The creature lunged at Keziah, poised to drag her away and crush her to death, but was greeted with black metal instead. The blade hacked at the thick callous limbs of the beast, while its intended prey slid away, preparing for round two.
"And so it begins….!" Saber stated, momentarily looking at Keziah, who dashed headlong into action, regaining momentum to scrap with the beast, throwing herself into the thick of it.
Mash immediately joined the fray, throwing herself and the shield into the beast, having been flanked by the charging Keziah, jettisoning it away… into the waiting blade of Saber, her sword pulsating and beaming with dark light as the beast snarled in annoyance, not seeming to feel any true pain, simply swiping clumsily and missing its foes,
The others could only watch the chaotic scene, while the three others fought the beast, them supplying the Servants with support spells as best they could, Olga doing the main supporting, the rest stumbling about trying to figure out what to do and trying their hardest to mixed results, with occassional healing there, an attack buff thrown out at a.... less than opportune time elsewhere, and despite the slight edge they had, they'd likely eventually lose to it in sheer endurance, if not due to their ineffectual attacks (with the exception of Saber, of course) only serving to annoy it further.
For once, this damned animal actually seemed to be somewhat serious, and they were up shit creek without a paddle
"Dammit! Chaldeans! Provide us more assistance, use a Command Seal if you have to!" Saber growled, seeming to actually be fed up with the persistence of the enemy.
Irenaeus, frantically trying to ensure victory and understanding that the ongoing situation couldn't and definitely wouldn't go on forever, shouted at Keziah,
"Use your Noble Phantasm or whatever it's called! Don't worry about me! Just try to use it! If it'll do anything, something, please!"
"...Fine then." Keziah complied reluctantly, a look of pity and sadness crossing her face, ".... Noble Phantasm, fragmented activation!!" She immediately leapt right over and proceeded to tag Saber and Mash, a sudden burst of info beaming into their heads: 'GO FOR THE HIND LEGS.'
"Go now! We REALLY can't maintain this forever! Hind legs! Now!" Irenaeus shouted, feeling his Magic Circuits open for the first time, only for their foe to immediately open its maw wide, black smoke accumulating in it as it was ready to let loose upon, not the Servants.
But them.
Rika seized the opportunity that was given to try and capitalize on the situation, understanding what was gonna come next "Mash! Use your Noble Phantasm! I don't care if it's not the full version, just do it…! Um, uh…! By my Command Seal! Use whatever form of your Noble Phantasm you can! Please…!"
Mash nodded, as she felt a burst of Mana surge through her, as one of the tattoos on Rika's arm disappeared, a rush of energy being directed straight to her.
"Very well then. Deploy the Noble Phantasm!" And at that very second, a barrier was deployed around all those present, sans Keziah and Saber Alter, who were both still attacking the beast, trying to reach its hind legs, both managing to get out of the blast radius of what was coming next.
The barrier itself held through, the attack being charged by the chimera being warded off successfully, as streams of the smog billowed off of it, successfully protecting the fleshier and softer people present.
As the attack subsided and the barrier went down, Keziah immediately darted to resume the fight and tried to pull, punch, and kick, her own manner of combat inefficient in comparison to the armed combat used by Saber.
Eventually, Keziah once again grabbed the beast by the forelegs, leading to Saber hacking at the limbs
"Ritsuka, now!" Rika shouted, her voice ecstatic with relief and the adrenaline of watching the combat
"Saber, use your Noble Phantasm!!!"
Saber Alter positions herself in front of the wailing chimeric abomination, about to strike once more, as it contorts and wails in pain
"Vortigern, Hammer of the Vile King, reverse the rising sun…."
The demonic behemoth pounced with its hind legs, headfirst towards Saber, its maw open. "GaRRAH!!!"
"Swallow the light, Excalibur Morgan!!!"
At the end of the invocation and the blade making contact, a massive torrent of miasma, that gushed like a volcano collided with the Demonic Beast, that went upward in the air and blotted out the sky leaving no trace of the abomination, and taking out a portion of the woods as well
"Is it over?" Irenaeus asked, clutching his head, still not feeling well after using Keziah's Noble Phantasm.
"Yeah…" Olga replied.
Saber walked up to the carcass slowly and yanked out a golden cup from its chest and threw it to Olga. "This is what caused this Singularity. Try not to lose it. We'll be seeing each other again sooner or later, so this is goodbye for now."
Keziah beamed at Irenaeus and waved goodbye to him, her voice returning to its more cheerful demeanor "Bye, I'll see you again soon! Hopefully we remember each other!"
"...When we return, I'm gonna need a nap. That is, after getting everything up to speed with you three…" Olga sagged, finally feeling some relief as she realized that, yes, finally, she could go back to base, no strings attached.
As the five left the Singularity, they were filled with a mixture of emotions, some good, some bad, and some uncertain. One thing was certain though, that being nobody knew the full extent of what everyone was truly getting into with this adventure.