraulein!"
"Wha-hey! Out of the way, purple birdie-hey!", Meuniere cried out as Oz flew directly towards them.
Suddenly enlarging himself, Oz slammed the door to the container closed before magnetizing the door shut with a zap of electricity. Gudako, after getting over the shock of seeing a massive violet-colored lightning-spitting bird grow 10x its original size and fly towards them, rushed to the door. She pushed in vain against the metal that was still slightly warm from the zap.
"Damnit, Fischl! Oz! Holmes, do something quick! We have to get those two on board as well! There must be some way to de-magnetize it right?"
Ignoring the request, Holmes looked straight at Meuniere before asking,
"...Where's Da Vinci?"
This time, Goredolf spoke up, his face red from both exhaustion and fear. He gathered himself together before annoucing loudly,
"She's gone! That Servant was killed in the line of duty! She went out in a blaze of glory!"
"..I see. In that case, all we must do now is survive."
"But what about-"
"Gudako! Focus!", Meuniere yelled, putting himself right in Gudako's line of sight.
"This shelter's only gonna last for so long! It's getting colder and colder too. Plus, those guys are right. They're Servants, beings built for battle. If they couldn't protect us long enough to escape, that would probably leave a guilt stain bigger than the Nile! Also! If Holmes could summon them just like that with a catalyst, then we can do it again later! Although the shield needs a power supply, there's no way this'll be the last time we see them."
"Sorry, to interrupt, but do you all see those pipes on the wall? Hold tightly to them, and be sure to keep your mouths closed. It is about to get rather...bumpy in here."
"Huh? Wait...Holmes. You don't mean we're going to escape in this container do you!?", Gudako asked, having already lost all the energy needed to yell out the question.
"Of course, Ms.Gudako. I assure you, that is the entire purpose for coming here. Not to worry, we've already prepared it to handle sudden changes in the atmospheric pressure! Just sit back and enjoy the six-kilometer sled ride!"
Everyone else simply stared at Holmes' face which was currently adorned with the most charming smile he could muster up. A second passed before the floor lurched forward, making the people inside stumble a bit. Hands grabbed the pipes on the walls as everyone-minus Holmes-cried out together:
"WHAT THE H*LL!??"
*In the Hanger, outside of the container*
As the four beings fought, Koyanskaya and the Priest began to converse. Fischl and Childe, seeing no real need in continuing the fight any longer, retreated towards the hole that was in the hanger due to the ejection of the container. They were still on guard, however, as neither had any idea as to what their enemies would be planning next. Childe continued to glance towards the entrance, having noticed that the ice stopped spreading. For some reason, that ice princess had stopped her advance, which was good news even if the stop was only temporarily. Both of them were relatively evenly matched against the Koyanskaya and the Priest, but should another strong one join them with an army then the fight would start getting desperate.
"Confirming their Caster's Spirit Origin is gone. This just about completes our operation now, but...I didn't think they still had another Servant besides these two up their sleeve. You really can't trust everything you read in reports, can you? You're the one who planned this operation, Koyanskaya. What do you think?"
"Hey, this isn't MY fault. I said all along I suspected they weren't telling us everything...Though I will say I didn't expect them to slide down the mountain in a shipping container. That was how they threw away their trash, right? The trip must have reduced those humans to just red smears on the container walls, right?"
"Please. This was obviously their plan from the start, and they managed to keep that extra Servant a secret. They must have something else up their sleeve. The Master, the Demi-Servant, Goredolf,and the eight surviving staff members...That makes eleven precious human lives. Can I trust you to take care of them, Koyanskaya? I'll manage the two Servants up here."
"You can trust me. This is a bit beyond the scope of my job here, but I'm willing to make an exception. I have my pride, after all. Besides...we need to make sure the humans are completely wiped out, don't we?"
She pulled out another weapon from thin air, this time much larger than the guns Childe had seen earlier. Although neither recognized the weapon, both knew that it was bad news. But before Childe could act, Fischl stopped him with an outstretched hand, before pointing wordlessly at the massive arrow-like ammo that was loaded into the weapon.
"Good one, girlie. We just need to stop that."
Both then pulled out bows and took aim, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the Priest. He then ran towards the two archers, pulling out blades of his own. Before the Father reached the two of them, Koyanskaya fired off a projectile, the large thing leaving behind a trail of smoke. At the same time, the two archers fired off their arrows imbued with water and lightning. In a blinding flash of light, the two arrows and the missile collided with and destroyed each other. But Koyanskaya was prepared. She fired a second missile. And then a third. Childe, forced to break into a close-combat stance because of the Priest, could only watch helplessly as the missiles flew towards the box that was currently sliding away. He knew, based on instinct alone, that one element-imbued arrow wouldn't contain enough power to fully destroy a missile which was why the two of them had aimed together.
But Fischl had other ideas. Earlier, she had sensed that the container was only a mirage, a cover for something that was inside it. Under that presumption, one hit would be okay.
Which meant, she only needed to figure out a way to destroy one of them.
"Oz! Intercept one of them!"
*Author's note*
pt 1.? Yes. Because there's so much going on in the next couple scenes/chapters/whatever. Also because I'm running out of chapter names. XD
Whoops.