Phase 2: ECLIPSE

A clash of steel that calls forth thunder. Three sword-like arrows are fired off one after another with deadly accuracy and unreasonable speed. Had there target been a normal person, that person would without a doubt meet a swift and pitiful death.

But his opponent was far from normal. With a reaction speed that transcends human perception, the blue haired woman deflects each shot with her many rod-shaped swords.

"Now!"

Rin calls out the signal to attack as she executes a powerful spell by unleashing several of her jewels at once. The resulting whirlwind is intense enough to level an entire house on its own.

The red servant is not so easy to defeat though. He is able to effortlessly move from his shooting position and evade the spell. At the same time he fires off several more shots down at the three below. It was as simple as advantages. Although he wasn't nearly as powerful as other servants, his superiority in battle was all he needed in this case. This combined with the advantage of higher ground made him nothing less of a menace.

"Trace on!"

Archer hears the familiar spell being cast; a spell that can only change one person. Emiya Shirou had played defense to this point, but it was for this moment. He'd projected a set of Archer's swords, Kanshou and Bakuya, and hurled them at Archer during the instant that his attention was solely on Rin. However, even with the added element of surprise, the guardian is easily able to avoid even such a sneak attack.

"Damn!" Shirou swears at Archer.

He had to keep moving. Or else the raining arrows with the weight of cannonballs would surely strike him and end his life.

Archer manages to plant his feet on an even surface. Even if he only had a second before he had to move once more to dodge the next assault, it would prove to be sufficient for his target. In his mind his arrow had long since hit and all he had to do was release the arrow.

"Dodge this, Emiya Shirou!"

The bowstring is released and the arrow flies accordingly. Having heard Archer's words, Shirou is distracted for a split second. The effect would be Archer's arrow piercing his left leg below the knee; his leg nearly being ripped off through sheer force alone. The pain assails his brain as if thousand of tiny needles were combing away at his very brain.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Shirou screams and falls as it was the only thing his mind would allow him to do.

"Shirou!" Rin calls stops her attack and calls out to him.

Seeing his chance, Archer strings his bow with two arrows to dispatch of the two below quickly.

"What…?"

Then it occurred to him. He could only see two people when in fact he was combating three.

"Damn! I was careless!" Archer quickly realizes where the woman in the clergy clothes had vanished to as he turns on his heels and prepares to fire blindly.

"CODE..."

But it was already too late.

"SQUARE!"

Ciel had leaped up to the rooftops while the servant was distracted and snuck up behind him to attack. The weapon that would deliver the decisive blow was not one of the rod-shaped swords from before, but a large mechanical weapon equipped with a pile bunker. The bayonet fires with a mechanical sound and pierces the red servant's left shoulder. A weapon that is both physical and conceptual, The Seventh Holy Scripture, as if ejecting a bullet casing, spits out what appear to be numerous pages as the resulting blasts sends Archer flying off the rooftops up above and down to the street below.

"Did she get him!" Rin asks anxiously from Shirou's side.

"No." Shirou states gravely. "He wouldn't be called a hero if that kind of attack killed him. That level of damage won't be enough to take out that guy."

Ciel grits her teeth up above upon hearing Shirou's words.

As if responding to the executioner's discontent, Archer steadily picks himself up off the ground. Although his shoulder was bleeding and his arm was useless to him now, there wasn't a doubt in Shirou's mind that the red servant was still more than capable of finishing all of them off.

So then why didn't he?

"Hmph," Archer scoffs catching the trio's attention. "This is proving to be more troublesome than I would have liked to imagine. I guess playing sentinel isn't the exactly the best job for me after all." He laughs again. "Not that I really cared for the idea to begin with…"

Archer rambles on to himself.

Rin's grip tightens on Shirou's shoulder causing a surge of pain to shoot throughout his body like searing heat.

"GUH! Hey, Tohsaka!" Shirou yells only to catch a glimpse of Rin's cold face.

He could see the confusion in her eyes and he knew what the cause was. Rin was Archer's master in the previous Holy Grail War so it would only be natural for her to know the scope of his power.

"Why?" A weak question escapes into the air. The question was directed at the red servant.

Shirou turns his head up to the sky. A magic on a scale that could probably be called an imitation of one of the great sorceries was now enveloping the skies. He had only noticed it subconsciously until now, but the magic hadn't activated until shortly after the battle had begun. It really only seemed to serve as no more than a comfort to him, but Shirou was able to come to a reasonable conclusion.

"His job isn't to fight us! He's only here to protect the source of this magic!"

Archer could only smile at such an obvious observation.

"Even so!"

The blue haired woman leaps from the top of the building with the mechanical weapon in hand. She intended to finish the fight in one final blow. Even if Archer had no intention of fighting, the magic that was slowly consuming the city could not be ignored. The group was faced with only two options; face the guardian and die trying to stop the magic, or leave Archer and allow the unknown magic to be completed. Either way was not all that favorable.

"Do you think I'd allow the same attack to work on me twice?"

Archer jumps and turns easily evading Ciel's linear attack. In the air, he quickly projects a sword with his functioning right arm; a black sword with small edges spiraling around a cone-shape. "The Hounds of the Red Plains," Archer quickly tosses the sword into the air and uses another projection to create a bow. He aims with his arm, braces the bow with his leg, and catches the black arrow as well as strings his weapon with his teeth. "Hrunting!"

"Watch out!" Rin unknowingly leaves Shirou's side and rushes towards Ciel.

What would follow would be a strike of thunder; a relentless red flash that was determined to hit its target no matter what. Blood rushes to the brain and adrenaline surges through the veins. It was only during moments such as these that super-human perception is born, only giving your mind enough time to comprehend that the end is descending upon you.

But the end never comes. The wind rumbles and dies soon after. The null sound of oblivion lingers for a few minutes and then returns to the nothingness from which it came.

"Impossible…" The red guardian mumbles in disbelief.

Rin and Ciel take the moment to launch a counterattack but ultimately miss. Archer snaps back to the battle at hand and easily avoids Ciel's swords and Rin's magic by retreating back to the rooftops.

"This wind…" Shirou looks around in a similar amazement to Archer. "Tohsaka-san, this wind is…!"

"Damn! Fast!"

Everyone's attention is averted back to the red servant who has once again gone on the defensive. He leaps back through the air as he evades the flash of silver aimed at his neck, a katana. A pair of familiar short swords appear in the servant's hands as he uses them to properly parry the barrage of light until he could get a solid foothold once again. On the other end of the assault was a girl seemingly hiding behind the silver veil of flashes. She was dressed in a sailor-style school uniform but she didn't look like a student nor did she look Japanese. She had strong yet beautiful green eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair that almost seemed like it was sprinkled with gold. Aside from the outfit, she was all too familiar.

"Saber!" Shirou called out in utter confusion. "Saber! Is that really you!" Shirou continues to call out to the familiar face but doesn't even so much as get a single glance.

"Shirou." The brunette mage had rushed back over to Shirou's side and was now whispering in his ear. "Now's our chance. While Archer's distracted we need to get you to safety." Rin looks up towards the rooftops as well as the ongoing battle. The red servant was easily being overpowered. "Whether or not that is Saber, for now we have to assume she's on our side."

Shirou completely disliked this situation but all the same he understood it. "Why…?" He was once again put in such a state of powerlessness that he required the assistance of others to bail him out. The body that he was given wasn't meant for battle. It was simply made to live, learn, and grow old. But that's not what Shirou felt like he was meant to do. It was because of this idea that his body was in the condition it was in now.

"Fine…Staying here is dangerous for me anyway." Shirou answers Rin with a crestfallen tone to which she could only gaze at Shirou before giving him a small nod. Rin grabs a hold of Shirou's arm, wraps it around her shoulder, and places a hand on his back, lifting with her legs to pick Shirou up.

Ciel only watched as the two magi slowly walked off. Though she still had questions to ask them herself, she could not deny the fact that this was a prime opportunity to make a move. With the heresy that was currently consuming the city, destroying the seal was her primary objective. Ciel turns to move to the source of the magic but stops briefly to engrave the face of the servant who bested her into her mind.

"The source of this magic is over there." Ciel thinks out loud as she resets herself on her destination and leaps into the air moving across light posts and treetops.

"Hmph. It would seem that I have failed in my assignment." Archer takes a brief moment to reflect on his situation as he finally manages to create some distance between him and the fierce swordsman. He flexes his swore wrists having been pained from continuous disarming and constant defense. He prepares a fresh set of short swords and eases into a defensive stance. "Though I gotta say, I never expected you to show up Saber. And from the looks of things you're not on my side. I'm curious as to how you got here. And what's more…" Archer glances at the servant's outfit as well as the katana in her hand.

Saber's eyes remain keen and focused as she raises her sword up and points it at her opponent. Her gazes slowly becomes as cold as the steel she wields as she changes her stance; turning to the side keeping the katana parallel to her line of sight and grasping the hilt with both hands. "My master is a unique man."

Without warning, Saber bursts forth with incredible speed. She spins with the tip of her sword barely skimming the rooftop right before striking upwards with her blade completely destroying Archer's defense. The guardian was once again surprised by the woman's increase in speed as he is forced to retreat once again to buy time for another projection. But Saber is too fast. She kicks off with her foot and lunges forward into Archer before he even thought to jump back. The katana that was raised above her head comes down in an intricate arc shattering the Caladbolg II Archer had just managed to project. Not a single one of Saber's movements was without follow up as the end of one movement was simply the starting position for the next. Two streams of silver light flash before Archer's face, one momentarily blinding him and the other cutting his cheek.

"Damn!" Archer retreats once again.

Archer is able to once again produce another set of Kanshou and Bakuya. Saber leaps into the air and comes crashing down on Archer with a battle cry and a heavy horizontal slash which shatters Archer's swords yet again and put her into a spin. As Archer staggers from the impact, Saber falls to the ground and uses the momentum from her spin to execute a quick sweep kick. However, Archer manages to avoid it by jumping straight into the air giving him enough time to start another projection.

"I guess there's no choice!" Archer projects a bow and draws an image of a sword in his head. With Saber's strength, the only hope of victory he had would be to project a powerful weapon and fire it as a Broken Phantasm to end it in one shot.

"STRIKE!"

But it was too late.

Using the combined momentum from her aerial spin and failed sweep kick, Saber had built up power for her true attack. The wind around her was roaring and had created a spiral on par with a hurricane. The tip of her sword scratches the surface of the rooftop but the compacted walls of wind rip up concrete as Saber's spin is finalized and the katana rises towards the sky and all the wind is released at once.

"AIR!"

The skywards storm closes in on Archer with only seconds between him and sure destruction. Even if the attack was not released by a Noble Phantasm, the sheer amount of mana would be sure to crush and destroy Archer's vessel. The was no hope for a proper counterattack but there was a chance for him to escape. Pouring what little amount of magic he had left into his right hand, Archer was able to activate a magic seal placed on him. "How unsatisfying." Archer states mockingly to himself before he simply vanishes into thin air causing Saber's attack to miss and shoot off into the vast sky.

"Teleportation?" Saber asks skeptically as she lowers her sword and continues to stare at the spot Archer was once in. "It would appear that Shinsuke was right. Our enemies are not to be toiled with if they can replicate the original miracles."

Saber lowers her field of vision and looks down at the street below. She fixed her sight on the spot where her former master had called out her name in his crippled state. Memories of the Fifth Holy Grail War draw in sorrow and grief the more she focuses on that point. Eventually, she turns her back to the street and leaps off into the distance towards her next destination.

The wooden table is ripped to shreds, the television is tossed across the room, and the flower vase near the door is sliced in half. To someone on the outside looking in perhaps it would have been a confusing display of sound and fury when in fact what was taking place was a fierce battle.

Rider flips into the air and plants her feet on the ceiling tugging on the end of her weapon, two nails attached to a long chain. The assailant, Nanaya, quickly notices Rider's scheme and jumps out of the way as the chain that would have ensnared his foot pops up into the air. However, the assault does not stop. Rider quickly launches one of her nails at the position Nanaya was going to be in. Nanaya on the other hand quickly counters by striking the side of the nail creating just enough room for him to evade to the side and plant the nail solidly into the floor. Using the opportunity to go on the offensive, Nanaya disappears for a split second and reappears running along Rider's weapon and towards her. The snake-like beauty pushes off the ceiling changing the slope of the chain and leaving Nanaya hanging in the air.

"Now!" Rider shouts out as she tugs on her chain with all of her strength, ripping it from the floor, sending it flying back towards herself as well as Nanaya's body. Nanaya possessed impressive skill for a mortal, but there was no way he would be able to stop such an attack. So he would just have to go along with it. The nail pierces Nanaya's left arm and sends him on a one way course to Rider. The black servant lifts her legs and prepares to deliver the finishing blow to her enemy as he comes closer. Much surprise though, her enemy throws his knife directly at her face just as he was a few seconds away from her kick. Instinctively, Rider opts to dodge to the side at the last second rather than follow through with her attack. This sudden change sends Nanaya flying towards the wall at which point he flips around in the air and jumps off the wall, grabbing his knife, and directs his body at Rider's new position. Nanaya lands directly in front of his prey and quickly unleashes a barrage of attacks with his knife using the nail in his arm to keep the two close. Rider easily dodges Nanaya's attacks and regains control of her chain. She tugs on the weapon on to watch as Nanaya swiftly rips it from his person with little care for his arm. Rider then counters with a roundhouse only to watch as Nanaya flips backwards over it, planting his hand on her calf mid-flip, and delivering his own kick to her face. The resulting attack completely separates the two and places them at opposite ends of the room.

"Not bad. Though I've gotta say I disappointed. I was expecting a servant to be far more fierce, Rider." Nanaya grins with a demented hint of satisfaction. Rider doesn't respond and simply lowers her body like a spider to the floor. "Its interesting. To think that a servant would even dodge a non-conceptual weapon. I suppose that goes to show you that even the mighty servants fear death too."

While Nanaya wasn't completely wrong, he wasn't right either. Rider did not fear the knife at all but rather the wielder. She had noticed it awhile ago but her opponent possessed a power known as the Eyes of Purity. Though they were among a more common type of mystic eyes, they granted the user the ability to see thing which could not be seen. Without the knowledge of what that entailed it was better safe than to be sorry.

Nanaya spins his weapon around in his hand as his eyes narrow on his opponent. "Your movement is slowing isn't it?"

Rider lowers her stance even more. Sakura's supply of mana was already dangerously low and with Rider battling like this, her master's supply of mana was draining even faster. So naturally Rider would limit her movement so as not to strain Sakura. If Rider could fight at full power then Nanaya wouldn't be much of a problem. But Nanaya sense for killing was setting him on par with Rider's ability. If Rider didn't finish this quick then it could be dangerous for both her and Sakura.

"Its seems you have finally decided to end this. Good." Nanaya raises his knife high over his head and prepares for the final blow. After a brief pause, Nanaya throws his knife and lowers into a unique stance signifying a lunge. Such a thing was foolish though. Even in her current condition, Rider was faster and would not fall for the same trick twice. She grasped the two nails firmly in her hand and rushed forward without hesitation. Nanaya grins as he splits into two images of himself; one coming straight for Rider and the other preparing to attack from above. But it still posed no threat. Rider parries the oncoming knife with her nail before swinging her chain in a spiral-like form to strike at both Nanaya's. But the attack just passed through both of them.

"Useless."

Rider immediately snaps her attention to the voice behind her to find Nanaya now attacking her from behind.

"Mugen: Tokoshi no Rouya." Nanaya calmly states the name of his attack as Rider is surrounded by clones of Nanaya all prepared to strike at her.

"You think you can stop me!" Rider clenches the chain in her hands and spins them around her body wildly flailing at every single enemy.

"That's enough for you."

A voice seemingly from the darkness whispers in Rider's ear shortly before a sharp pain assails her. There it was, a small black dagger in her side. And that wasn't all. More of them had been shot from the shadows and aimed at her body. Cursing her own carelessness, Rider realizes that it was already too late for her to evade all the attacks. She could only twist her body to ensure no vitals would be hit.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!"

Left shoulder, right knee, left bicep and forearm, right hand, left foot, pelvis, both shoulders, and neck. All had been pierced past the hilt by the dozens of miniature weapons known as Dark. Rider could only fall as the bullet-like daggers stab into her body and for the most part riddle her motionless. Seeing this Nanaya stops his rapid assault and looks into the shadows from which the weapons were fired. He throws his knife and hits a wall, seeming less than pleased.

"Who said you could interfere with my hunt, Assassin?" Nanaya continues to leer into the darkness as the white skull appears from the darkness and his body appears to be molded from it. At his feet was an unconscious woman, presumably the original objective in Nanaya's mind.

"Sakura!" Rider calls out in desperation as she flips her bleeding body and begins to crawl along the floor.

"How unsightly. This is going to leave me with a feeling of emptiness. But I suppose the fun is over." Nanaya frowns as he makes his way over to Rider. He crouches down to pick up the black servants weapon and slowly moves out of the servant's blurred field of vision.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Rider cries out once again. Nanaya had stabbed her through the leg with her own weapon, effectively nailing her to the ground. He then wrestled the second nail from her weakened grasp and used it to do the same thing to her other leg. Rider clawed and scraped the wooden floor so as not to cry out again.

Nanaya looks down at the pained gorgon with a look of dissatisfaction. He places his foot atop one of the nails and presses down on it to see if Rider continued resisting the urge to scream. "No worries. We're under strict orders not to hurt this girl. If all goes as planned you will get her back relatively soon completely unharmed." Nanaya states so with a feeling of detachment as he looks back down at Rider. Through all of her pain she had managed to turn her head to the side to take a good look at Nanaya's face. Her eyes were aflame with rage and blood was streaming from her lip from biting down on it so hard. Nanaya was sour about the situation as well but as he realized he could gain from this a cold grin crept across his face. "Wallow in the abyss of your own hate and rage. Nurture it, and let it bloom into a beautiful loathsome flower, Rider."

With those words Nanaya takes his foot off the nail in Rider's leg and strolls over to Sakura. He picks her motionless body up and slings her over his shoulder. He takes one last look back at the defeated servant and slowly begins to walk off into the darkness with Assassin by his side.

"Stellvertreter." The mysterious youth known as Shinsuke calls out the word to activate the spell.

The sound of a large explosion fills the air signaling for Shinsuke to open his eyes again. The wall on which his hand was placed was now scorched with magic but in return, the seal which was placed on it was no longer there. The boy removes his hand from the wall and strolls over to the edge of the rooftop to look over Misaki. "Damn…" Shinsuke swears under his breath. Even though he was working diligently, Shinsuke had only managed to destroy around half of the seals scattered around the town. Looking up at the sky, Shinsuke could see the eclipsed moon. Destroying additional seals at this point would be useless.

"Then I think I'll go help out to relieve some of this stress." Shinsuke places his hands in his pockets and looks off into the distance with a genuinely happy smile "Hmmmm. I think that'll only take about ten minutes."

Nanaya tosses Rider's master to the side of the street as he draws his knife and looks forward with joy. His black servant jumps in between him and his new adversary, throwing off his shadowy cloak and revealing his true form.

"How unfortunate, for an Assassin such as myself to be caught so easily. The idea in itself is almost laughable." Assassin chides himself for his own carelessness.

"It doesn't matter. Stealth itself is not necessary to kill something. Hiding behind such lowly tricks is nothing but cowardly. All that matters is that your blade makes contact with your opponent's flesh and your technique rends them asunder." Nanaya steps forward placing himself slightly in front of his servant. "Try not to get in my way this time. I'd prefer not to die tonight."

The two elite killers get ready for combat as the stare down their new foe. She remained silent the whole time and simply replied to their hostility with her determined gaze and emanating grace. The strongest servant of all, Saber, was an obstacle that the two had not counted on.

"I'm sorry, but I can not allow you to move any further."