Fate/Magus Path

176 Chaldea

"Mash! Mash, where are you?!"

Above the scorching highlands, a red-haired girl pressed forward, limping with every step, her body wracked with searing pain.

Though she had already traversed six Singularities from different eras to reach this point, enduring trials of every imaginable kind, the sudden calamity unfolding before her far exceeded anything she could have anticipated.

The moment they arrived via Rashifting, an abrupt repulsive force had hurled her and her companion, Mash, far apart, scattering them into the sky.

Unlike the robust constitution of a Servant, she was merely an ordinary human girl. Despite wearing a specially crafted Mystic Code imbued with the genius of the universal man, Leonardo da Vinci, it couldn't fully compensate for her fragile physique.

Plummeting from dozens of meters in the air, she would have been incapacitated or worse... had it not been for the Mystic Code's protection and the fortunate cushion of landing in the branches of a crooked tree. Even so, her left leg seemed fractured, her body marred with bruises and cuts. The excruciating pain threatened to pull her into unconsciousness.

But the thought of her lost companion spurred her onward. Gritting her teeth, she clambered down from the tree.

"Mash! Are you nearby?! Mash!!"

On solid ground, she called out for Mash while fumbling with her Mystic Code, attempting to contact the team at Chaldea.

"Doctor! Da Vinci-chan! Everyone at Chaldea, can you hear me?!"

Buzz buzz buzz!!

The communication signal, however, was scrambled by some unknown interference, rendering Chaldea's equipment useless.

At that moment, Ritsuka Fujimaru... the last Master of humanity... found herself lost in the highlands of Mesopotamia, stranded in a dire, isolated crisis.

With each staggering step she took, the scent of her blood wafted through this ancient, divine land... a scent that could attract unwanted attention.

And now, they had come.

"Whoa!!"

A sharp, whistling gust sliced through the air near her ear. Alarm bells rang in Ritsuka's mind as she instinctively threw herself to the side, tumbling awkwardly but narrowly evading a claw strike capable of rending the earth itself.

Roar!!

Roargh!!

The danger was far from over. From the surrounding wilderness, countless crimson-furred Demonic Beasts emerged, drawn by the tang of her blood. Their scarlet eyes locked onto her, marking Ritsuka as their prey, ready to tear humanity's final Master to shreds.

"D-Demonic Beasts!"

Her face paled at the sight of the encroaching horde. Having survived six Singularities, she was no stranger to such terrifying creatures. But in the past, Mash had always been by her side. The sheer number of beasts now dwarfed anything she'd encountered in prior Singularities... and with Mash missing and her body in tatters, escape seemed impossible.

"Damn it, what do I do now...?"

Surrounded by this legion of horrors, Ritsuka's complexion drained to a ghostly white. Fear gnawed at her, but she clenched her jaw, forcing herself to stand despite the agony.

She couldn't afford to give up! Mash was out there, somewhere in this Singularity, waiting for her. The team at Chaldea was counting on her return. The fate of humanity itself rested on her shoulders...