A Nascent Kaleidoscope
Chapter 620: Interlude 42

Olga Marie Animusphere POV

Why, how, who!

Why am I being shot at with guns in ancient Rome!!!

"Turn left, turn left, turn left!!!" I shout.

"Don't backseat drive!" Saber hissed, jerking what went for a steering wheel in this primitive automobile.

The only saving grace in this situation is that Saber has a riding skill that miraculously works on this hunk of junk!

I felt a bullet go through my hair right as we turned.

I'm going to die to Roman Cowboys.

Another bullet flew right at me; it was as if time slowed down and my reinforced eyes could catch a glimpse of it. I unintentionally closed them, waiting for it to hit. But a moment later I opened them up to see it casually deflected by my Aura.

It was the first time it's been properly 'tested' in combat. I…still wasn't used to it.

I didn't even have time to question it because I nearly fell out of the automobile as Saber did another sharp turn around the corner, nearly sideswiping a brick building.

More gunshots rang out, many of which hit the automobile as some of us ducked for cover.

Mash was doing a good job covering the back with her shield, but we simply had too many of them following us.

"Are you happy, shorty!?" Avenger huffed, throwing out a fistful of fire at one Roman Cowboy on a horse gaining on us.

The horse let out a startled noise, nearly throwing him off.

"Shut up!" Saber snarled back.

Oh my god, this is my team.

Saber gets angry and starts swinging her sword after being provoked by Avenger. She destroys our illusion, and then suddenly we're swarmed by Romans with guns! So of course, we beat them up; they're normal humans…with guns. And we rushed into the city to get out of the public eye, and there were just so many more!

And automobiles!

Why were there automobiles?

These things came out years after the supposed death of whatever the name of the gunmaker was.

It made no sense!

Not only that, but even the buildings were a hodgepodge of brick, ancient Rome, and some weird Western themes thrown in. Even some random people were walking around in western-style outfits!

So, Saber had the brilliant idea to steal a big truck!

"Can't you drive steadier!?" I shouted.

"This vehicle has no proper steering wheel, and it's adjusted through levers; you're welcome to take over!" Saber scoffed back.

Oh my god, the break mechanism is literally a lever like she said. Forget power steering; the tires are probably made of wood.

"Less arguing, more dealing with the situation." Hinako raised her voice. "More and more are coming out!" She pointed a bit further ahead, two blocks down; more Roman Cowboy guards popped out, guns pointed at us as the bullets continued to fly.

Unlike me, Samuel, Ritsuka, and Pierre weren't bulletproof. One stray shot could be really, really bad.

Which is why we couldn't simply beat them all up.

I know that everyone back home would be laughing at us, a bunch of Heroic Spirits and Magi being forced to run by a bunch of idiots with primitive guns!

"Samuel, block that road ahead!" I shouted quickly.

He jumped into action, taking his custom-made Druid staff that Caster helped him with, and he spoke something I presume in old Gaelic. A bunch of roots shot up out of the ground to form a makeshift wall, forcing a group of horses and Romans from approaching.

"What the hell is wrong with this place!?" I screamed, throwing my hands up in exasperation as I watched what had to be a Roman cowboy operating a makeshift telecom line like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Medea — our Caster, not the sane kind — calmly flicked her finger toward him. A sharp lance of magical light zipped through the air and struck the device dead-on. It crackled, sparked, and burst into flames, sending the rider scrambling.

"That's one," Samuel muttered, pausing only long enough to reload his revolver with practiced ease. "But if they've got radios of that quality, there's got to be at least a dozen relay points scattered around. Knocking' out one or two won't slow them much."

I blinked at him. "You know what? I'm not even questioning how you know this anymore."

"Dear Husband~" Tamamo cooed, suddenly pulling him into her embrace from the side. "You're so strong and reliable!"

I was halfway through drawing breath for a very sharp retort about public displays of affection in a high-speed death chase but stopped cold as a hail of bullets pinged harmlessly off her shimmering tail fur and silken sleeves. One had been aimed straight for Samuel's temple.

Ah.

That wasn't just an out-of-place swoon. She'd done it to protect him.

I swallowed my words, settling for a grumble instead. Despite how utterly insane the majority of them are, they are actually doing their jobs.

"Director!" Mash called out from the back, pointing frantically toward the side of the street. "Look out, food stand—!"

I looked at the oncoming sign of a food stand, hanging over the road in just the right way that it was going to smack my head.

Saber swerved at the last second, narrowly avoiding the flimsy wooden stall. Instead, she deliberately veered into a Roman cowboy who had stepped too far into the road, sending him flying over the hood as the car jolted with a heavy thump.

I lurched forward, catching myself on the side of the vehicle.

That had to be on purpose. I caught the faintest smirk tug at the corner of Saber's otherwise emotionless face. No way that was just a reflex.

In the chaos, I barely caught a flash of red from the toppled food stand as we passed. Smashed vegetables scattered across the pavement — round, glistening, crimson—

"Were those… tomatoes?" I muttered, baffled.

Tomatoes. Native to the Americas. Not cultivated in Europe until the 1500s. Give or take.

I wanted to scream again. So badly. But I didn't have any more time to care because Ritsuka shouted, pointing ahead. I didn't hear what he had to say, but I saw the freaking Gatling gun set up at the end of the street in a truck, pointing right at us!

"Jesus Christ." Samuel blurted it out.

"That's not a phrase I want to hear from our gun expert right now!" I snapped, already ducking as Saber veered us down a sharp alleyway without prompting.

I covered my ears as the sheer crackling sound of bullets hitting nearby buildings from that monstrosity was enough to make my teeth rattle.

The sudden turn nearly threw me out again. Ritsuka did get thrown. It was like the world slowed down as our eyes met, but his were upside down, and he was already in the air. A few hands reached out to try and grab him, but they all missed.

"Master!" Mash screamed. "We—"

Before anyone could say something, Saber had reached back with one hand, lifted Mash up, and tossed her off towards Ritsuka, who landed okay and was rolling out of the immediate path of horses galloping after us.

I opened my mouth to protest, but Saber didn't wait for a consensus. She floored it—or whatever the equivalent was in this monstrosity—and we shot forward, lurching over uneven stones as bullets shredded the space behind us.

"They'll be fine." Saber's voice was cold and resolute, hands white-knuckled on the crude levers. "The Shield Servant can protect our Master."

It didn't make me feel better, but I couldn't argue.

Though, from the look on her face, she wasn't being callous or dismissive. No, if anything, she looked worried as well.

But objectively, it was the right move. We couldn't all stop; logically, it would be bad to be pinned down like this. As powerful asants were…yeah, one bullet would be bad news if we're unlucky.

Samuel fired a few more shots over his shoulder, and I begrudgingly admitted he was good at this. Far too good at this.

My eyes darted around, and I bit my lip. "Make a bigger mess; make sure we have all their attention." At the very least, it'll give Ritsuka and Mash some more breathing room.

"You, Frenchman, make yourself useful and throw more explosives." Saber called out in her signature emotionless voice.

We pulled onto a wider road—finally—only to find that somehow, impossibly, it was worse.

"There are more of them!?" I shouted, eyes bulging as the scene opened up like some parody of a battlefield. "Why are there more of them!?"

Because of course there were. Not just behind us now, they started barricading the streets. Alleys were now cut off, side streets lined with enough carts or debris that we couldn't realistically plow through them without destroying our own car that was already riddled with bullet holes.

And then I looked up.

"Are those snipers!?" I shrieked.

Snipers. Actual rooftop snipers. Lying flat with scoped rifles resting across their arms, bodies tense, fingers twitching near the triggers.

What kind of ancient Roman nonsense has snipers!? They have snipers! On the roofs! Why is this place so absurd!

"I see them," Hinako muttered beside me, her tone grim. "At least a dozen."

A dozen!?

"How do they have snipers!? Where did they even get that kind of training!? WHERE DID THEY GET SCOPES?!"

"Scopes are actually really easy to make, you just—," Samuel started.

"Don't care right now!" I interrupted. "Snipers, danger, yes, no?" I grabbed his collar.

"Uh, they're not very accurate, especially in a moving vehicle like this. They don't seem to have very good training. I noticed it before, but they're kind of amateurish in how they shoot." Samuel replied with a bit of urgency in his tone, it seems.

"Oh, well, thank God they're only semi-competent rooftop assassins in a city that shouldn't have plumbing yet!"

But he was right; they weren't hitting on target; most of the shots were bouncing off the metal frame of the truck as I pushed Samuel down behind me. At the very least, my Aura would protect me, but he was still squishy.

Though, they started to spontaneously combust into flames.

I glanced at Avenger, who had a big grin on her face as they fell off the buildings, screaming and on fire.

Are we actually the villains?

Maybe I would have had an introspective moment, but then an airplane flew over us. Something that wouldn't look out of place in a history book documenting the very first iterations of an airplane.

And just like that, I stopped caring.

"Pierre, bombs." I said flatly.

"Pour la liberté!" he shouted, laughing as he pulled open his coat, revealing it being lined completely with explosives.

Oh my god, I was in a truck with him; he could have exploded at any moment.

He lit them up and started throwing them while cursing in French.

I covered my ears and felt it before the ear-screeching pitch overtook everything. Buildings around us began to collapse; the barricades we were going to run into had been blown apart.

I think I saw some Roman Cowboys frantically shouting and screaming at themselves as they tried to get out of the way or get to safety.

But the bombs just kept being thrown.

I continued to cover my ears, but I couldn't close my eyes. Like seeing two trains about to collide, I instinctively had to keep them open to watch.

Another blast was enough to rattle the truck and send several Roman cowboys airborne in a cloud of limbs and dust. The next bomb leveled an entire barricade, sending flaming debris tumbling onto a cart full of what I think were turnips.

Not all of them were immediate booms.

I noticed that quite a few were just casually tossed onto the ground, as if they did nothing. It was only after we had traveled several blocks that I saw explosions in the distance. And, very vaguely, the sounds of horses and people to accompany them.

Effectively, it completely disrupts any kind of reinforcements coming from behind.

…why is he so talented with bombs?

He stopped, to the point where I could uncover my ears, even if I still heard a faint ringing.

The remaining pursuits were taken care of quickly. The few that managed to stick with us, or joined from the side, anticipating our arrival, were either gunned down expertly by Samuel or one of the servants using a very basic spell to get them off us.

At this point, the automobile we were in was making some very concerning noises, and I was fairly sure it was more lead from the bullets than the original steel and iron.

"What is this strange feeling? Pride?" Medea spoke up. "I'm a proud teacher." She wiped away a fake tear.

I think it's even more horrifying that she's being genuine too.

"Frenchman, your methods of Roman killing are rough but exemplary." Saber chimed in.

Oh my god, this is my team. "What's wrong with you people?" I whined.

"…to be honest, I don't like Romans either." Hinako added.

At least we weren't being shot at anymore, though Saber still kept us going quickly. We were lucky that apparently, the city had been renovated for car traffic or with them in mind. There weren't many cars from what I had seen, but apparently they were kept in mind.

God, this is so weird; I don't even know how to compartmentalize this society at this point.

"Trouble" Saber spoke, and my head snapped up.

Everyone tensed again, ready for a fight, and that's when I realized what was happening. The car pulled to what looked like a roundabout, or the makings of one, or just a happenstance of architecture. A big fountain in the middle of a round street, surrounded by buildings and three more directions we could go.

But they were all blocked off.

Hundreds of armored Romans were in positions, guns drawn, a few of those oversized and primitive Gatling guns pointed our way too.

Saber jerked the car; it slid to a stop, and we were getting ready for a fight since there wasn't really a road forward anymore.

Maybe it was time to abandon the car and find somewhere to hide out.

However, before either side could make a move, I noticed the sheen of metal higher up. Reflected off the sunlight, my eyes traveled to the source. Poking out of all the windows, doors, and every crevice of the surrounding buildings were gun barrels.

Samuel's Caster threw out talismans around us. I grabbed Pierre and Samuel, pressing them down, and used myself as protection. Saber leapt off the car, sword out, and the others followed, about to attack.

Gunshots rang out, but confusingly, I didn't feel any on me, nor did I feel the car being turned into Swiss cheese, even more than it was now.

I looked up to see that all the Romans around us were dead.

A nearby door was kicked open, and a massive man, with bulging muscles, wearing an old-fashioned suit with a leather face mask on, came walking out with a concerning grin and two Romans, limp, being held up in his hands by their heads. He tossed them onto the ground.

It wasn't just a man; it was a servant.

Behind him, a woman walked out, wearing a dress that wouldn't be out of place in an old-fashioned saloon either. She had bright red hair and held a sword in her hand casually.

Also a servant.

"We were starting to wonder when help would come." The woman spoke as many more people revealed themselves. The guns weren't directly pointed at us, but the normal humans looked wary. "Are you the ones we're supposed to be waiting for?"

I stood up, looking around, and I straightened my uniform. "Who are you?"

The red-headed woman smiled. "Rider Class Servant, Boudica, Queen of Britannia." She introduced herself. "This is Berserker—Spartacus."

"We will create a glorious rebellion together!" The large man declared with a strange madness befitting his class.

"I know you." Saber spoke up. "I am Artoria Pendragon, also King of Britain." Oddly, Saber seemed to show her some respect. My knowledge of this Boudica was….miniscule. I faintly recognized the name, but that was about it.

The Rider Class's eyes lit up for a brief moment, and they smiled brighter.

"How did you know we were coming? How were you waiting for us here?" I asked directly, skeptical of everything.

She shrugged lightly. "We didn't know exactly; we were just summoned with some vague feeling that someone would be coming to help. Seeing the commotion, it wasn't hard to guess. As to how we knew you were right here specifically, we've been tracking your movements from some equipment we stole months ago."

I frowned but couldn't poke holes in her reasoning.

Stray Servants then.

"Why don't you follow us? We have a hideout not far away; they're going to be swarming us soon." She offered.

"Very well." I agreed, not wanting another army of cowboy Romans to start shooting at us.

[Line Break]

She didn't lie; it was only a few blocks away, but it was relatively well hidden. The random people around, they seemed to be all her people as well. They gave us looks, but the kind that recognized her.

We followed them into a building, a literal saloon out of a bad movie, and helped ourselves to some seats.

"Thank you for the help." I started, being polite. If they were stray servants, it was best to get them on our side. "My name is Olga. I'm the director of Finnis Chaldea. We're an organization dedicated to fixing and protecting the human order."

She seemed to be listening, but I don't know if she was registering everything.

"Someone interfered with the normal flow of history. There are anomalies, we—"

"You don't say?" She delivered it with a deadpan. "I may be from an old time, but I have knowledge from my summoning to know that guns and other technologies don't belong to this era."

"Quite." Well, that saves me some effort. "How…did you arrive here? Could you tell us your situation, and we can compare notes?"

Boudica hummed for a moment; she glanced at Saber again. "I was summoned about seven months ago, same with Spartacus." The man in question brought over a tray of drinks, happily handing them out. "One thing led to another, and we built up a rebellion. There are plenty of people who aren't too keen on the rampant expansion of Rome. They've already crossed the ocean, and even my home was conquered thoroughly."

"How far have they expanded?"

"I'm not quite sure, but the 'New World,' or America, as they've called it, has already seen settlements being built. I've heard they're also pushing far east. They've been clashing with Serica people—China, from what my knowledge tells me. That's where most of Rome's armies are currently."

What an absolute mess.

Rome most certainly shouldn't have expanded that far. But considering their sudden acceleration of technology, they probably have things like better ships and logistics—transportation and all that.

Hinako tapped the table. "Even with the technology they have, I doubt they'll be able to push any further east. I should be over there about this time period; there's still plenty of Mystery present. It should be Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty. If I remember right, the Emperor employed plenty of their own mystics in government and military positions."

Boudica nodded. "The campaign has ground to a halt, from what I heard."

She apparently didn't even question what Hinako said, taking it in stride. Well, if she knows how messed up the timeline is, there was no point in asking for clarification there.

"Forgive me for asking, Ma'am." Samuel raised his hand. "But why have you not just…well, as cold as it is, why not have just assassinated the Emperor?"

Samuel raised a good point.

"The source of this disruption is in her hands." I added. "We saw…the displays, the chalice she held from her…'movie,' that's a Holy Grail."

"Oh, I know." Boudica said simply, surprising us. "Do you think we haven't figured that out after all this time?"

…maybe?

Boudica let out a sigh. "We've tried many times. I've personally had my blade to her neck and swung down. She literally will not die."

"...Wha"t

"I've used my Noble Phantasm." Boudica added. "She's immortal."

"She used the Grail to make herself immortal?" My eyes widened.

That was the absolute worst-case scenario.

"There has to be some way…"

"There is; she wasn't shy about gloating about it." Boudica continued. "After the…fourth attempt. She made it very clear that she can only be defeated 'in the theatre.'"

"...what?" I repeated.

"It's why we're mostly left alone, despite being 'rebels' in the middle of the capital. She doesn't fear us; she doesn't treat us as real enemies. After knowing the truth, it's now obvious why."

"Please, explain properly." I asked, hoping for some small grasp of sanity here.

Boudica got up and went to the saloon counter, reaching behind the bar and pulling out a newspaper before dropping it right in front of me.

The others looked over my shoulder right at the headline.

'Do you want wealth and glory, the seat of the emperor? Then come, challenge me! The most glorious star that shines brightest welcomes anyone onto my stage. Let the winner take all!' She held up the Grail in the black and white picture.

"...you mean…"

"That's right." Rider said awkwardly. "It seems that the only way to stop her is through…performance."

"Please tell me you're joking." I asked—no, I pleaded.

".....Spartacus has been learning to dance."

"My glorious Rebellion will stun the audience!" The large man with rippling muscles struck a pose.

Wilhelm, I don't want to be director anymore; please come back.

[Line Break]

A/N

A lot of people had been asking me about the continuation of Chaldea's situation, so I figured it was a decent place to put an interlude since I'm not feeling too well still. I took a nap earlier, intent on wrapping up when I woke up; I ended up sleeping almost all day :p. But here's a second chapter regardless to make up for not posting much last week.

As for what's happening in the Singularity at the moment.

Basically, Nero is abusing the fuck out of the grail to both expand Rome at breakneck speeds through technological means while also catering to her own delusions of stardom. That is also to say, she made herself conceptually immortal unless she's 'defeated on stage.'

Suffice to say Nero has been busy with the Grail now that Lev isn't there to do his own things like in canon.

If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone

I also have a boosty if you can't read the above under the same name.