A day had already passed since Gaheris and the others had joined the rebellion—only to do, quite literally, nothing.
The three of them stood leaning against the wall, much like a group of old friends with time to kill.
"I expected something else," Alice admitted, sitting on the ground and idly playing with the dirt.
"And what *did* you expect?" Gaheris asked—less out of genuine curiosity and more to have something to say.
"I don't know, honestly... a united front, epic battles, a life-or-death situation... but..." She left the sentence hanging.
"But instead, we've got a community center for looking after the elderly—only, instead of grandparents, we've got Servants," Nightingale finished for her.
Gaheris stared at her for a few seconds before looking away.
"Maybe it's because we have nothing to do; we already completed the mission of meeting up with the Grand Archer, but she hasn't given us any instructions."
"That's because, strong as she may be, she can't bring *it* down," an elegant voice spoke up beside them.
The three of them turned to see Moriarty approaching.
"Bring *it* down?" Alice asked.
"The interstellar sniper-class combat vessel," the elegant man said, pointing toward the sky—specifically at the ship orbiting just above them, poised to destroy them.
"Why couldn't she destroy it?" Gaheris asked.
"Libra's history is deeply intertwined with the gods. The woman who cared for her most and raised her to become who she is today is the goddess Artemis; so, even though she isn't her biological mother, she still inhabits the body of the moon goddess," Moriarty explained. "Every time she finishes intercepting attacks, she tries to strike at the goddess, but she can't bring herself to do it. And unfortunately for us, *she* is the one holding us captive now." "So, what are we waiting for?" Nightingale asked.
"Two things: first, a Servant capable of destroying Artemis in a single blow—one other than Libra; and second, the completion of the weapon of mass destruction known as the Anti-Moon."
"You mean that thing," the knight stated, turning his gaze toward the giant piece of artillery standing there.
Everyone present looked at the colossal war machine, which was nearly ready for use. It resembled a World War II artillery cannon, yet featured components that looked highly advanced.
"That is the Anti-Moon. It was built using parts from Apollo and whatever we could salvage from Ares—since a certain Servant stole one of the largest stockpiles of his remains months ago," Moriarty explained.
"For some reason, I think I know which Servant you're talking about," Gaheris remarked.
"I imagine the waiting is tedious, but the Anti-Moon won't take much longer to finish; in the meantime, you can attend to other matters," the elegant man suggested.
"Such as?" Nightingale asked.
...
The four of them arrived at a spot where several scholars were gathered; specifically, two of them were playing Battleship.
"Oh, Moriarty, have you come for a rematch? You'll have to wait; we're watching the rematch between Newton and Leibniz," said one of the Servants who noticed their presence.
"No, I just came to bring these three companions along so they could broaden their horizons," the elegant man remarked, gesturing toward the group of three misfits.
"I see. Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Homer. You've surely heard of me," said the elderly man clad in robes.
"No," said Alice.
"No idea," spoke Gaheris.
"Who did you say you were?" asked Nightingale, scratching her head.
A bead of sweat appeared on Homer's brow upon hearing that.
"It's a good thing I'm not the *real* Homer, or else I might actually feel offended," the supposed author of the *Iliad* and the *Odyssey* muttered under his breath. "Anyway, let me introduce the others: the man in the wig at the table is Isaac Newton—the gravity guy—and the woman across from him is Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who discovered differential and integral calculus," he said, pointing to the pair.
"3F," said Newton, placing a piece on the board.
"Ha! You missed again," the aristocratic woman mocked, wearing an unpleasant expression. "It looks like you're about to suffer another defeat at my hands."
Newton simply clicked his tongue at that.
"The game isn't over yet, Leibniz," he declared firmly.
"What are you all doing here?" Nightingale asked the group at large. "We were the ones who created the blueprints and formulas to make the Anti-Moon work. Since everything is ready and all that remains is the actual construction, there isn't much left for us to do—so we're competing to see who among us has the greatest intellect," said a Servant of Indian appearance.
"This is Srinivasa Ramanujan," Homer said, introducing the newcomer.
"A pleasure," the man replied simply.
"Is there nothing else to do?" asked Gaheris.
"Well, we just have to bide our time; it's either that or..." Moriarty left the thought hanging as he glanced toward a specific spot.
The five of them looked over to see Asterios lying motionless on the ground, gazing up at the sky. Were it not for the fact that one dissolves upon death, anyone would have thought he was dead.
...
Once night had fallen, Gaheris walked along the edge of the ramparts—walls erected long ago by various local Casters to provide us with a place of protection.
Every night, various Servants took turns keeping watch over the surroundings, but this time, the Knight of the Round Table himself had volunteered for the duty, as he had little else to occupy his time.
As he made his rounds, he spotted a familiar figure with green hair in the distance.
"Achilles," Gaheris greeted him as he walked toward his position.
"Oh, it's you. I see you're doing well—I assume the others are, too," the other replied with a hint of disinterest.
"They're fine, and with nothing much to do; I imagine you're here to keep yourself occupied," the knight said.
"Not exactly. I'd met up with some other Greek heroes in the area, but one of them was that guy accompanied by Apollo. I didn't want to spend much time near him, so I decided to stand guard for a few hours," the green-haired man explained.
"I see," Gaheris said simply, and both men turned their gaze toward the forest beyond.
Not being well-versed in Greek lore, Gaheris didn't have a clear idea of who was being discussed, though he recalled seeing a Servant who looked like a child accompanied by a god, and he assumed that was the one.
Meanwhile, Libra sat in meditation within her tower, taking the opportunity to replenish her mana and Haki; after all, repelling multiple shots from the goddess Artemis was no small feat.
Suddenly, she snapped her eyes open, fixing her gaze in a specific direction.
Within her field of perception, she caught sight of two entities walking slowly toward the fortress, recognizing them instantly.
"The Apostles," she declared, frowning. "But it's just the two of them." She couldn't make sense of it, since the attacks always involved the shepherds—Odysseus and Chiron—yet those two were nowhere to be found.
In fact, she had expected her father to be part of the next attack, but there was no sign of anyone else nearby, which made her feel that something was amiss.
Meanwhile, Leonidas was walking along the wall, inspecting it for any cracks or holes the enemy might exploit to launch an attack.
However, because he was focused on the structure ahead, he failed to notice the portal appearing behind him. And that was only natural.
His comrades and allies were at his back; there was no reason to expect an attack from that direction, so he never saw the blade of pure energy suddenly pierce his body.
He quickly glanced over his shoulder to see a man clad in a mechanized suit, recognizing him instantly.
"Odysseus," the former King of Sparta declared, coughing up blood.
"You are my greatest obstacle, so I shall eliminate you at once," said the former King of Ithaca.
Throughout his attempt to bring down the wall using his Noble Phantasm, it was the Spartan—using his own—who had thwarted every effort, ensuring his failure.
A blast of energy erupted from the hand piercing Leonidas's body, obliterating a large portion of his torso; the damage was primarily internal rather than external, causing chunks of his body to be blown away.
At that precise moment, Libra—who was on her way to rendezvous with Orion and the others—stopped dead in her tracks, having sensed what had happened through her Haki.
"Shit," she muttered, summoning her bow.
"Sadly, I cannot let you do that so easily," a voice called out from behind her.
The great Servant had neither perceived nor sensed the intruder until he was right upon her.
Turning around, she saw a blond man wearing a gas mask, standing amidst a portal and holding a scythe along with several canisters of gas.
"The wall must fall," Dante declared, shattering the glass and flooding the area with a massive cloud of gas.
Libra collapsed to the ground, coughing and shielding her eyes and nose against the stinging fumes.
This bought Odysseus the time he needed to fulfill his very purpose: bringing down an entire fortress. "My name is Odysseus, King of Ithaca. He who crossed the sea and survived Troy. He who returned from a journey no man should have been able to complete. Now, behold the weapon that conquered Troy! Come, horse of destruction! Troia Ipotane." The white-haired man chanted, causing a giant robotic horse to appear where he stood.
Gaheris and Achilles, who were some distance away, saw the white light and the mechanized horse appear.
"What is that?" the knight asked, watching as the summoned entity began transforming into a full-fledged mecha.
"It can't be," the green-haired man exclaimed, recognizing the robot that had suddenly appeared. "They aren't invading the enemy."
No one was prepared for an attack, and the only ones capable of repelling an enemy assault were unavailable; one had already died, and the other was still on the ground, suffering a fit of coughing.
Aiming at the wall's gates, the mecha rapidly unleashed a massive blast of magical and divine energy—channeled from the Aegis armor Odysseus himself wore, which had been blessed by Athena.
The entire area, gates and all, was obliterated by a colossal explosion, forcing nearby Servants to scramble for whatever cover they could find.
Libra, now free from the gas's effects, clenched her fists as she witnessed the aftermath of Odysseus's attack. She scanned the area to see if her father was still nearby, but there was no sign of him.
Surveying the destruction he had wrought, the mecha prepared to press the attack—only for a hail of thousands of arrows and bullets to fly his way, stopping him dead in his tracks.
Turning toward the source of the attack, he spotted four Servants aiming various weapons at him.
"It's not having much effect," Atalanta said, her frustration evident.
"We can't just attack blindly; we need to target his joints and his power source," Moriarty pointed out.
"Do we have enough firepower to destroy it?" asked a Servant clad in winter gear and wielding a sniper rifle. "Not us, but *he* does," clarified the elegant man, holding his variable combat coffin while gazing at the young Trojan accompanied by the sun god.
At the fortress entrance, Agamemnon and Heracles were seen arriving first to inspect the damage.
But just then, they saw several black keys flying toward them—projectiles that the son of Zeus easily intercepted.
"I see this won't be an easy job," a voice said, emerging from the smoke to reveal a man dressed as a priest, wearing a disturbingly fake smile.
Amidst the unfolding chaos, Dante moved through the shadows, hunting for targets he could eliminate quickly and unnoticed.
He spotted a group of Servants who didn't seem particularly focused on the battle, as they were moving away from the fray.
"Bingo," the blond man remarked, slowly closing in on the group.
------------------------------------------------------
I didn't think it would take me so long to write this part of the story—specifically, the Lostbelt section. I've actually forgotten the plot of Lostbelt 5; I'm going to have to go back and reread it.