Y/n stood with his scythe in hand while he faced down the Greek Goddess.

Y/n: "I'm gonna guess based on the scythe-"

???: "Sickle."

Y/n: "Don't care, it's a curved blade with a long handle. But I'm gonna assume that you're Demeter, mother of Persephone, sister of Zeus and Poseidon and sister slash mother-in-law to Hades."

Demeter nodded with a warm smile, showing no sign of hostility.

Demeter: "A- As confusing a situation as the one between Hades and I was, you are correct. I am the mother of the Harvest."

???: "Yo! Weirdo goddess! The fuck you go!?"

Demeter: "I'm over here, Saber."

Demeter held up the green orb in her hand as another female servant approached.

The servant stepped into the light, revealing long black hair and a black and white dress gilded with gold. Her right arm was covered by a gauntlet and her general presence was nothing short of regal. However her attitude was far more laid-back and tomboyish.

Saber: "Huh? Wait, are you a fuckin' master!?"

Y/n: "I am, yes."

Saber laughed before turning to Demeter.

Saber: "Hey, if this guy's a master then I want in!"

Demeter: "I'd imagine you would. I will not deny you this, Saber. But I would also like to be involved. This singularity isn't supposed to be, so if we can help out then we will do what we can."

Y/n: "Alright. I'll tell the others when they wake up. For now, I make it a point to know my servants names, I only know you as Saber."

Saber: "Ah, sorry. Grail war habits. Name's Cao Cao."

Y/n's mind immediately blue-screened at the name drop.

Y/n: "I'm sorry, YOU'RE CAO CAO!?"

Cao Cao: "You sound surprised."

Y/n: "Naturally I am! Chen and Lu Bu have never made mention of you being a woman!"

Cao Cao's voice took on a sharp tone as her eyes narrowed.

Cao Cao: "Chen? Lu Bu?"

Y/n: "Ah, right. I forgot you lot have some history."

Cao Cao: "Yeah, no kidding. I had Lu Bu and Chen Gong executed once they were defeated in the battle of Xiapi. Now you're telling me you know them?"

Y/n: "Chen Gong is one of my allies' servants. Same with Lu Bu, but he's under a different master from Chen."

Cao Cao was on edge after hearing those names after so long, however she took a deep breath before calmly reassessing the situation.

Cao Cao: "... Very well. No matter if he's a sadistic, traitorous bastard, having Chen Gong on the same side as I will be a massive boon for his strategic mind. Do we have any others with such strengths?"

Y/n: "Two Merlins and Zhuge Liang."

Cao Cao: "Merlin I know of as a western mage. Zhuge Liang however. I know him as Liu Bei's strategist and diplomat."

Y/n: "Zhuge likely isn't how you remember him since he's manifested within the body of Lord El-Melloi II. A mage of the clocktower from the modern era."

Cao Cao: "Huh, so the slimeball ain't fully here. That's much better then. I'm gonna knock Chen Gong out when I see him again though."

Y/n: "Fair enough."

Demeter: "If we need to wait for your allies to awaken then shall I prepare breakfast for everyone?"

Y/n: "No need. It's my turn for breakfast this time."

Cao Cao: "You guys have a schedule for who makes food?"

Y/n: "Whenever Emiya or Boudica are unavailable then we gotta do it. Often it ends with hilarious results."

Demeter: "A- Ah, I see."

Cao Cao laughed as Y/n took a seat just outside the tents. A few hours later, when the morning sun crept over the distant hills, the others woke up to the smell of freshly cooked bacon.

Tiamat peeked her head out of her tent and smiled as she saw Y/n making breakfast.

Tiamat: "You're up early."

Y/n: "Whaddya mean by that? I never slept-"

The next thing Y/n felt was something solid hitting him over the head.

Tiamat: "What do you mean you never slept!?"

Y/n: "Well someone had to keep watch!"

Tiamat: "You could have woken me or any of the other servants up!"

Y/n: "Do you really want Zerkerlot to be woken up in the middle of the night!?"

Tiamat: "I-... Okay, fair enough. But my point still stands!"

Y/n chuckled as the others started waking up, Zhuge immediately shivered as he saw Cao Cao.

Y/n: "Mornin', Zhuge."

Zhuge: "Gh!"

Cao Cao: "Ho? So this is Zhuge Liang, eh?"

Cao Cao walked over to the caster and immediately started to look him over.

Cao Cao: "Hm, yeah. Different body, but I can tell your spirit origin's the same as that slimeball." 

Ophelia: "Zhuge, do you know this person?"

Zhuge: "Y- Yes. This is Cao Cao."

Sakura: "The warlord of the three kingdoms era?"

Gudao: "Ain't Cao Cao the person that had Chen Gong and Lu Bu killed?"

Arcueid: "Yup. Those two got axed by this woman."

Cao Cao: "Damn right they did! Traitorous bastards, the pair of 'em. Especially that sadistic asshole, Chen Gong."

Ophelia: "I- I won't deny that Chen is a bit of a sadist..."

Gudako: "A bit!? He literally uses his allies as his ammo!"

Ophelia: "Yes, which is why I want to get back to Uruk as soon as we can."

Demeter: "If you want to get back as soon as possible then I suggest eating quickly and we can get on the road."

Arcueid: "So who's the other woman anyway?"

Tiamat: "You are Demeter, are you not?"

Demeter: "Eheh, I suppose there's no getting anything past the mother of life. Yes, I am Demeter. Mother of the harvest."

After a few minutes of getting everyone introduced to each other and packing the camp away, the group were on the move again.

Ana: "So... Do the others know?"

Medusa: "It's been fairly obvious. My master has refrained from saying anything outright though."

Stheno: "Gudao and Gudako have been onto you from the start."

Euryale: "Y/n likely already knows as well. Same with Arcueid."

Ana: "So... They only said nothing to make me more comfortable?"

Medusa: "Pretty much. It certainly fits with how they do things."

The group continued on through the plains towards Uruk. The few demonic beasts they came across were swiftly dealt with by Cao Cao and Zerkerlot. The two seemed to have developed a friendly rivalry with both of them keeping count of how many demonic beasts they had killed.

As the sun began to set on a full day of travel, the group finally arrived at Uruk and stood before Caster Gilgamesh.

CasGil: "I see. So the denizens of Ur have been imprisoned by this jungle goddess. What did you say her name was, Einzbern?"

Y/n: "Quetzalcoatl."

CasGil: "Quetzalcoatl. Then we know two of the three goddesses."

Y/n: "I don't think it's that simple. I mentioned before when we brought the hanging gardens to Uruk. But I don't think Ishtar is part of the alliance."

FemGil: "Hm, that would make sense. Ishtar goes where she pleases, even if that crosses into the territory of another goddess. Besides, she'd be wreaking havoc in Uruk right now if she were part of the alliance."

Gilgamesh: "What our female self says is true. I can think of exactly who the other goddess is though."

Y/n: "Ereshkigal."

Gilgamesh: "Precisely."

Kid Gil: "Ereshkigal's against us now!? Crap..."

Ninsun: "Think nothing of her. Ereshkigal is a kind goddess, she will have her reasons for going against us, but at the same time she can be swayed to join us."

Y/n: "For now we should focus more on the other goddess that's taken Tiamat's authority from her. I've mulled it over for a while and I think I know who she is."

Gudao: "Wait, you do!?"

Sakura: "Wait... Yes! I know as well!"

The two thought back to the fifth grail war.

???: "Next time you summon me, make sure it's not during a grail war."

Y/n: "The last goddess we're up against is Gorgon!"

Medusa: "G- Gorgon!?"

Gudao: "Who's Gorgon?"

Doctor Roman then took the opportunity to cut in.

Roman: "Gorgon's the monster that Medusa became after she devoured Stheno and Euryale."

Y/n: "Yup. Avenger class, specialises in massive area of effect destruction and let's not even get into her size."

Gudao: "Ayo, booba?"

Y/n: "You'll see when we meet her. This Gorgon likely has no memories of the grail war, so she won't hesitate to kill us if she can."

Cao Cao: "Sounds like I can cut loose against this bitch then!"

Demeter: "I would advise against such an action. Gorgon has mystic eyes of petrification, same as Medusa."

Medusa: "Yes, Gorgon is like me, but on a serious roid rage."

CasGil: "Hm. Very well, now that we have an idea of who the goddesses are, we can formulate a strategy to defeat them."

Siduri: "Can we even fight something like whatever this Gorgon is?"

Y/n: "Easily."

Tiamat: "She may bare my authority, but Gorgon is still a lesser goddess. We must be careful though."

Y/n: "Huh? How come?"

Tiamat: "If Gorgon is defeated and my authority escapes, then the chaos tide will wreak havoc on this world, likely creating a fake copy of me in the process."

Gudao: "So you need to be there when we kick Gorgon's ass?"

Tiamat: "I need to be there and I must be conscious. In this weakened state, while I am powerful, Gorgon likely outranks me in power as I am now."

The others went pale as they realised how much of a pain in the backside Gorgon was likely to be. However Gilgamesh cut the silence.

Gilgamesh: "Hm. We can discuss this later, we have a more urgent matter to attend to."

CasGil: "Indeed. It seems that Nippur has been surrounded by demonic beasts and likely will be overrun if we do not step in. As king, I will not allow this to stand. As such, I want all of you to head to the northern wall tomorrow at first light. We are launching an rescue operation to get as many refugees from Nippur out of the city. General Leonidas will be manning the wall while Generals Ushiwakamaru and Ibaraki-Douji create a distraction to keep the demonic beasts off of you as you get into Nippur and get those refugees out."

The Chaldeans nodded in response, however Y/n saw Mash's legs trembling. Likely she was nervous about potentially fighting a goddess as powerful as Gorgon.

Y/n put his hand on her shoulder to calm her nerves, thankfully it seemed to work as she stopped trembling.

Y/n: "Come by my house tonight, Mash. I wanna talk."

Mash nodded before Gilgamesh dismissed them.

As the dark of night settled in, Y/n sat on the rooftop terrace of his house in the Chaldean embassy. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs and he was soon joined by Mash.

Mash: "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Y/n: "You're still afraid of fighting, right? I could see it in the throne room earlier."

Mash: "I- I'm not afraid of fighting. But, the idea that something could happen to one of you if I were to fail..."

Y/n smirked before standing up and hugging the shielder demi-servant.

Y/n: "You need to remember that you don't have to be the one that fights everything. You're allowed to let stronger servants fight in your stead. I know that being surrounded by so many powerful servants in Chaldea can make you feel weak, but take it from me, Mash. You're far stronger than you let yourself believe."

Mash stayed quiet as she leaned her head on Y/n's shoulder.

Y/n: "Galahad didn't choose to merge with you because he had no other choice. He merged with you because he wanted to. He could see how you'd grow and made the decision to be the one that would allow that to happen. Quite honestly, I'm glad he did. Think about it, if Galahad hadn't chosen you, Neither Gudao nor Gudako would be around and the Grand Order would have been finished before it even began."

Mash looked up at Y/n's eyes as he smiled down at her. As the two stood there, they could hear Tiamat calling up to them.

Tiamat: "Just kiss already! The build up is killing me down here!"

Y/n immediately broke into laughter while Mash leaned her head on his shoulder again.

Y/n: "Welp, you heard her."

Mash's eyes widened as Y/n moved in and locked his lips with hers. The two stood like that for a few seconds before parting.

Tiamat: "Finally! Took you two long enough!"

Y/n chuckled again before he and Mash headed inside as the night air grew colder.

Meanwhile out in the plains to the north of Uruk, Beast VI sat in the middle of a ring of the blood of humans and demonic beasts alike.

Kingu then appeared nearby with his usual "holier than thou" smirk on his face.

Kingu: "Are you going to fight with me when the fools come to Nippur?"

VI: "... Perhaps I will, perhaps I won't. It all depends on how long this damned thing takes. If I want to fight both beasts II and VIII, then I need to not be in a larval state."

Kingu: "Larval state? You mean you can get stronger?"

VI: "Much stronger.~"

As the two spoke, the ring of blood began to glow. VI cackled and stood up as the blood surged around her. It swirled and formed a cocoon around her for a few seconds until eventually it grew in size and dissipated.

Kingu's eyes widened as he saw the beast that emerged from the cocoon.

VI: "Kuhuhu! Let us see how those fools handle the true beast of Sodom!"

The sun began to crest the horizon as the beast smiled a toothy grin.

The time was finally at hand.

End of Chapter.

Next Time: The Time of Awakening.