There was something off with the Emperor.
It was an observation mainly thought and dared not spoken if the gloomy expression on the emperor's face was anything to go by. She was utterly silent, adamant to reach Rome's walls as soon as possible by hurrying her steps and forcing the army to match pace.
Where Nero would have been swinging her arms in beat with her triumphal humming, the emperor right now had her arms crossed over her chest, as if cradling her bust. The coattails of her dress billowed in wake of her hurried strides, and the see-through component of her front never looked so alluring.
Different from before, the emperor was being exceedingly conscious of her exposure. The subtle shifts of her body to conceal what couldn't be concealed was cute in that she was forcing a straight face.
Her sword, ordinarily held in her grip was sheathed on her waist, and not on the side which was common for most legion soldiers. Instead, it straddled the upper peaks of her butt, held there forcibly by straps as if she was actively conscious of her exposed rear and sought desperately to cover her shame. At least the front had cloth, but the back had nothing at the top! Consequently, her gait became odd in fear of the sheathed sword slipping from its place.
She was scowling despite their recent victory. There was no hiding it. Nor was there a way to hide the flush working its way up her skin due to the lightness of her complexion. The more people began to look and notice, the more of a tomato she became.
"March."
Even her tone sounded deeper and icy, brooking no room for nothing less than obedience.
Many soldiers shrunk their necks into their shoulders, gazes focusing on their feet and taking one step after the other.
Speaking of the strangers that helped during battle-
"Hehhehe, strut those cheeks!"
Many stumbled at the words, but none more so than the emperor herself who oozed with bitter shame, veins popping over her skin as she forcibly restrained herself. Moodley cursing with barely concealed tears of mortification, she motioned for a horse to saddle herself on.
Immediately, the emperor whipped the horse into a steady trot and further increased the pace.
Meanwhile, Jeanne Alter giggled in amusement while the others gave her disapproving stares. Next to her were Shirou and the others.
Nero was posing as Saber Alter supported by Shirou and Ritsuka while Mash and Jeanne Alter walked on their left and right. Nero was wearing Saber Alter's black dress, her currently pale complexion due to injury, adding to the appearance.
Meanwhile, Saber Alter, in Nero's guise, suddenly shifted her horse from a slow trot to a steady gallop. Anything to reduce her public exposure time.
"She does realize the wind blows up her dress, doesn't she?" Mash asked the obvious, cheeks blushing. "Also its…bouncing."
I-Indeed.
"Haha! Idiot, she didn't think it through!" Jeanne Alter was bending over her stomach.
If the feeling Shirou could infer from his Servant-Master contract was anything to go by, Saber Alter was wailing inside.
The equivalent to sobbing.
/-/
-Rome, Italy.
-Nero's palace within the Domus Aurea, or Golden House.
/-/
"My thanks," Nero said, grunting as she moved to stand on her own feet.
She nodded at Shirou and Ritsuka for supporting her on the way back and hobbled towards the innermost area of her golden house. The guards and chamberlains that frequented the area were dismissed to help manage affairs in the senate, or were likely just scared off the moment Saber Alter stormed into the building looking for a place to bury herself in a hole.
Honestly, Nero found herself nodding. It was likely Saber Alter's first time in Rome, but she naturally made her way towards the imperial hall that consolidated the emperor's power over the empire. Was it a natural born tendency of a ruler, or was Saber Alter merely attracted by the golden house's prestige and majesty? In any case, she was pleased that the deception was holding in a time where image mattered for the morale of Rome.
The Domus Aurea included an artificial lake that ferried in water from the aqueducts spanning from a wide array of infrastructure originating from natural springs and rivers.
Tile covered the floor, and plated marble and gold decorated the rising columns and inner arches as if in commemoration to the Greeks and their marble structures.
The inside of the palace had a wide atrium where Nero often addressed her subjects when making announcements or lauding her triumphs. Rows of red silken Roman banners were pinned to the walls, and a wide altar was set up on the other side of the room in commemoration to the Gods.
The area was deceptively empty which Nero didn't find odd given the state of her empire. Of course, it wasn't as if it was truly empty. Someone else had long since arrived in this space before Nero and the others even entered.
"Where's Saber?" Ritsuka laughed nervously while scratching at his cheek.
Nero had no answer, but it wasn't the same for the rest. Jeanne Alter had already meandered off, and as if sensing trouble, Mash followed her. Ritsuka's question itself was directed at Shirou who took in a breath, closed his eyes, and then focused on the bond he shared with his Servants.
One thing was exceedingly clear as he shifted his gaze to a corner of the room hidden by shadows cast from light reflecting from a distant plaza.
"She's sulking."
Saber Alter didn't want to see anyone right now, let alone him when she didn't know how to face him without stewing in her shame. It wasn't said, but he could feel it. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one, as Jeanne Alter was also one of his contracted Servants.
Like a cat stalking towards its prey, Shirou could read Jeanne Alter's intentions like an open book.
While Shirou respected Saber Alter's low mood and chose to remain at a distance, the other wanted to revel in the other's misery and directly approached.
Good thing there was Mash?
Shirou peered through the shadows and saw Saber Alter rested with her knees pulled to her chest, and her arms hugged around her thighs. Mash was trying to console the Tyrant King, but her words and actions were going through one ear, and out the other. Dark storm clouds hung heavily over Saber Alter's head, and Jeanne Alter was content to pester Saber with an annoyingly elated grin. The more Saber Alter craned her neck up and glared to warn Jeanne Alter to fuck off, the wider Jeanne Alter's smile became.
When the two suddenly ignored Mash entirely and started bickering with each other, Shirou could only pretend that they were getting along. If he just changed his perspective regarding the two, it should work out somehow. Besides, he and Ritsuka were pressed under Nero's eagerness to boast. She kept gesturing for them to follow her up to the highest point of the palace where a terrace view of Rome spawned out beyond the hills.
"Take a good look and be struck with awe! This is Rome, a glorious regime that even young women extol!" Nero said despite being weighed down by her injuries. In fact, she'd tried to do a twirl, and nearly coughed out blood for it. Fine. No extraneous movement then.
"A lot of people seem to be smiling." Ritsuka observed candidly.
Shirou had to agree. In this era, Rome was at the center of the world, and it showed in its bustling markets and townspeople.
"Yes, yes! Didn't I tell you?" Nero nodded vigorously, barely respressing the urge to lift her chin up and laugh in delight. "This is the greatest city in the world! First there was Septum Montes, and that's where it all started- Our glorious history beginning from the founding hills declared by our divine ancestors!"
"It's prosperous." Shirou admitted, getting somewhat swept away by Nero's enthusiasm.
Nero's eyes sparkled at the words. Praising Rome was the same as praising her and her efforts to come this far.
"Umu. Once again, I think I like you." A soft smile worked its way across her face before she hummed. "I am still unclear about what you and your group seek to accomplish, but I can tell that you are honest people."
Beep. Chaldea's transmission signal booted to life.
"It's a relief to hear you say that Emperor Nero," Romani said.
For a second, Nero frowned but let it go in the end. "…Well, maybe not the mage, but I give you room to convince me later." She was a gracious ruler!
"How lenient," Romani said flatly, feeling like he always got the short end of the straw. "In any case, it might be best to just think of us as simply a mage and his group of apprentices."
Nero perked up. To be truthful, she was still rather confused with the terminology and matters she'd discussed with Shirou and the others earlier. If the explanation was as simple as saying that it was a distant mage's venture with his apprentices, then that indeed made more sense.
"Very well. Let us forget that confusing talk with Masters and Servants," Nero directly threw out all the confusing things and stated matters in how she viewed them. "You all are a mage's pupils that come from Britannia and a distant land. Hmm, and you said your goal is to aid me?"
Shirou and Ritsuka nodded, Nero feeling her nerves begin to lighten at the affirmation.
"The name of the greatest Empire that rules the world of this era, is Rome." Romani narrated, indirectly brightening Nero's expression further.
"Umu, you do know how to please. I allow it. Speak more!" Nero placed her arms on her hips and couldn't help but puff up her chest.
"Rome is the center of the present world and the world itself. An Empire that greatly influenced later generations. If I'm right, this era's singularity is probably the existence of the Roman empire."
Nero made a face, her features scrunching as she realized from Shirou and Ritsuka's expressions that she was the only one not following along. She pursed her lips, less than pleased and closer to vexed. Far from dumb or slow witted, she was actually quite prudent with most things.
"Mm, mn Mn…Do continue but sorry." Nero coughed awkwardly, a pout over her face. She had thought that they were agreed. So why say things that went over her head? "Please speak a bit more in range of my understanding, mage."
"Sorry, the doctor can be a bit too theoretical. I'll explain." Mash intervened, having been kicked aside by the alters and forced into a retreat. She slinked back to join Shirou and Ritsuka, her head hung in defeat while Ritsuka patted her shoulder in consolation. Shaking her head, she focused on Nero. "We seek something called the Holy Grail, an item of great use and power. It's presence alone may be causing great disturbances, and the odds are high that it's what's eating away at the stability of your Rome."
An unlucky artifact made by mages then.
"Ah, I see." Nero nodded in thought. "So some ornate cup is damaging my Rome?"
"It must sound astounding, but-"
"It's neither far-fetched nor weird." Nero shook her head to show that she wasn't being skeptical. It was just that something else was on her mind. "Strangely, it just worries me that…forget it. It's just a needless concern of mine from some childish nightmare. Right, we are in my abode. Let us talk freely."
Nero took in a breath and grew solemn. Sensing this, Shirou, Ritsuka, and Mash glanced at each other, and nodded in preparation of what was to come.
"My Rome is currently endangered," Nero reluctantly admitted, her lips quivering. "My territories are now, vexingly enough, torn apart and scattered all over. On one hand, there's the true Roman Empire that I rule, the area centered around the capital, Rome. Then there's the alliance of 'Emperors' that suddenly appeared out of nowhere that divided my nation's people."
Shirou, Ritsuka, and Mash glanced at each other once more. None of what Nero was saying corresponded to known human history and denoted the stark change in timeline.
"The United Roman Empire. That's what they declared themselves as before they stole half my Empire." Looking out across the terrace view and towards the city of Rome, Nero grew wistful, shoulders drooping. "The composition of the enemy alliance is still a mystery including their base of power they declared as their new capitals. No scouts sent have ever returned."
Ritsuka coughed, hoping that Nero could be more specific. "Emperors?" He asked.
Nero's eyes flickered with a shadow of self doubt, but she focused on continuing it and believing in herself. "That's right. In my view, they're no different from treacherous bandits. Even if they…no. It's not worth mentioning when they are nothing but rebels spreading vicious lies. They call themselves emperors, but they're just pretenders!"
"You looked troubled," Shirou pointed out.
Nero flinched, jaw locking as she bowed her head and focused on her feet. She was uncertain whether this was the right thing to say or not, but her eyes did not deceive her in the prior battles Rome had already waged on the field against the United Roman Empire.
"Caligula." Nero whispered out, hands trembling as she used them to awkwardly rub warmth into her arms. "The man who single-handedly slaughtered my forces before your arrival. He's one of the traitors who calls himself 'emperor.'"
Mash's eyes widened at the name, her well read knowledge picking up on the oddity. "Caligula? Isn't that-"
"My uncle." Nero tucked her neck in, features downcast.
Ah. So that's what it was. As an emperor who came after them who carried their own achievement to Rome, it was no wonder Nero was wary of the United Roman Empire. Caligula was one thing as he supposedly went mad in his rule, but what if other more worthy Roman emperors existed in the alliance?
"Shouldn't Caligula be dead?" Romani asked the obvious.
Nero sucked in a breath and put aside her personal feelings.
"That is correct, but he somehow lives. He even managed to kill my court mage," she brooded, demeanor growing frail. "He was an old goof. A master of spells who shouldn't have died, but broke his promise and left me alone anyway..."
"To beat a mage from this era, this Caligula is likely a Servant. And if he's an 'emperor,' the others may be Servants as well," Romani mused.
"This must be what's causing the singularity. One of the 'emperors' must have gotten hold of the Holy Grail," Mash translated to Nero.
Nero didn't speak a word for a moment. Violent battles were occurring all over, and her people were suffering. She'd already dispatched all her serving viceroys and generals, and even threw nearly all of her troops at the United Empire, but their power remained undiminished.
She hated to say it, but recent developments had shown her that the situation was beyond her ability.
"Muoh! I hate it, but I order- no I implore you as members of Britannia and capable foreigners, become my generals!" Nero blurted out, moving to clasp Shirou and Ritsuka's hands in her own. Her grip was weak, uneasy despite the composure she was putting on her face. "In exchange, Rome and I will assist you in recovering this Holy Grail!"
Was there even a need to ask this?
"It seems we have a common cause." Romani sounded like he was smiling.
"Let's cooperate," Shirou and Ritsuka readily agreed.
"Umu. I'm pleased." Nero said, relief causing her to let out a breath she didn't know that she'd been holding. "Rest well for today before we plan our strategies," she then suggested.
It was something that everyone could agree with. Especially while Romani ran a diagnostic to locate a suitable leyline to start spiritron summons. This would be essential in summoning the Servants already registered in Chaldea or bidding forth new Servants to aid them on the Grand Order.
Seeing that Shirou, Ritsuka, and Mash were agreeable, Nero decided to make arrangements.
"I shall personally order for suitable quarters to be prepared," she boldly declared, only to falter when she staggered on her steps. Right. Can't be too extraneous. "…That is if I wasn't so injured."
Her eyes lit up a second later before she focused back on where Saber Alter was putting Jeanne Alter into a headlock.
As expected. Nero had her suspicions, but that form and appearance that resembled a lion subduing its prey was all too similar to that of her own!
Good form.
The features do not lie.
Nero called out. "Cousi- I mean, Saber, was it? If you would beckon the chamberlains outside and have them-"
"Your Majesty!"
A sudden shout had all eyes focus on the unarmed scout that barged into the palace, huffing for breath. At first, Nero was ready to hear a report, but grew embarrassed when the scout moved past her and took a knee in front of Saber Alter. Saber Alter blinked, Jeanne Alter cussing within Saber's sleeper hold.
"You may speak," Saber Alter said, defaulting to her ruling habits and shifting into a commanding tone.
If the scout was momentarily stunned at the near identical appearance of Nero, Saber Alter, and Jeanne Alter all present in the room, he still focused on his priorities and shook his head out of his daze.
"The eastern city gate is under attack by a mid-sized unit of United Empire forces! They don't seem to be remnants of the prior expeditionary force, but the ones sighted near Gaul!"
An enemy attack? Now?
The mood immediately shifted, tension filling the air as Saber Alter nodded, and the scout hurriedly returned to his position manning the walls. Nero groaned as she made to move, but Mash shook her head at her.
Nero was in no position to act even if she wanted to. "Leave this to us," she said.
"I guess there's no choice. I'll put my trust in you." Nero clenched her teeth and sighed while Shirou and the others mobilized.
Saber Alter let Jeanne Alter free, and the two patted themselves off as they considered the situation.
"Careful." Romani warned in the meantime. "It won't be unusual if a Servant shows up to be leading the enemy forc- oh wait, let me just run a scan."
A transmission noise echoed, signaling the start of Romani's periphery probe.
In the meantime, Mash helped Nero to her quarters where she laid the emperor down on the bed to rest while Shirou, Ritsuka, Saber, and Jeanne began running to the frontlines.
"Anytime now Romani," Shirou asked for confirmation before running in headlong.
"Two Servant signals are confirmed. Be careful." Romani advised, eyes darting left and right as he processed the data presented to him. "The enemy forces are split in two. One is at the east gate, but the other is circling around to the south. The recommended plan of defense is to split your forces."
Shirou took the words in and considered the approach that should be taken. Ritsuka and Mash were still fairly inexperienced, and without having set up the Servant Summoning circle, they couldn't draw from the wisdom of the Servants they recruited in Orleans. Just in case, he decided that it would be best for him to stay with them. Still, that left the east. If it was Saber, she should be able to handle Jeanne Alter well enough...
"Saber, Jeanne," Shirou called out, his two Servants perking up. "Cover the east. Ritsuka, Mash, and I will start in the south, and then circle our way to you."
Saber Alter looked like she'd swallowed a fly, but this time, Jeanne Alter also wasn't amused. To Jeanne Alter, the Human Order, the Grand Order, and all that was worth far less than Shirou to her.
"I trust you," but those words sealed the deal for Jeanne who changed her mind in the face of the earnest expression directed at her.
"W-Whatever. Nothing a little fire can't handle."
Fool. Saber Alter scoffed at Jeanne Alter's ramblings.
The words obviously referred to her.
/-/
The operation began in earnest.
Taking in a breath, Saber Alter assessed the situation before her on the eastern gates of Rome. Screams filled the air, and the roaring of ballista fire echoed in her ears. Her nose twitched, the scent of iron wafting through thick pools of blood growing stronger and stronger as she approached with Jeanne Alter trailing behind her.
The smell of the battlefield never changes.
Clashing steel and the audible thumping of shields echoed amidst the chaos.
Roman Legionaries that Nero had stationed to man the east gate were furiously pelting the invading side with arrows and stones. Beneath the gate, vats of oil were heated and then poured over the advancing enemy battering team. Skin bubbled and melted off. Others weren't so lucky and had the metal of their armour fused to their flesh from the heat.
The sight before Saber Alter was nothing new. This was an era before even her own, but the violence she could see was no reason for the defending Romans to be hard pressed on the defence. They had fortifications, terrain advantage, and ample support and supplies from Rome which they defended.
So then why were they getting pushed back?
As the battering ram was moments away from being set up by the invading side, a mana burst shattered the entire structure and killed the battering team in a torrent of black light.
All turned to stare to the one place that the black light had come from.
Standing tall in a red dress, Rome's 'Emperor' oversaw eastern walls.
"You're all a mess," Saber Alter's voice echoed with authority, announce her arrival and judgement.
Every defender was startled when they heard her words, the din of the battlefield coming to a halt in their perspective.
Regardless, Saber Alter's appearance immediately roused the spirits of Rome's soldiers as she immediately took charge.
A commanding officer of the east hurriedly ran to Saber Alter for instruction, the emperor's authority overriding his own.
"Orders, your majesty?!" The officer grunted with a salute.
Several thoughts flickered through Saber Alter's mind, but the experience of her kingship brought her back to the days campaigning against the invasion of the barbarian. Defensive battle was one of her fortés.
"First, send all the injured to the barracks. They're useless on these walls," she ordered without sympathy. If you were useless, you were useless. Better to live than to die doing what you couldn't and endangering others by protecting you.
The injured defenders and legion members flinched, but all they could do was bow their heads and let themselves be escorted off or hobble away on their own.
"Then, except for the ballista crews who will continue aiming at distant targets, the rest of you with me." Saber Alter pulled out Nero's sword, Aestus Estus. It wasn't her Excalibur, but her skills as a sword master and Saber meant she could use it nonetheless. "We will push them back from the gates."
"W-With just us?" The nervous commander asked the obvious.
Saber Alter glanced over, and then assessed the number of remining able bodied men in her command. In the end, she frowned when she recognized some faces from before. In a situation like this, she couldn't expect them to fight properly when they had just survived a skirmish mere hours ago.
However, her thoughts differed from her words.
"Do you doubt your emperor?"
Her eyes narrowed, pulses of dark magic energy swelling around her. Rather than Nero's courageous valor, what Saber Alter displayed was a tyrannical momentum. In her, her soldiers would never see hesitation under her lead.
"No!" Struck by Saber Alter's words, fire reignited in the commander's eyes.
"Then rally with me."
Shudders travelled down the commander's neck at Saber Alter's words.
If Nero was a beacon of light that encouraged her people, then Saber Alter was the steel that would cut all of Rome's adversaries down. The emperor had changed for the sake of the people and the empire…then all efforts to the emperor who'd make such a personal sacrifice!
"Go, spread the order!"
"I hear, and obey!" The commander took off running, screaming for the attention of his men all the while.
Standing next to Saber Alter, Jeanne Alter snorted. If it was just yelling at people and telling them what to do, she could do that too. Saber Alter's quick instruction and initiative weren't that great. Saber just spoke up before Jeanne could. That was all.
Jeanne leered at the attacking enemies from atop the wall considering what she wanted to do, but Saber Alter would never let a random variable run amuck in her battlefield.
The eyes of the two alters met, and it was abundantly clear to each other what each was thinking.
Saber opened her mouth. "French cow-"
"Bitch, I don't listen to you!" Jeanne Alter rebutted.
Saber Alter didn't care, and just continued with her instructions. Jeanne Alter was no commander, or ruler. "Make yourself useful and try to circle around the enemy."
"Why?"
Did she just ask that?
Saber Alter would make her personal assessment clear then. "Your French presence ruins everything. Better for you be in the enemy side. In fact, why don't you turn coat?"
That wasn't true. Jeanne Alter bristled. Not at all. She revels in the misfortune of others, but if her entire existence ruins everything then why did Shirou call out to her? Saber Alter was wrong! She knew nothing! Embers smoldered around Jeanne, veins popping over her skin in her fury. "You fucking piece of shit-"
"See?" Saber Alter pointed mercilessly as Jeanne's smoldering embers set the nearest ballista on fire. There goes a heavy artillery. "You ruin everything. I'd rather you do that over there."
"…"
'I'm gonna kill her. I'm gonna skewer her on a stake.' Jeanne Alter took deep breath, features twisting into a dirty scowl. 'No. No. Hold it in. If you explode from just this, what will Shirou think of you? This English Bitch won't be laughing when she's cucked.'
Achievements. Jeanne Alter would show her worth there.
Huffing, Jeanne leapt off the wall and towards the enemies. Let's get things straight. It wasn't that she was convinced, it was that she was just irritated and wanted something to vent on. Flames flickered over her skin, trickling down to her weapons and setting them alight.
From there, Saber Alter no longer paid Jeanne any more attention. The officer she'd spoken to had returned after rallying the troops to stand by her commands.
"Your orders, your Majesty?" The crowd echoed.
There was only one.
"With me!"
Saber Alter raised her blade, pointed, and charged at the next wave of enemies that came to test eastern Rome's heavy gates. The sight of them left many worn-out soldiers despondent at their odds, but as if to spit on that sort of resolve, Saber Alter slashed out with her sword.
"They're coming! Get into your positions or die like fodder! Phalanx and hold, block the way!"
Blood splattered over her expressionless face and soaked into her dress as the armies made contact. Her sword shifted into a flurry of strikes that severed limbs and punctured hearts. From time to time, she'd let enemies through her assault. Weakened and bleeding from her attacks, the ones she let go were easy prey for those that awaited behind her.
Through this method, she built a rapport with the eastern defenders to restore morale, but at the same time, she mercilessly chastised all mistakes.
"Ballista men, what are you doing?!" She shouted towards the distant walls. "Hurry and fire! Separate their vanguard from the rear!"
A wave of volleying arrows followed the command, none daring to raise opposing opinions.
"Throw your javelins! You won't need them in close quarters!"
Spears were tossed, littering the ground before the gate with sharp edges and splintered wood that the enemy would have to traverse through. When they did, the true battle began in a traditional melee.
"Legionaries be useful or off yourselves!" Saber Alter hissed in annoyance, dazing an enemy by the helmet, and then executing them with a stab. "Raise your damn shields! Brace! Then stab at the gaps with your gladius!"
It was utter mayhem. Yet through it, the black rose blooming became clearer and clearer.
The sight of their emperor covered in the blood of the enemy and still chastising them through it all with an indomitable gaze, struck them at their cores. Through hardship, pressure, and death the rambunctious leader of Rome had turned from a blooming crimson flower, into the black flower of farewell.
Farewell to her people that died.
Farewell to naivety.
And farewell to the innocence of her smile.
As the potency of Saber Alter's mana began to taint her dress, the regal red began to turn into a shade of black, the petal-like tips remaining white.
The men realized it now. Not once even as the battle lulled did their emperor smile with encouragement. There was only a stony solitude that bid them to remain firm.
"For the Emperor!" the shouts came unbidden.
Saber clicked her tongue. "You bastards. Cheer for me later. The battle is just beginning!"
Admonished, several grew sheepish, but even more were encouraged to fight on through their fatigue.
"Aim for the lightly padded joints! Target their weakness not their strengths!"
"Idiot! Are my words water?!"
"If you get hurt, then step back and rotate with your allies behind!"
Order after order, the instruction that so brutally tore down at one's self-confidence with each mistake led to many lives being saved and indebted to their leader.
Like a steel bastion, the legion under Saber Alter acted as a meat grinder, churning flesh through alternating blades of steel until there was nothing left. More accurately, until no one dared approach, cautiously watching them in apprehension.
Many were winded, but Saber Alter was only breathing in a practiced pace.
"When will additional troops arrive?" She asked while keeping track of the enemy's movements.
The officer helping to pass orders down to the defending legion hesitated, but still spoke anyway. "We don't have any…"
Saber Alter grunted. It was a result she expected, which meant they couldn't last a protracted battle. It was different for her.
"Alright, you will protect this gate until I return then. I will move to end things here."
Saber Alter cut off the commander's response by directly acting. Through battle, she'd finally spotted the enemy Servant overseeing the attacking force.
Mana swelling around her, she stepped on air itself and propelled herself directly towards him. The air expanded rapidly, pushing away all that blocked her path. Soldiers, armaments, and batteries went flying as she landed before her adversary. The man was rotund, wore a laurel crown, and had fitted roman armour that straddled the vestments on his person.
Seeing Saber Alter suddenly appear, the man appeared to recognize her if only for a moment before showing doubt.
"You…are different somehow, Nero," the man spoke.
His name was Gaius Julius Caesar, a Saber Class Servant and a member of the United Empire. Originally stationed in Gaul, circumstances led to his current reconnaissance of Nero and her new allies on the orders of the thing that summoned him.
Saber Alter grimaced at the comparison between her and Nero. Honestly, it was just the face.
"Indeed. I'm different." She readied herself for combat by entering a low stance. "I'm your nightmare."
Caesar mused that Nero was well known to be a showman, but he didn't know she was also a comedian? Well, he could indulge her if only because she resembled more of a 'happy' kind of dream.
"Nightmare?" Caesar echoed, his eyes naturally drawn to Saber Alter's exposed thighs and rear. He swallowed, Cleopatra would skin him, but she wasn't here. He grew bolder. "I beg to differ."
Saber Alter immediately bristled when she was keenly aware of what Caesar was implying.
"Nightmare!" She insisted.
"Do a twirl for me would you?"
Caesar knew that Nero was rather eccentric, but her newest ploy, well, he found himself rather taken by it. The sudden gap moe from boisterous and cheerful in the reports to pragmatic and ruthless had to be some sort of new inspiration for her.
Saber Alter was on the verge of snapping, her shoulders quaking in rage.
"What do you take me for, right now?!"
Honestly?
"A whore." Caesar readily admitted.
Silence.
Scary thought, Caesar hummed as his cunning knew no bounds: An army of whores? No military could ever stand up to it or its sway to infiltrate and destabilize. Nero, how devious to adopt it herself!
Saber Alter's mouth locked shut. For the first time in her life-!
This was why she didn't want to wear such attire. She could already hear Jeanne Alter wheezing somewhere in the background, bitch bloody giving herself away. Jeanne Alter's pincer maneuver was an obvious failure at this point, giving her no choice but to block the army while Saber dealt with Caesar.
Saber was not opposed to the arrangement.
They wanted the Alters to hold the eastern front?
Fine. Gladly.
Saber Alter advanced towards Caesar amidst a backdrop of flames.
"…I'm going to gut you."
While Saber and Jeanne Alter handled one Servant, Shirou, Ritsuka, and Mash had moved to intercept the other that was reportedly maneuvering in a pincer formation in the south.
Using Reinforcement, Shirou was quickly striding across the hills of Rome on the way to the southern front with Ritsuka and Mash in tow. With their speed, they were able to quickly reach their destination without much difficulty, but it was there that Shirou began to have his doubts.
It was strange.
"Where's the army?" Shirou mumbled in thought while Ritsuka rushed ahead using Mash to carry him forward.
To Shirou, it was odd that even now he couldn't see any sizable force other than Rome's beyond the southern wall. In the eastern front, Saber Alter had conveyed with him through their link that there was a sizable force at the gates. Even if this was a strategic maneuver, it didn't make sense not to send an adequate number of men.
For a second, Shirou asked if Saber Alter could try to get a read on the enemy's intentions, but ever since she met up with the other Servant on the eastern side, all he could feel from their connection was a seething fury. He trusted her, really, but she was not going to reply any time soon.
Then, what about Jeanne Alter?
That connection was just as bad. All he could make out was the crackling of flames, and…debilitating stomach pain?
He was utterly confused, more so when he could clearly hear Jeanne's unceasing cackling, as if she was doubled over the ground wheezing and dying from being out of breath. Was she being choked? Jeanne Alter? No way. She'd die before letting herself be caught so helpless.
The situation on the east was bewildering, yet Shirou had his own people he had to look after. Jeanne and Saber Alter were capable. That much, he could always guarantee. However, Ritsuka and Mash reminded Shirou too much of himself before he grew into his own capabilities. At least with him, he had a chance of surviving his own recklessness, but the two were going headlong already without assessing the situation.
It was understandable that they wished to save as many Romans as possible, but at the same time, without getting an overall picture of the situation, there were too man risks.
Finally, Shirou focused on the sound of battle, alerting him to the enemy's position in the south.
As Romani had indicated, it was a Servant.
The Servant was alone, but even then, it was a force that Nero's Roman legionnaires could not hope to compare to. They had made a tight defensive formation with shields forward and spears poking through the gaps, but the opponent beat them away with heavy winds from the stomp of his foot alone.
Shirou was quite familiar with the method too.
Mana Burst.
"Mash, help them!" Ritsuka was quick on the uptake in situations like these, and that's why Shirou felt the most relatable to him.
Mash accepted the order, put Ritsuka down, and immediately dashed towards the enemy Servant.
"Shirou, can you provide her support?" Ritsuka asked sheepishly. Unlike Mash who was his Servant, Shirou was a fellow Master.
Regardless, Shirou nodded to the request. As good as his capabilities were, recklessly charging in against a Servant was grounds for Saber and Jeanne Alter's ire. He'd sooner get chewed and spat out by them like a wet noodle if he kept putting his life as collateral for no reason. Besides, by staying near Ritsuka, he doubled as a guard to give Mash ease of mind.
A large black bow formed in Shirou's hand, as he readied himself to give support. He decided to use this chance as a growing opportunity for Mash and Ritsuka.
Without missing a beat, Mash leapt over the Roman defensive line, and dug her heels into the dirt directly opposite to the enemy Servant.
"Mash Kyrielight, on the field!" Mash braced her shield against her shoulder, her determined eyes staring directly at the opponent before her.
"Doctor, any readings on the Servant?" She asked stiffly, noticing that a layer of wind seemed to be concealing whatever weapon the enemy Servant was using.
["His mana levels are high, but he doesn't appear to be a Caster if that stance and armour is anything to go by, he wields a weapon. Well, that is if we consider Olga's EMIYA as an exception to common convention. Just be careful."]
"Yes!" Mash nodded, turning off her comms to prevent distraction in battle.
The Servant before her was dressed in plate armour mounted over regal blues inlaid with gold trim. He was taller than Mash by a head, and his demeanor exuded a type of presence that caused a shudder of alarm to travel down Mash's back. Over his head was a shoddy hood that only revealed the lower half of a face.
Mash braced herself for battle as she had put herself in front of the Roman soldiers, but contrary to her expectations, the Servant did not immediately engage a clear hostile. Rather, he seemed almost bemused.
"That shield…" the Servant muttered. "I see, so that's what it was."
"Y-You recognize it?" Mash blurted, taken aback. The only one with any information on it was Saber Alter, and she refused to reveal anything until the Servant that Mash was fused with opted to tell her.
"How could I not?"
Mash grew hopeful that if it wasn't Saber Alter, she might be able to get an answer, but she was bound to be disappointed. The Servant did not elaborate beyond that, seemingly respecting the wishes of the shield's true owner.
"Who are you?!" She insisted.
"Someone that knows words mean little in combat." The Servant smiled, not answering and choosing another course of action. "Let me see how much you've grown, old friend."
Mash stared at her shield as it thrummed with equal parts familiarity and confusion, but it didn't last as the Servant was on her in an instant.
"Ugh," The invisible weapon smashed against her shield with such force that she felt nauseous as a dinging echoed in her head.
Gritting her teeth, Mash revolved her shield and shoved forward, hoping to force the enemy back, but she stumbled on her feet when she met no resistance. She tripped, momentum carrying her forward to smack her shield into the ground, and her body following along with it, leaving her vulnerable.
She only had a second to glance up before she realized that the enemy had sidestepped, but had not used the opportunity to attack. W-Was he making fun of her? The Servant chuckled in amusement, as if the maneuver brought back distant memories.
"Still head long and stubborn I see," the Servant grinned, pointing his weapon at Mash.
An acute sense of shame and frustration was conveyed through her shield, and into Mash, before she huffed and swiped the edge of her shield in attack.
With a careful set of footwork, Mash's attack was easily dodged, leaving her stunned at the ease of which she was being handled.
Rounding back, she kicked up dust with her shield by smacking the butt end on the ground, before she rounded back with a sweeping overhead.
That too was countered by nothing less than a violent storm of wind that sent her tumbling.
It was almost like the man knew her attack patterns.
Grunting, Mash's legs wobbled as she quickly fell back into a defensive stance.
By this point, Rome's soldiers had designated her as an ally and were throwing javelins to divert the enemy Servant's attention. Not even looking in their direction, the enemy raised his weapon, and then swept it to the side with a burst of magic energy that rebuffed every single strike.
This Servant was strong. There were no doubts about it.
Fortunately, Mash wasn't alone.
The streaking sound of a tactical missile echoed through the air, giving Mash the signal to hide herself behind her sturdy shield while leaving the enemy in the open.
The enemy Servant was no push over, immediately detecting the source of the sound and identifying it.
"An Archer- what sort of arrow?!"
The complacency on the enemy Servant's face shifted from laid back to stunned the moment he tried to easily bat away the strike like the javelins before it. However, this was no ordinary arrow.
"D-Damn it." The Servant cursed before flaring his magic energy and striking at the oncoming arrow.
The invisible weapon struck true, and the explosion of impact sent the enemy Servant backpedaling away from Mash, giving her room to breathe.
"Emiya-Senpai," Mash smiled in gratitude when Shirou and Ritsuka entered the battlefield.
Staring at Shirou and Ritsuka's arrival, the enemy Servant brushed off the dirt and grime from the attack, and otherwise appeared fine. However, he was making a face now that his opponents had shifted from just one, to what seemed like three.
"Well, this is going to be more work than I thought," the Servant muttered, getting back into a fighting stance, but Ritsuka pressed forward.
Oddly, Shirou let him, a peculiar expression on his face while Mash moved to protect her Master.
"What do you want?" Ritsuka demanded. "Why are you even doing this!?"
More amicable than anyone thought, the Servant actually eased his stance and answered. "Before being a Servant, right now…I'm a hired hand."
"A Servant like you, working as a mercenary?" Mash pursed her lips, the sentiments in her shield just as baffled.
"Honour and debts really. No hard feelings." The Servant shrugged, but it was by this point that Shirou shook himself out of his stupor.
"It's fine." It was easy for Shirou to tell now that he noticed that none of Nero's soldiers were killed or grievously injured. "You don't seem to be putting much effort into this anyway?"
"Was it not obvious?" The Servant finally put away his weapon and crossed his arms. "I was asked to be a distraction, and that's what I'm doing. Killing without reason is something I'd never do."
"B-But why?" Ritsuka muttered.
The Servant, a man, clearly, did not seem to know how to answer without embarrassing himself. "Ha fine. I was offered food, I ate it, and the fat man had a glib tongue. I'm now paying off a debt of roast lamb."
"All this for just a single meal of lamb?!" Mash sounded indignant, more than she probably should have been, but her shield was acting too strangely.
The man looked flustered; the part of his face not concealed by his hood appearing flushed. "A whole lamb. Six of them."
["...Why does that sound like something Saber would be susceptible to?"]
"I am a Saber," the Servant answered despite searching for Romani's voice and not finding it.
"But Servants don't need to eat." Ritsuka reasoned before he glanced at Shirou and then recalled Saber and Jeanne Alter's voracious table manners. He immediately redacted his words, but the Servant took the silence as incredulousness.
"Then you know nothing of hunger." The Servant lectured. "As a man who has both led and fought wars, it is universal. We must eat. Hunger is the enemy."
"You, ugh, does your name happen to be Arturia?" Shirou could help it no longer. Something about this entire encounter was jarring him.
The Servant hummed, but before he could answer, his focus snapped to the east where Saber Alter and Jeanne Alter were. He sighed, slapping a hand over his face, but he was still honour bound.
"Sorry, but we'll have to cut things here," the Servant said, not wasting a second before astralizing into motes of golden light.
"Wait, where are you going?!" Mash demanded.
"To finally repay a debt in full and be rid of this constraint."
The Servant's features grew exaggerated before he disappeared in full.
"My jolly employer may have bitten off more than he can chew."
/-/
Not Nero! Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!Not Nero!
Beads of sweat dripped over Caesar's face, his rotund form barely escaping evisceration through another perilous twirling evade. Honestly, he wished his army could help him, but a Servant's capabilities dwarfed those of common humans. They'd just serve themselves up as fodder, and Caesar had no intention of allowing them to do so when his army was composed of those who viewed him as the most fit to rule Rome. These were his people, his Rome.
"Don't interfere! And stay away from the flames!" Caesar warned before paling as he narrowly dodged another blow that cratered the ground beneath his feet.
Caesar's expression twisted, staring at a pair of unblinking golden eyes that reminded him of an enraged lizard.
"You dance well for a Deadman."
There was no way this was Nero!
Caesar would never believe it. They could have the same face, height, and body, but the voice, mannerism, and brutality of her offensive did not match the reports at all!
Raising his sword, Crocea Mors, he made to counter a heavy overhead slash, but soon thought better of it, and chose to continue evading. From the damage output of Saber Alter's strikes, even if Caesar successfully blocked or parried, the burst of mana Saber Alter was discharging at every strike would engulf him instantly.
"Tch," Saber Alter clicked her tongue as she relentlessly continued her charge.
For all of Caesar's rotundness, the man was deceptively quick and agile. If anything, his weight added to the strength behind his swings, forcing Saber Alter to bat them aside rather than let them graze her. This was even more so as she wasn't wearing her usual armour, but a dress that barely covered the important parts.
"C-Cleo, I have sinned." Caesar murmured disheartedly, sweat beading over his forehead as he pictured his demise.
He pulled his foot back, making panicked faces but still evading death at every turn.
It looked like he was making fun of Saber Alter, and subsequently, her strikes were only getting more and more aggressive.
How unreasonable!
She was lucky this wasn't a battle of wits, but damn.
This was such a pain! He wasn't exactly fighting at his full strength, but it meant nothing when he could determine that even if he pulled out all the stops, Saber Alter would still crush him in the end.
This was why he shouldn't have been a Saber! This class was just wrong! He was a commander before he was a fighter. At least make him a Rider! It would have been far better, and slimmer in comparison-
Damn!
Caesar raised his sword to defend, this time, unable to dodge. Expectedly, the explosion of black mana that showered over his sword then over to him did just what he thought it would. It bruised his poor body, and imprinted it into the ground.
He groaned, debating on whether there was merit for a plea deal, but knowing there was no negotiation on Saber Alter's face in the least.
Hastily deciding to take things seriously, Caesar decided to ascend to his peak form, but suddenly stopped moments before doing so.
"...Took you long enough," he muttered.
Saber Alter read Caesar's lips, and immediately realized that there was something wrong. Caesar was no longer looking at her, but beside her.
That's when Saber felt it. A build up of mana that was done with the intent of being noticed.
"Another Servant?" Saber Alter mused, deftly evading the strike that hit the ground and created an obscuring plume of dust. She covered her face, squinting her eyes to try to see through the dust, but only managing to notice Caesar retreating out of sword range.
She would have to give it to the new Servant, he wasn't a cowardly Assassin who would strike without care for honour.
Still, Saber Alter quickly surmised that the interloper must be the second Servant Romani had detected.
Then what of Shirou? Truly, this was what gave Saber Alter the most pause.
"Ah, the glutton."
Saber Alter heard Caesar's voice somewhere within the obscuring dust.
"Just in time."
"…Must you call me that? It was just some lamb."
Turning in the direction of the voices, and using her magic senses to locate the exact position, Saber Alter quickly took a battle stance and glared directly in front of her. Whoever the new Servant was, they were bold to face her directly in battle.
"It was only six."
"And it still makes you a debtor, so you're honor bound!"
Were they ignoring her?
Saber Alter's brow twitched, her mind trying to formulate an explanation for the sudden appearance of the second Servant. No matter, she trusted her Master, and she would have felt it if Shirou died. She had no grudges with this new Servant yet. If the new Servant could be so gracious as to not intervene, she may even let him live.
Targeting Caesar's location, Saber Alter slashed a blade of wind and mana forward, but was stopped by the emergence of the second Servant that intervened again.
"Move." Saber Alter gave her only warning.
The dust made it hard to see the figure of the new Servant clearly, but it was a demeanor that radiated confidence.
"Sorry, as sly as his tongue is, he's right. You're going to have to stop here." The second Servant said. "I owe a favor, and if intervening this once will return it, then it's a small price to pay."
An honorable Servant? Saber Alter could respect that.
She waited for the dust to settle. It would be too troublesome if Caesar used the obscurity to launch any surprise attacks.
The new Servant seemed to have a similar view as Saber Alter, as he too waited.
When the dust finally settled, and the two got a good look at each other, it was the new Servant that balked while Saber Alter made a peculiar face at the man's weapon shrouded in air.
The man stared at Saber Alter's black dress, to her pale complexion, and then to her venomous eyes while Saber Alter stared at the familiar blues and magic armour set.
"M-Morgan?" The man bristled with loathing and scorn, the grip around his invisible weapon tightening. "Curse you, you'd follow me even here?!"
Now it was Saber Alter's turn to bristle in disbelief.
"I. Am. No. Witch."
Caesar shifted his gaze between his ally and Saber Alter several times before making the tacit decision to retreat several steps back.
"Y-You cur! You even took Merlin's voice?!"
'That's two strikes you bastard.'
She was nothing like her sister, and she was certainly no flakey flower wizard! She shuddered at the mere thought.
Saber Alter's features twisted with fury, a look that all but solidified the new Servant's impression of Saber Alter.
"You're dead."
"Your machinations will never harm me again."
What machination?!
Saber Alter gnashed her teeth. Something was definitely wrong here, but she couldn't help the way her eyes gravitate back to the man's weapon.
She eyed the weapon concealed in wind with bafflement if only for an instant before the man was on her. The two exchanged a rapid set of parries and relentless flurry strikes, only to realize that the root of their swordsmanship was practically the same.
Clang!
Two swords clashed together, pressing the other for dominance with both wielders glaring at the other.
"Y-You even managed to steal this?!" An eruption of blue mana surrounded the second Servant.
"You're delusional." Saber Alter sneered, black aura encasing her in full, vying for supremacy.
The earth cracked beneath their feet, tendrils of magic energy intermittently singeing the ground before it too began to crater and crumble away. It was like watching a sinkhole. The more Saber Alter and her opponent released their energy, the deeper the crater became with them at the center.
Things were getting horribly out of hand. Caesar wobbled on his feet, trying to keep his balance, but he could watch no more.
"Wait, stop!" Caesar moved to intervene, but he didn't actually dare to get between them. The most he did was yell. "I'll have you know that we came in peace!"
Left unsaid, but if they were too weak, Caesar had been fully intent on assuming control of Rome for his own reasons, but this was not the case.
"Just burn and die you, pig. You expect us to believe that?!"
Caesar shrieked as a torrent of flames nearly swallowed him whole. Once again, he disproved the notion of slow fat people by evading off the skin of his teeth.
The sudden attack on Caesar may have missed, but it certainly reminded the second Servant that he was fighting to repay a debt right now. Clicking his tongue, he forcibly disengaged from Saber Alter, and moved to defend Caesar from a surprise attack.
However, the man's momentum sputtered to a halt when Jeanne Alter, threatening to burn Caesar to death, came within view.
The man froze in alarm much to Caesar's panic.
"...There are two of you? What sorcery is-"
"Saber, Jeanne, wait!"
Everyone froze when Shirou, Mash, and Ritsuka finally arrived on scene. Of everyone present, Caesar felt the most reprieve as she scuttled away from Jeanne Alter's reach and recomposed himself.
"I'll say it again, but we didn't come to destroy Rome." Caesar stressed, trying to sort things out before it got any more out of hand. "This was just a test? A test okay?"
Saber Alter would beg to differ, and scoffed, but she didn't say anything when Shirou nodded at her. Jeanne huffed, but she didn't say anything either.
"Let's hear what he has to say first." Shirou proposed to everyone with a sigh. "At the very least, they didn't kill or critically injure any of Rome's soldiers."
Now that Saber Alter assessed the soldiers under her command, her Master's words were indeed correct. The soldiers defending Rome's eastern wall were exhausted and tired, but all could recover with a few days of rest.
Caesar was thankful for the chance to speak, and didn't care to address the blatant confusion his hired hand was feeling. As this wasn't truly life or death, Caesar could reason that the debt of lamb had yet to be paid!
A powerful backer would be stuck with him yet!
But to more important matters.
"I'll have you know but none of us in the United Roman Empire actually desire to destroy Rome," Caesar immediately divulged a fundamental truth of the U.R.E.
Mash's eyes widened in surprise
"But then the Singularity and its divergence from-"
"Who cares about what that foul court mage wanted? He left some time ago, and has never returned." Caesar spat disgruntledly. It was the first genuine show of emotion he displayed, and everyone could tell he wasn't faking it. "However, there are problems."
"Like what?" Ritsuka ventured.
Caesar glanced at Ritsuka, noticed that he was a Master, and then deemed him worthy of political discourse.
"That court mage, Lev Lainur, left behind a safeguard to ensure his twisted goals, and nothing is as compelling as Command Seals for a Servant." Caesar crossed his arms and huffed. "I may be greedy, but everything is for Rome. Therefore, I came today with a proposal. It may not be the same for everyone, but I'd like to present a truce between Emperors."
"A truce? Is that why you bring an army to Rome's doorstep?" Saber Alter sneered derisively.
She underestimated the pig's shamelessness.
"I'll have you know it's not the first time." Caesar patted himself off, bits of grime and dirt falling over his feet.
"In fact, I set the political precedent to march armed forces into the Forum Romanum. Therefore, what say you?" Caesar offered his olive branch. "Agree, and I'll tell you the true state of this war."
Many looked to Saber Alter to decide as Nero's substitute.
She wanted to filet Caesar, and that much was clear. But, she was more averse to coming off as merciless and barbaric to Shirou than anything else. There was truth in the saying that love fosters change, if not for one's self, then for their partner.
"We'll hear you out," Saber Alter forced the words out of her mouth like poison. "But cross us, and I'll have you on a roasted spit with an apple garnish."
Caesar was unphased. He'd heard worse from Cleo. "I'll take that as a yes, then."
"Can you give us an idea of what we're up against?" Shirou asked.
Caesar grew solemn all at once, a sigh escaping his lips. He balled his hands into fists, before releasing them and then staring into the empire that was Rome. In the first place, he would never have proposed an alliance unless it was truly needed, and Rome was going to need all the help it could get. Caligula's forces were already desperately trying to buy time, and Caesar would rather die for Rome than see it razed to the ground.
"We face the Great Founder bound against his will, and…the Destroyer that has usurped the missing Court Wizard's grail."
/-/
Believe it or not, Nero did not like to remain idle. The stillness made her mind wander, and given the situation of her Rome, it was far too disconcerting to ever feel at ease. Moreover, the doubts and insecurity that crept in when she didn't have to care about appearances kept her constantly anxious even if she didn't intend to.
Nero winced as she tried to sit up from her floral bed, the outer perimeter and frame decorated with lavish red roses with clipped thorns. She stared at the roses, and then looked at herself, bedridden and useless. As she'd thought, she couldn't stay here.
Pressing a hand over her wound, she felt blood seep through bandages. Her fault honestly. She should have waited for her wounds to properly set and heal before forcing herself to continue onward, but her stubbornness earned her only a re-opened wound.
Grunting, Nero kept heart, found a new set of her own bandages, and quickly went about setting her wound again. This time, she kept it tight to keep up pressure and prevent anything too damaging and permanently hindering her through her rule.
She was Nero Claudius; a flesh wound would never be enough to put her down!
Or at least, that was what her stubbornness insisted on before she had marched an army to fight on the front lines before Chaldea's intervention…
Her wound felt worse than it did before. It was to the point that it was hard to even keep up appearances, but no matter, she'd found allies that she felt she could try to trust.
Whether she suspected her imperial blood ran through the veins of two of Chaldea's members or not, still under suspicion. It didn't help that they reportedly came from Britannia, too far into the Gaul's for Nero to keep proper track of her family's movements or machinations.
Nero focused step after step to prevent herself from stumbling, eventually making it back to the central hall of the Domus Aurea where she tried to make sense of the current situation.
There was a civil war, and Rome's Emperor was bedridden?! Truly she could not bear that shame. This was part of the reason she even got Saber Alter to pose as her, but more than that, they were strong.
If it was them, then they could help turn the tide against the United Roman Empire forces. After all, she'd had no luck or progress from the start. All her reconnaissance troops never returned, and Rome was constantly getting encroached upon.
Nero squinted her eyes in the direction of Rome's outer walls, trying to get an idea of whether Chaldea had claimed victory or not. From the looks of things, the walls were intact, and there was no screaming either, which meant that Rome had been successfully defended, so then…why could she see a procession of United Empire Legionaries marching through her streets led by Saber Alter and the others?
Were they perhaps war prisoners, or maybe citizens of the empire that had finally seen the light of her Rome for what it was?!
For a second, Nero was jubilant, her features beaming like a child, but she quickly reconsidered when she noticed that Saber Alter and the others were not alone. Marching alongside them towards the Forum Romanum were two people she clearly didn't recognize. One kept his features concealed with a shoddy hood, but the other could not be anymore flaunting of his Roman roots. To his red coat, tunic, and white toga beneath all that, it just screamed Rome. More importantly, just like her, he even wore a laurel crown! Blasphemy!
Nero felt her features grow pinched when Saber Alter and the others eventually reached the Domus Aurea, dismissed the following army, and then proceeded in with just a select few.
Nero was already waiting impatiently, her chin raised, back straight, and uncaring if the posture aggravated her wound.
"You are all back safe I see! Umu, you all did well. Rome is safe." She rolled her eyes, failing to conceal the way they kept drifting to Caesar and Saber. "Now, they are?"
If her tone sounded like she was pouting, then their ears were just deaf. Still, she held on to some form of rationality and expectation.
"P-Perhaps the generals of the enemies I may parade in my Triumph against the bandits that seek my Rome?"
Ritsuka's expression grew awkward, while Shirou coughed and looked to the side. Jeanne Alter could care less, and Saber Alter still had her rationality.
"Not quite," Mash shook her head and stiffly answered.
Nero knit her brows in suspicion. Already, she had an inkling of doubt when a United Roman Empire army was seen following into Rome.
"Then who are they?"
Ritsuka moved to give an explanation, but Caesar would not let a chance to work his tongue get away from him.
"Allow me!" Caesar immediately overtook Ritsuka's initiative. "Only I may express myself with due gallantry! But before that!"
Caesar suddenly rounded on Saber Alter. "I knew it! I knew a brute like you could have never been Nero! Truly, now that I look, you even lack her bust, her brilliance, and vigour! Look, look at it! Your stone-cold face, and her star filled eyes. Your pale complexion, and her olive tan touched by the grace of Sol! There's no comparison!"
"Oh, naturally, praise me more, keep going!" Nero found that some of her animosity began to lift. Truly, praise can get you anywhere.
In contrast, Saber Alter was mutedly shielded behind Shirou who began coaxing her with sweet nothings. They still needed Caesar's information, and even then, he could prove a valuable ally. Jeanne Alter found herself nodding to every word Caesar said, not connecting that those things may also apply to her.
"Umu. I'll permit it. Go ahead, introduce yourself." Nero said graciously, flourishing a hand.
Caesar coughed, shrewd light glinting over his rounded features. He was sure Nero had guessed who she was speaking to by now. No Emperor was truly stupid. Eccentric yes, but not fools.
"Technically, I'm not an Emperor, but all of the empire and its people should know of my name!" Caesar said, raising both arms up.
Expectedly, Nero froze, knowing the implication of a Roman ruler who was not an emperor, but still known throughout the empire.
"I see you've guessed it?" Caesar did a welcoming bow, head lifting to give a dashing smile. "I am Gaius Julius Caesar of the First Triumvirate, leader of the Republic of Rome-"
"No, you're not."
"-I beg your pardon?"
Nero pointed at a marble bust, and then towards the distant statue of Caesar by the forum of Augustus in the Romanum.
"You're fat. Umu. Honoured Caesar is definitely not you."
For once in the entire conversation, Caesar appeared genuinely rattled. "I-I was summoned in the wrong class! This isn't my fault! Did you not know that I had a body that couldn't gain muscle easily?! Then I thought of it. More weight would increase the strength of my sword's blows! Truly this is my most ideal form as a Saber!"
Nero immediately picked up on the peculiar words. "What do you mean by 'summoned?'"
Mash interrupted here, and gave a formal explanation. They'd tried to explain this to Nero before, but it wasn't as if she could understand all the terms and their significance. However, this time, Nero certainly paid more attention.
Honestly, the explanation was still something that went over Nero's head, but it didn't matter. She felt like she finally got the gist of things beyond the need for Caesar's proposed alliance.
The United Empire's leaders…
They really were true Emperor's of Rome- and all had viewed her Rome, and then opposed it.
Was she…that much of a disappointment?
Only Shirou who had coincidently been looking at Nero seemed to notice the light and confidence dim in her eyes all at once.
The smile she had suddenly erupted with, and even the careful way she had made light of Caesar's figure, it all suddenly seemed so fake.
How did Nero die in pan human history?
Nero's sword told it all; both the one in reality, and the one in Shirou's Reality Marble.
For all her bluster and boisterous tones, inside, it was an entirely different matter.
She was an Emperor who flourished through the love and adoration of her people, but in the same vein, could never bear the weight of their rejection.
/-/
Thrice, She Welcomes the Setting Sun
- Aestus Estus
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