Crime Order
The knowledge of where the Capital of the United Roman Empire was already known. It was situated in Byzantion, the city that would become Constantinople when Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor, moved the capital.
This was a battle between the Western and Eastern Roman Empires.
Crossing the root of the Italian peninsula into the Balkans, with the help of the Goddess and Zhuge Liang's tactics, Nero's army blitzed through the normally treacherous mountainous terrain of the Balkans. Any possible resistance by enemy forces was dealt with by Goddess alone ahead of the main army. Enemy camps were razed to the ground. Walls of fortresses were crushed with brute force.
All that was left for the main army was to loot the ruins.
"...And now, after two months of travel. We're finally here." Nero announced to her army. She raised her sword high and looked toward the walls of Constantinople.
The city was framed on three sides by the water of the Mediterranean, with a moat before the wall cutting off all possible land connections. However, the most striking thing about Constantinople was the giant tree that sprouted out from the center of the city. It was comparable in size to small mountains.
And then she swung the sword down— stopping only when the tip of the blade was pointing right at the city.
"Victory for me and our beloved Rome!"
Half a million men charged forward as a giant mass of gleaming metal. It was like looking at a rotating chandelier, as individual plates on each soldier's armor reflected the shining sun above.
Suddenly, the soldier's armor no longer shone as brightly as the skies above darkened.
Arrows. More specifically, so many arrows were launched from the battlements of Constantinople that the sun darkened partially. It was as though midday became late early evening with how much the sun was blotted out.
Mash stood out from the other soldiers frozen in fear. She raised her shield as high as possible, this way she could cover as many soldiers as she could.
"Shields up!" A commander cried out upon seeing Mash's effort.
Hearing the command, the soldiers got to work and started creating turtle-like formations. Like the scales of a dragon, each individual shield came together with others to create an impassible barrier for the falling arrows.
*Ping*
At first, one arrow broke itself against Mash's shield. Then, a thousand more came.
It was a veritable shower of arrows. Like raindrops in a thunderstorm, they pattered and pinged against the many shields present. While most broke against the barrier, some lodged themselves and a few lucky shots hit their mark as they breached the tiny crevasses between the shields.
Seeing this constant rainfall of arrows causing death, Mash couldn't help but recall how easily she was healed up by the Goddess Kukulkan. Mere seconds next to her was enough to heal Mash. Her Senpai stayed with her for the rest of the day, ensuring she was alright.
Honestly, she doesn't feel worthy. She failed to protect Emperor Nero, placing her in needless danger entirely.
If only she had a Noble Phantasm!
Above them, a single green streak cut through the cloudless sky. From that streak came forth a blindingly bright beam of plasma that lanced toward the walls of Constantinople.
The mighty Theodosian Walls, which once kept out the likes of Attila the Hun, slagged like melting wax sculptures in an oven. They weren't anywhere close to strong enough to withstand a smite from the Divine.
Sudden explosions of steam veiled the city like a fallen curtain on a stage not in use. The water in the moat in front of the Theodosian Walls was vaporized near-instantly because it was so close to the plasma.
Everyone could feel the heat of the beam for miles around.
The beam of plasma started to move. Not satisfied with just staying in one place, the beam cut across Constantinople, creating more curtains of steam that veiled whatever damage the plasma had done.
The soldiers didn't bother moving as they looked upon the act of divine destruction—the power of a Goddess on full display.
"Now it's time for the decisive battle!" Nero screamed out to her men, "The Gods look down at us with favor. Tear down this false Rome. This Rome that was created by those who annoyingly pretended to be 'Emperors'. That is the destiny of this World and Me."
Nero was the first to move. She charged forth even before the beam had stopped moving.
"Come! Fight! Be my sword and strike down the usurpers!"
Following their Emperor, the men also moved. Their battle cries coalesce into one voice— the Voice of Rome as it crushes its enemies.
"What fervor…" Ritsuka remarked from the backlines as all the soldiers charged forward. Behind him was a tent where Zvezdnyy resided. "Ah?"
Just then, the soldiers following Emperor Nero were suddenly surging with magical energy. They moved far faster than normal as if the burning passion that the Emperor held was spreading to those under her command.
What is this? Ritsuka wondered as he realized his body was becoming especially hot.
"You might want to stay close to your Demiservant." Zhuge Liang said.
"Quench your thirst for blood with those in front of us! Fill your bellies with the gold of this city. Plunder it all! Raze my enemy's capital to the ground!" Nero cried out as she reached the edge of the slowly dissipating steam wall, "Burn it all with a brilliant red!"
The veil of steam that covered Constantinople's melted walls was hot enough to give a person third-degree burns the moment any contact was made, yet unfettered, the soldiers still persisted and stepped into the veil.
As though walking through the aftermath of a heavy rain, the soldier's feet caused splashes upon the ponds of Constantinople's melted walls. The liquid stone had a temperature easily comparable to freshly spilled lava from a volcano and was able to burn the feet of those soldiers infected with Nero's passion, yet the fire in their eyes never faltered and carried them through the pain.
Emerging out from the other side, Rome's soldiers all ran into the city like rabid dogs. Their armor gleamed against the sunlight as Emperor Nero's blazing passion seeped like burning oil into every iota of their being.
Like a flood of flesh and metal, Nero's men poured through the city. They cut down everyone in their way, from the elders who could barely move, to a father defending his daughters, to a mother sacrificing herself so her son could live.
"Become fanatical! Rejoice! Cheer! Rome! Oh, my Rome!" Nero set fire to the ground with her every step. Madness was clear in her eyes. "How much I love you! As an artist, I shall create the finest painting with the blood of my (Rome's) enemies. All these citizens have betrayed me (Rome) when they chose to side with Romulus, so enjoy your plunders."
_____
Ritsuka walked through the burning city of Constantinople, his face in stunned silence. Mash followed closely behind, ready in case any enemies attacked.
The Last Master of Mankind walked by the collapsed burnt-out, blackened wreckage of a home near the edge of the city. The soldiers intentionally set these hovels alight, turning them into tombs for whoever hid inside as the smoke would choke them if the fire wasn't enough of an incentive to get them to run.
Beyond the horizon, towards other places in the city were huge fires whose flame reached such a height that Ritsuka was easily able to spot them.
With a grim expression, the teen suddenly stopped before the burnt-out husk of… a man? A woman? Ritsuka had no idea who their gender was, as the fire had turned the person into a blackened husk that only vaguely resembled humans because they still had two arms and legs and a head with no facial features. It was like someone took one of the stone statues from Pompeii, painted it black, and placed it here.
With a morbid curiosity, Ritsuka approached the remains of a person. Mash looked at the back of her Senpai and wanted to say something.
The instant his nose caught a whiff of burnt fat, Ritsuka felt his stomach turn.
"Auugh!"
He fell to his knees. The Mystic Code wrapped around his body and made sure the Master wouldn't be hurt by the speed his knees fell to the broken street full of pebbles and rubbles.
"Senpai!"
Clutching his stomach, Ritsuka puked out his breakfast.
"O… Oh… god…"
He turned away. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Where's the air? He felt a pair of hands wrapped around his shoulder— getaway! He wanted to get away! He wanted to be alone!
The teen started swinging his arms around him in a wild fashion. Quickly, the pair of hands disappeared.
"Ritsuka." His bracelet spoke to him, "Listen to my voice, Ritsuka Fujimaru!"
It was Olga. She was talking to him.
"Ritsuka Fujimaru!"
Doing as he's told, Ritsuka closed his eyes and focused solely on the Director's voice.
"I'm… I'm listening Director…" Ritsuka said as he clamped down on his eyes. Shutting them so hard that he saw stars. It was all to try and forget the body.
"Damnit— Commoners unused to bloodshed. Listen Ritsuka! The sight that you're seeing before you? That burnt body? I know you want me to tell you how it's rare, how it almost never happens…" Olga sighed, "But the truth of the matter is that it's a common sight throughout human history."
"Augh!" Ritsuka lurched forward again, dry heaving as his stomach was already empty, having voided its content before.
Briefly, the teen wondered if humanity was worthy of being saved. He quickly dropped that line of thought and instead was thankful Zvezdnyy wasn't here to see this sight.
Slowly, over a minute, Ritsuka's quickened breathing slowed down as he stared at the large smoke plumes in the distance. He stared at the pretty blue sky above. It was a very pretty sky, so pretty that if one only stared at it, they couldn't imagine the horrors that were taking place underneath it.
How many other horrors took place under a pretty sky?
"Human history is cruel. Undoubtedly so. Yet it is nonetheless beautiful in how such acts are rarely performed today." Olga said after his breathing had calmed down.
Before he could reply, a distant scream belonging to a young girl caught his ears.
"Mash," Ritsuka said as he turned to face the source of the scream, "Let's go."
"Got it, Master!"
The girl instantly knew what he meant. She brought up her shield so that its bottom wasn't touching the ground. Perfect for running.
Getting up, the teen started rushing towards the source of the scream. He ran passed dozens of collapsed homes, some still burning. He passed by several more burnt bodies and decapitated heads placed upon spikes.
Bursting into the courtyard of a Roman-style house, Ritsuka quickly found the source of the scream and it made his stomach churn.
"Please… stop!"
It was a girl. No older than 14 if the size of her budding breasts were any indication. Half a dozen soldiers were swarming the naked girl. Several men of various ages lay dead around the courtyard; her family it must be.
She was bleeding from between her legs as she sobbed. Yet even so, the soldiers continued using her ravenously like piranhas in a feeding frenzy.
Ritsuka lost all control over his body. Everything fell apart into a shade of redness. The whole world was dyed in a crimson red.
"WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING?!" Ritsuka screamed as he charged in, his fists ready in a punch.
Before Mash could break out of her stunned silence, Ritsuka found himself running faster than he ever had in his life. He felt superhuman. Invincible, as the passion of the Emperor seeped into his body. His magical energy surged.
With a single punch, he threw the soldier whose shaft was inside the girl away and onto the ground.
Before any of the other soldiers could react, Ritsuka moved once more and smashed his bruised fist directly into the nose of another Roman soldier, "Mash! Help me!"
That command was enough to break the Shielder out of her stupor. "Yes, Senpai! Entering combat." She moved, and with her heavy shield, she slammed into those other soldiers like a baseball bat.
Her swings were hard enough to throw her targets through the nearby walls.
Once the soldiers were all groaning on the ground in pain, Ritsuka tended to the girl.
Mash glanced at the fallen soldiers with a rare expression of disgust.
"Are… are you o—" Ritsuka slapped his own face. Of course, she's not okay you dumbfuck, Ritsuka thought to himself, she's just been raped!
"The… Mash, do you have a blanket?"
Immediately, the Shielder went to check the rooms connected to this courtyard.
"K…l. This shame…" The girl on the ground mumbled.
"Hmm?"
"This shame I cannot bear it." The nude girl uttered lifelessly before leaping at a short sword nearby. With the sword in her hand, she promptly slit her throat with it.
Falling onto the ground, the girl gurgled a few times, as if trying to say something to Ritsuka, before finally dying and her blood pooled up around her.
The teen stared at the lifeless body of a girl younger than him.
"Wha…? What…?" Ritsuka slowly approached the girl. He kneeled beside the girl, careless of how the blood wet his pants. His hands shook, vibrating so intensely that trying to pick anything up would be a miracle.
"Ritsuka! Ritsuka listen to me! Listen to my voice damn it! Mash!"
Hearing her name, the Shielder quickly came out of the rooms and found her Senpai kneeling in a pool of blood.
"Senpai!"
Mash rushed forward and enveloped Ritsuka in a comforting hug. She adjusted her body so that it was blocking out the distressing sight of the girl's still-warm corpse.
"I thought…" Ritsuka glanced lifelessly at the pretty sky above him, "I thought Kukulkan prohibited rape. Hey, Mash, she did announce she would execute whoever is found to have raped, didn't she?"
"Yes. The Goddess did."
"This is what happens after a siege, Master." Archer's voice was oddly soft, unbefitting of the usually apathetic Servant, "Don't look if you find it to be too much."
The Servant felt his Master in distress the moment the teen saw the girl being raped. So Archer swiftly approached where Ritsuka was and found him in such a state.
He then explained, "The Romans are well-known for such tactics. Rape, pillage, and burn, before selling the survivors to slavery. At least, they're more merciful than the Mongols: who will put every man, woman, and child to the sword if a city doesn't raise a white flag."
Ritsuka would liken the clinical tone that Archer used to be similar to a doctor's diagnosis of cancer in a patient.
The Master's eyes shifted to look at Archer. The Servant was staring at the corpse of the girl with the same passivity one might find in the eyes of an experienced dissector performing another autopsy.
What the hell has Archer gone through to be so unaffected by this? He's no different than before!
"I thought Kukulkan explicitly said how she prohibited rape," Ritsuka stated bitterly as he got up. Meanwhile, Mash let go of the hug and got up as well, "Thank you, Mash."
"It's no problem, Senpai."
The teen faced Archer, determined to get an answer. "Why is this still happening? I… I can understand that this happened throughout history, but… why?"
"Human history is brutal. The 1204 Sack of Constantinople was much more brutal than even this." This time it was Zhuge Liang who said that. "During the Fall of Constantinople in the 15th Century, the Sultan Mehmed II permitted three days of looting and rape before selling the remaining 50,000 citizens of Constantinople into slavery."
Entering through the main gate and into the courtyard, the Tactician continued, "These men… They've been infected with Nero's fiery passion. So while the Emperor may have ordered them to not rape, these soldiers listened to her true desire. Though it may not seem like it, Nero is a cruel person. Mercy and kindness. There are reasons why so many Great Men and Women throughout history have had little of these traits. Nero is no different. Rome was noted for its particular taste for cruelty."
"But…" Ritsuka was struggling to reconcile the image of Nero in his mind with the one who could order such atrocious acts. He repeated what he said before as if to comfort himself in the face of such atrocity, "Kukulkan forbid rape. She permits looting, but rape and the killing of non-combatants are prohibited.
"The self-proclaimed Goddess is busy planning a break-in to the tree that replaced the Hagia Sophia. So is Boudica. Moreover, is a law really a law if no one is there to enforce it? The Roman Commanders certainly won't."
"I… I have to report this." Ritsuka said, "I have to tell Kukulkan of this!"
With a hand on his knees, the teen pushed himself up. None of the Servants present moved to stop Ritsuka.
"Wait, Senpai, wait for me!" Mash yelled as she hurried along behind him.
Ritsuka took short breaks in between to catch his breath. Beyond that, he continued to run like he never had before. He passed by burning houses, soldiers looting food and gold from a nearby Church, and more rape that he had to turn away lest he allows the crimson rage to catch up to him.
He purposefully stopped breathing as he passed by a pile of burning bodies. The smell of burnt fat would be too much otherwise.
The teen saw many more atrocities throughout his journey deeper into Constantinople. Though ironically, the more he approached the tree palace that served as the seat where the Divine Progenitor of Rome sat, the less of such killings and rape happened. This fact seemed to have become apparent to most citizens of Constantinople as they also began to gather at this supposed 'safe zone'.
Ritsuka spotted a large tent richly decorated with embroideries a bit away from the massive tree that dominated Constantinople's city skyline.
As always, Nero must have the best. Seeing the luxury the Emperor surrounds herself with while her troop's massacre and rape civilians caused Ritsuka to feel that rage again.
This inequality… this detachment… images of the French Revolution came to Ritsuka's mind. Shaking his head, the teen once more discarded such thoughts and approached the tent's entrance. The Praetorian Guards didn't say a word as he entered.
The inside of the tent was well-lit with candles. It had multiple sections, 'rooms' in a sense. The main room had a large table, upon which spread out a single piece of map. Surrounding the table were Kukulkan, Boudica, Nero, and a woman wearing a white kimono all stood. Except Nero, who lounged on a sofa.
"—Once more, are you absolutely sure that this is accurate?" Kukulkan asked the slender woman wearing a white kimono.
"Yes. Yes. Yes. I've marked down the whole of that tree fortress which the Grail is inside of." The woman replied impatiently, "You've asked me to confirm this many times, and each time I've said the same thing!"
Kukulkan looked a bit sheepish, "I just wanted to make sure, Jing Ke."
"Goddess Kukulkan," Ritsuka spoke up, gathering the attention of all present.
"Oh hello, Ritsuka. We're just about to launch the final assault on the Hagia Sophia. Jing Ke here is an Assassin Servant. She explored the insides, finding and marking down all the tunnels of escape."
Just as Ritsuka was about to reveal the crimes that Nero's soldier had committed, he suddenly found himself voiceless.
The teen remembered how his parents had taught him there's a time and place for certain things. Ritsuka recalled how in the previous Singularity, the Goddess failed to acquire the Grail. Kukulkan was extremely beaten up by it, so much so that instead of ending this Singularity early, she's here planning out her next moves to try and acquire that Grail.
If he tells her the crime of Nero's soldiers, Kukulkan would definitely delay launching the final assault and personally execute every single soldier who committed such an act. As she had promised. But then, to delay the final assault would mean to increase the chances of failure.
What… should he do? Should he reveal what's happened and allow Kukulkan to maybe fail in acquiring the Grail? Or should he stay silent and let the operation continue as planned?
"..."
What is the right thing to do? Ritsuka wanted to tell Kukulkan of everything that's occurred so badly so that she could do what the teen couldn't: mete out justice to those wronged by the soldiers. And yet, the frightening idea that the Grail would be destroyed instead of captured weighed heavily against such an act.
What should he do? What should he do?! What is the right answer!?!
"No… Nothing…" Ritsuka said, gulping as if to swallow his rage and feelings of injustice. "I just… wanted to ask what you were doing… and… now I know."
Ritsuka felt his heartbeat like the tolling of a church bell. As his body grew hot, he heard banging sounds inside his ears as his body grew hot.
Kukulkan eyed the teen with a look of suspicion. She definitely knew that something was up.
"Are you sure?"
Never before has Ritsuka wanted to spill his guts so hard at that moment. He wanted to scream at the injustice being committed right now. What's probably dozens, to even hundreds of rapes and more killings.
But he controlled himself. Kukulkan already burdened herself with saving humanity, surely then, Ritsuka thought, that the least he could do was to lessen the Goddess' burden by however much he could.
"Yes."
Kukulkan frowned, "Okay, but this isn't over. We'll talk after we get back to Chaldea."
With that, the Goddess left the tent presumably to start the assault. As she left, Archer walked in. Both of them stared at each other. There wasn't any judgment in his eyes, only a minuscule amount of disappointment.
What does he mean by that?
_____
Flying about half a hundred meters into the air, I was not even halfway up the trunk of the tree that overtook the Hagia Sophia. Like a cancer, the tree absorbed most of the Church before it was turned into a Mosque.
I grimaced and looked at the tree in disgust. It reminded me too much of Ion's flesh monsters.
What a desecration of one of the holiest sites in all of Abrahamic faith.
One of the few things that remained visible was the bronze gates that led into the Hagia Sophia. It served as the primary entrance to the palace of Romulus, Rome's Divine Progenitor.
It was choked full of Mystery and power. According to Da Vinci's analysis, it had so much Mystery that it's a conceptual fortress that denies the passage of all infidels and protects the faithful of the Abrahamic faith— from Christians to Muslims and Jews. But because of the perversion done by Romulus, much of its protective strength was gone.
Now, if Jing Ke's map is correct, the layout of the Hagia Sophia was unchanged, only as additional corridors embedded within the giant tree were introduced. The Grail rested with the seat that Romulus sat in.
It was said by captured ministers of the United Roman Empire, Romulus himself personally destroyed all religious symbols, melting down the gold and silver that made up crosses and other artifacts and reforging them to create himself a throne fit for a Divine Progenitor.
I'll have to do this quickly. Go in, grab the Grail, and get out. Go in, grab the Grail, and get out. Go in, grab the Grail, and get out.
Okay. Let's do this.
With that, my powers flared as I dived.
Instead of going through the bronze gate, I carved a path through the ceiling. My trajectory, at a slanted angle, required me to push past dozens of meters of wood.
I had no problem flying through wood that possessed the same hardness as diamonds. In fact, against the physical force that I'm imparting, the enchanted wood behaved less like a solid and more like a liquid.
In less than a second, I went through the wooden layers and breached the dome that the Hagia Sophia was so famous for.
I crashed into the center of this structure right underneath its main dome. Its marble floors full of intricate designs broke and cracked like a mirror against me as I landed on it, veiling myself in a large plume of dust and debris as if a giant had stomped where I landed.
"Hmm, you're not Nero." A voice sitting on the throne of gold and silver called out, "But—"
I didn't wait a second long and burst out of that shroud of opaque dust. Like a green arrow, I blitzed across a distance of 30 meters so quickly that sound only caught up to me a tenth of a second later. By then, my fist was already inside Romulus' chest and went out the other end.
*Boom*
A sonic boom emanated from my path of travel, blowing away everything that was not nailed to the ground.
My shoulder was next to his chest with how deep my fist had penetrated. I could see clearly the shock, before acceptance as Romulus faded from existence. The Divine Progenitor of Rome dissolved in particles of gold.
"..."
I took my fist out of the destroyed throne. The back of the throne where a ruler can lean on was ripped to shreds as though a sabot tank shell had run through it.
"—?" There's someone else in the room.
*Clap*
Sounds of clapping echoed throughout the Hagia Sophia. From behind one of the pillars walked out Lev Lainur Flauros.
"Truly, you are the greatest threat to our King's plan." He said. There, he lost his human form as it lengthened, and blackened, and in that blackness came forth dozens upon dozens of cross-shaped eyes as if to mock Christianity.
A pillar of black flesh was before me.
"To have destroyed the triple-layered Theodosian Walls, pierced the Great Tree That Is Rome, and ignored the defenses of the Hagia Sophia and my own personal Bounded Fields. I, Flauros, shall happily recognize you as a worthy threat. No more playing around as I might with that pitiful human Master. I am the Demon God Pillar Flauros! I hereby demand for the appearance of all who wish to fight against an unstoppable force! Come forth, all Servants!"
*VEEEEEEM*
As he said that, he launched forth two dozen beams of radiant magical energy that each had the potential to annihilate a city block. I raised my shield and tanked that barrage with no issue.
By the time the vaporized debris cleared from my view, I saw two other Servants next to Flauros.
One was a tanned-skinned woman with red eyes and a veil over her head. She wielded a sword with a tri-colored blade.
"Altera, Saber-class Servant."
The other was a Roman soldier with a large and muscular figure. Silver armor with gold trim wrapped around his body while a helm bearing wings and a crimson plume adorned his head. He had a cross-shaped scar on one side of his face. For weapons, the Servant wielded a large and heavy shield in one hand and a bloody red spear that gave off holiness and power.
Such power that it easily stood on par with Excalibur. Potentially even greater than Excalibur.
"Servant Lancer. Lucius Longinus. A voice called out to me and I listened."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone