The roar of the stadium felt faint and distant, the crowds that felt so near before suddenly faded and softened like it was a thousand miles away.

It was time for the next match to begin.

But I was not ready in the slightest and yet here I was striding forward, shifting uncomfortably in my plugsuit, with my servants towards certain Death.

I took a deep breath to steady myself and winced.

The air was arid, bitter and cold.

It tasted of death,

And I knew why.

[So thou hast come.]

Death stands before me.

He was a menacing figure, looming over the heads of many, armored in the motif of death; With eyes that glowed balefully with a red light, his hands rested over the pommel of a large sword stained red with blood.

Truly, Death stands before me.

I felt my servants beside me tense, awaiting my first order.

But I was frozen, captivated by the aura of dread and fear that Death projected, I could not turn away.

My body was shaking, my throat tightened until it choked me and my limbs felt like ice.

Fear had settled, like a cold haze that wrapped around my body.

I didn't want to die.

I didn't want to die.

After coming this far, I didn't want to die.

The world was falling away right beneath me, and the edges of my vision swam in darkness, I felt as if my body was fading away.

But I didn't come this far by giving in to fear, I didn't come this far by running away.

I didn't save humanity by fearing death.

So I plant my heels and glare defiantly at the spectre before me.

And I raise my hands and let my command seals shine.

Letting its power fill my servants around me.

And then the battle begins.

The Minions dash forward, knives drawn, voices silent, each one moving as a cohesive unit, not impeding the anothers path.

But each one is stopped by a wall of shimmering light and the rain of fire and ice.

And each one is cut down by the might of magic and blade.

"We're doing well so far," I murmur as I watch a minion be sent flying with a shield bash, before being stuck down with a blast of magic "But He won't stay still for long, He's going to move soon."

I watch in careful trepidation, Keeping an eye on both my servants and the minions movements.

Suddenly, the air freezes, the freezing tendril of fear starts to coil around my heart once again.

Death- No, King Hassan begins to move.

"Supports! Cast your Noble Phantasms!" I bark as I notice King Hassan begin to stride forward, swinging his blade and finishing off his weakened minions, his coat fluttering eerily in the non-existent breeze.

"God who resides in Izumo..." "Let me write down the title of your life..."

[Listen well. The evening bell has tolled thy name...]

Wisps of darkness leak out from his frame and lines of mana flow from the disintegrating forms of his minions to his body.

"...that which heals all scars, all malice..." "...Only those free of sin may pass..."

King Hassan fades away from sight.

[The feathers that foretell death shall behead you-]

"By the white Holy Grail... Sing."

[Azrael...]

"Brace yourselves!"

And a large bloodied sword materializes, swinging for Merlin's head, who merely smirks and fades away, revealing himself to be merely an illusion.

[Hmph] King Hassan grunts, recovering from hitting nothing and swings once more towards Mashu, who parries the blow with her shield while Amakusa follows up by swinging his blade towards King Hassan's stomach.

Tamamo, Irisviel, Hans and Merlin all bombard Him with blasts of magic, while pausing to cast protective spells in between.

But King Hassan growls and escapes from the blows by leaping back to stand across us once more.

[...] His eyes burn as they flick toward each servant before settling on me.

I feel myself freeze once more as I see King Hassan raise His arm,

and throw His sword towards my head.

"MASTER!" Came the collective cry of my servants, before being cut off by another set of startled cries.

Reacting quickly, I roll away from the path of the sword and snap my attention back towards my servants as soon as I recovered.

Only to pale as I beheld my plan and formation quickly started to fail.

Mashu layed a unconscious few feet away from where she was before while Tamamo and Irisviel were hobbling towards Amakusa's and away from King Hassan, who was holding Hans in a crushing grip with one hand, all while parrying Merlin's attacks with the other.

[Useless] King Hassan mutters as he smashes Hans down towards Merlin, before stomping on them hard.

"Goddamnit," I hiss as I assess the situation, "What do I do now...? It all fell to shit too quickly..."

I glance around the battlefield, King Hassan was slowly walking towards me to retrieve his sword; Merlin, Mash and Hans lie still and unmoving on the ground; While Tamamo and Irisviel were quickly trying to patch up Amakusa, who looked like he was still trying to recover from whatever King Hassan did to try to take him down.

As King Hassan recovers His sword, He spares a slight glance at my servants before turning His attention back over to me, His hands rested once more on the pommel of His blade, His red eyes shining brightly.

[Contractor, does thou really believe that thou can defeat me as I am?]

I grit my teeth and glare, my mind running quickly to what I could say to distract him.

"Do you really I'd back down Gramps? Even from you? Do you know me as that kind of person?"

As the words leave my mouth, a pause fills the air and King Hassan chuckles, his eyes suddenly ablze with blue fire.

[Indeed not. Then let me make thine defeat absolute.]

"I don't think so gramps," I snap, as I raised my hand and released a hail of Gandrs, only for me to curse as it all harmlessly bounced off his armor.

He huffs with amusement, [A futile effort, Contractor. You only delay the inevitable.]

At this I let out the smirk I was holding in the entire time, "I've delayed enough."

King Hassan's eyes narrow before he turns around,

and blocks a hail of magic aimed towards his face.

I quickly dash to the side as King Hassan swiftly dodges the attacks, and begins to emit wisps of darkness once more.

I turn towards Amakusa and yell my command as loud as I can.

"Now!"

[The evening bell has tolled thy name, The feathers that foretell death shall behead you-]

Amakusa quickly begins to cast his Noble Phantasm, floating rapidly towards the air.

King Hassan fades away from sight.

"Heaven's Feel activate, bring an end to all things."

[Azrael!]

King Hassan swings his sword towards Amakusa, only for it to be blocked by a wall of obscurant light.

His eyes narrow and attempts to quickly try to escape the range of Amakusa's attack.

"Twin Arm - Big Crunch!"

But unfortunately, he fails.

As Amakusa, finally casts his Noble Phantasm, two balls of energy from his palms and slams towards King Hassan, clashing together and compressing before expanding out explosively with a blast of light. All the while being peppered by blasts of magic from the Casters.

I close my eyes in with a flinch as the light overwhelms my vision.

And when it clears,

the fading sparks of blue fade away.

And I suddenly become aware of the roaring of the crowd.

I feel my knees give out from under me and a smile spread across my face as the relief and rush of victory overwhelm me.

I see my servants limping and hobbling over to me, to shower me with congratulations for leading them to victory.

I open my mouth to speak, but never managed to get the words out.

As the exhaustion and stress catches up to me.

Causing me to pitch forward and crumpling to the ground.