Fate: How About a New Savior?

"More importantly, are you hurt?"

After greeting Cú Chulainn, Shiomi looked him over and asked.

Unlike his usual Lancer self, this Cú Chulainn had manifested as a Caster, and surprisingly, he exuded the air of a sage straight out of Celtic legend. Shiomi noticed his hand was pressed tightly against his waist, the area soaked in blood.

"Yeah, that Lancer bastard managed to land a hit," Cú Chulainn said with a self-deprecating chuckle. "I'm supposed to be good with a spear, and here I am getting skewered. Bit of a disgrace, huh?"

"That's odd. Lancer's already been eliminated. Why hasn't the curse on the wound faded?" Shiomi frowned, immediately noticing the issue.

"Guess her spear isn't quite the same as our Celtic guy Diarmuid's. Even if the Servant and Noble Phantasm vanish, the curse lingers," Cú Chulainn said with a helpless shrug. "Thanks to that, I can't fight properly now."

Just as Shiomi and Cú Chulainn were talking naturally, Olga Marie cut in.

"W-Wait a second—how do you know a Servant you just met? And how did you instantly know his True Name?!"

"Is that strange?" Ritsuka asked.

Mash explained, "Yes, Master. In the Holy Grail War, a Servant's True Name is top-secret information. Unless their Noble Phantasm or some identifying trait is revealed, only their Master should know it."

"Care to explain, kid?" Cú Chulainn grinned. "I'm curious too. Don't tell me you met me when I was still alive?"

Shiomi turned back toward the crater where the battle had just taken place.

"In the Fuyuki Holy Grail War of 2004, as I know it, the Servant who appeared under the Lancer class... was Cú Chulainn."

"I see..." Olga Marie nodded, then blinked and turned to Cú Chulainn. "Wait, if Lancer is Cú Chulainn, then that means here in Singularity F—"

"It's misaligned," Shiomi replied after a moment of thought. "This Holy Grail War in Singularity F doesn't follow the original timeline at all."

Then he looked back at Cú Chulainn. "Since you showed yourself and even helped stop that Lancer from escaping, are you planning to cooperate with us?"

"Well, that's the idea for now," Cú Chulainn said casually as he sat on a toppled concrete pillar.

Shiomi raised an eyebrow. "Then maybe start by telling us what's going on in this Holy Grail War?"

"I'm the only one left."

"The only one?" Shiomi echoed. "But since we arrived, we've already been attacked—once by what looked like an Archer-class Servant, and then by that Lancer. Saying you're the only survivor seems a bit off."

Cú Chulainn's usual carefree smirk faded, replaced by a serious expression.

"The Holy Grail War's changed. And we didn't even realize it."

"Changed how?" Olga Marie asked.

"I don't know all the details, but one night, the city was consumed by fire. All the humans vanished. Only the Servants remained," Caster explained, voice steady. "The one who reignited the fighting was that Saber bastard. She went on the offensive like a fish in water. In the end, every other Servant except me was wiped out."

"Wait... wiped out?" Shiomi was taken aback.

Now that he thought about it, something had felt off when he defeated Medusa earlier.

Even without a Master, a Servant shouldn't have gone down that easily.

There's no way he had just gotten that much stronger... right?

"That's right. But once they were killed, those Servants became corrupted by black mud—just like that Lancer—and started acting as Saber's subordinates," Cú Chulainn explained. "I fought off the corrupted Rider, Assassin, and Lancer on my own. Managed to take down Rider and Assassin. Originally, I was going to finish off Lancer too, but Archer was observing our battle the whole time..."

"So in the end, you got overwhelmed and wounded by Lancer's Noble Phantasm?" Shiomi nodded. "I get the picture. But that makes the situation even more serious."

"Why? Shouldn't losing corrupted Servants be a good thing?" Olga Marie asked quickly.

"When Cú Chulainn mentioned the other Servants were corrupted by black mud, it reminded me of something," Shiomi said. "The Greater Grail in Fuyuki was tainted during the Third Holy Grail War. Once the Grail's mana manifested, it took the form of black mud capable of corrupting even Servants."

"What?" Olga Marie's face turned pale.

Shiomi gazed toward the other side of the burning city. "But that brings up a bigger problem. At the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War, my allies and I exposed the truth about the Greater Grail's corruption. With the support of other Servants, we cleared the way and purified it."

Ritsuka, who had been listening intently and piecing together everyone's words, suddenly realized what Shiomi meant.

"Wait... if it was purified, then—" she started, catching on to the key detail.

"Exactly. Under the current system of Fuyuki's Holy Grail War, there shouldn't be any power left to corrupt Servants like this," Shiomi said. "Which means the cause of this Singularity might trace all the way back to 1994."

Cú Chulainn's expression remained steady but serious. "That's a whole other issue. Right now, it's 2004. There's no going back in time."

"So you're saying you want us to defeat the remaining Servants and put an end to this Holy Grail War?" Shiomi asked.

"That's the idea. If you do that, this Singularity you're dealing with should collapse and be corrected," Cú Chulainn replied.

Shiomi looked at Olga Marie, Mash, and Ritsuka. They all nodded in agreement.

"Next question—do you know where Saber and Archer are?" Shiomi asked.

"Of course. They're in the heart of the city." Cú Chulainn turned his gaze toward Mount Enzou. "Saber is guarding the corrupted Greater Grail."

"That so? Then we've got our destination." Shiomi looked in the direction of Ryuudou Temple and began walking forward.

Olga Marie quickly followed behind. "Are we heading straight for Saber and the Greater Grail, Mr. Shiomi?"

"Of course not. We've just arrived. At the very least, we should rest and regroup a bit first," Shiomi replied with a smile. "I know a place. It's on the way and should work well as a temporary base."

As he spoke, he glanced at Cú Chulainn, who was slowly standing up.

"Can you still move? From what I can tell, your injury is more than just a graze from Lancer's spear."

"Oh? You're sharp," Cú Chulainn said with an easygoing grin.

Olga Marie folded her arms, eyeing Caster carefully as Shiomi continued.

"Your Spirit Core is severely damaged. It wouldn't be surprising if you disappeared at any moment."