Chapter 2

Poke.

My consciousness begins to awaken with the physical stimulation of something touching my cheek.

Poke. Poke.

I attempt to slap it away and lose myself in blissful sleep once more.

Poke. Poke. .

"Nnn- Alright I'm up, I'm up. What is it Megumin?" I lazily turn my head towards her. Because of my small bed our faces are almost touching. I wouldn't feel right if I made her sleep on the ground and when I tried to rest on the ground myself Megumin ended up looking at me puzzled and told me we could share. Apparently in the past she's had less than accommodating circumstances so she was perfectly fine with it. It was kind of nice, almost like we were sisters.

"Explosion time Akane, I have to go get my daily practice in."
"Um, I have to get ready for school… wait, if you use explosion now won't be unable to use it later?"
"Tch-" She grimaced looking away, "It's your fault I can't cast more than one a day anyway! I'm probably limited by your mana capacity."
"S-sorry that I'm so useless, I'm not an experienced mage, I only know basic mana manipulation."

I got up and opened a drawer from my desk; inside sparkled numerous jewels of all colors. I explained that on a regular basis I poured my excess mana into these regularly. She seemed a little satisfied.
"Worry not, Akane. Having summoned me, you are more than capable of being a mage, I shall show you how to cast the greatest magic known to mankind, Explosion! There is no better way to relieve your mana than to practice your Explosion daily!"
"Really? I haven't ever had a chance to learn a spell, what do I do?"
"Well, don't you just pull out your adventure card and put points into it?"
"My what?" I rub my eyes a little. It's earlier than usual for me and it's affecting my cognition, but even taking that into consideration I couldn't make heads or tails of what she was saying.

"Hmph, this world seems to have an annoying way to learn new skills… Normally just seeing me use my magic would give you the ability to learn it, but I'm not sure how to teach you otherwise.

She frowned, disappointed that she couldn't be of help. I felt bad she did seem like she was trying to do something for my sake.

"D-Don't worry about it, please. We have some time so maybe we could figure something out."

For whatever reason she seemed really intent on teaching me Explosion, well it's fine I guess, I always wanted to learn how to use my magic somehow but this seems like a pretty big leap from someone who can't even use basic magic spells.

I begin getting ready for school, ensuring I have all my clothes on before I leave my room. We go to the kitchen and I prepare a simple breakfast for both of us.

"Hmph, Crimson Demons don't need to eat."

Her words and actions don't seem to match, as she began spreading jam on the toast and wolfing it down.

"We don't need to eat but we can still appreciate delicious things!" As if reading my thoughts, she clarified. I offered her some coffee but she spit it out as soon as she tried it. I had also brewed some tea just in case so I poured her a cup and she seemed satisfied with that.

"Um, I have to go to school, but I'm not sure if you could walk around like that."
"Worry not, I used my last skill points improving the range. I can wait here and shoot an explosion well beyond what I can even see to protect you!"
"How will you know where to shoot it if you can't see?"
"Hngh-"

She seemed startled.

"That's why you're here obviously! You'll tell me where to cast it telepathically."
"How will I do that?"
"For a Crimson Demon, telepathy with those we are connected with is a breeze!"
Like this! Explosion!
Having thoughts of nothing but a large explosion engulfing an open field my mind goes blank for a moment.

"P-Please don't cast explosion in my mind!"
"Tch, stingy."

"Still, these Crimson Demons must be impressive, explosions, telepathy, are all you guys so amazing?"
"Fufufu, so you've realized the true power of the Crimson Demons, as expected of a Master capable of summoning me. Worry not Akane, I can keep you safe from any distance, just imagine the area you want engulfed in explosion, I can even engulf the entirety of your school."
"P-please don't destroy my school!"

Leaving her with that, I tell her how to use our DVD player and told her to rummage through our DVD's to keep her entertained while I'm gone. I grab my bag and head out the door, saying "I'm off."

"Come back soon," Megumin replied.

Hearing a response I can't help but feel a little happy inside. Our home is a bit lively with someone else in it.

My typically peaceful commute is interrupted by flashes of explosion in my mind. I'm not sure if it's my memory playing it back in my head or if Megumin is sending them to me telepathically. After an explosion filled jaunt to school, I arrive at the gate to see it closed. The girl who is usually late for morning practice approaches me.

"Akane, apparently they closed the school temporarily."
"Huh, why?"
"I dunno, the gate was closed and all the lights were off. There's a sign on the door that says Closed for Construction."

Looking over her shoulder at the gate, I notice a large white sign saying just that, on the bottom right of the sign is a picture of a smiling bald man giving a thumbs up. Come to think of it that looks like the priest we met from the Church the other day. Their group seems to have a lot of power.

"But, there doesn't seem to be any construction… or anyone even in the area."

Hey, Akane? Are you there? Guess what! The weird looking priest guy gave me some extra mana and told me I can cast explosion!
I had a bad feeling about this.

Wielding the glorious explosion magic, I am the servant Caster

This blow I am given turns a blind eye to the fate of my Master

Severing both hope and despair alike

I begin to panic, I try to speak up to tell people to back away but it seems like no one is hearing me. The morning practice girl looks at me puzzled.

I'm pretty shy normally, it's difficult for me to speak in public. But I didn't want to see people getting hurt. Mustering my courage I give all my effort I scream to the crowd in front of me…

"Take cover!"

Sensing the fear in my voice the ones closest to the gate back up, just a moment later…

Bathe thyself in a pool of crimson blood
Burst forth, explosion!

Our school was consumed in a large scale explosion. What was once the school was now a crater The explosion was controlled to the point where it didn't reach the gate so, seeing nobody was hurt, I dashed home.

Throwing open the door at home, I quickly take off my shoes and yell "I'm back!"
"Welcome back" Megumin exclaims to me.

She was planted on the ground in our living room with a number of the the jewels from my room laid across the floor. She seemed to be doodling on the jewels while watching some of my old anime DVDs. The ending theme song from the one I used to watch as a kid was playing.

"Oh this Magical Slayer Girl Megumi from Hell is pretty entertaining. Her magic and name are both inferior to mine of course, but it's interesting.

Come to think of it I wonder why it had such a title for a show designed for kids, but that was besides the point.

"Megumin! Why did you blow up my school?"
"The priest told me to, he said it was to facilitate the Holy Grail War or some such" Megumin said while trying to impersonate the dead-pan priest. It was such a cute impersonation that all anxiousness faded away from my body.

I sighed and plopped down next to Megumin. While watching another episode of Magical Slayer Girl Megumi from Hell I pull up the news on my phone to see if there's anything similar going on. Apparently there were 5 other schools all scheduled for simultaneously demolition and reconstruction within the area. These agent folks really were from a powerful group weren't they?

"I'm finished!" Megumin declared excitedly. Her enthusiasm startled me.
"Wh-what is it?"
"Here!"

She threw one of the jewels she was fiddling with at me. Looking closely I saw a magic circle etched on it. Turning it around to the other side was the face of a smiling girl wearing a mage hat giving a thumbs up. This particular type of image was still fresh in my mind, and I couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this.

"Um… Megumin, what's this about?"
"The jewels are essentially containers of mana with no spells attached to them so they are effectively useless except to supplement our magical capacity, but that doesn't mean anything to us; You can't cast spells and my Explosion would take too many of them to be able to use at one time. So I etched the Explosion magic onto all of these jewels so that by injecting a little mana to activate them, they could turn into mini explosion gems!"
"Y-you turned them all into grenades?"
"Grenades? If those explode, sure I guess they're grenades."

She said such a dangerous sentence so nonchalantly. Looking around I saw a handful of my jewels laid across the ground with a similar pattern as well as a small bag full. I thought about asking where the rest of them were but maybe it was better I didn't know.

"Aren't they going to be dangerous in here?"
"Nope! I fashioned them so that only you or I could activate them. Just add a little mana and get ready. They're far inferior to my usual Explosion but at least now I can use Explosion all day!"

She had an evil smile on her face. There was a glint in her eye behind her eye-patch. I sighed and wondered how her usual companions handled her every day.

Insisting on trying out the jewels, she grabbed her bag of jewels and dragged me out the door. She tried to hand me a similar bag but I was still scared of carrying so many. She wouldn't relent so I had to agree to carry a few with me. She insisted that we try these out together. If we weren't going to lob magic grenades, this might almost seem like going out with a friend. The thought excited me somewhat and helped relieve the dread of what I was carrying around with me.

Our first stop was a slightly far away from home. It was usually empty at night so I thought this might've been an okay location to choose, but once we got near we heard some music playing. It sounded like one of those bubbly idol songs but I didn't recognize it from anywhere. I was curious about it so I began to walk towards the crowd. On a small makeshift stage stood a girl with long black hair. She wore a baby blue dress with a pink ribbon on her chest. It was very cute and gave a nice contrast to her otherwise elegant looks.

"Everyone, thank you!" She began yelling at the crowd in front into her microphone, "This is the last one for the night."

The crowd seemed to groan. She seemed really skilled at playing to the crowd, I was kind of jealous. She had great looks, and seemed like such a happy outgoing girl, I mean you'd have to be to be able to wear that and say that type of thing right?

"Alright, let's go! This is Start:Dash!"

A catchy beat began to play from seemingly out of nowhere, but before I could get too into the song Megumin tugged on my sleeve.

"Something doesn't feel right about this area…" Megumin looked worried. "C'mon let's go on with our Explosion practice!"

It seemed like she was genuinely worried for a moment, but her usual self took over and dragged me away from the crowd before I could hear much of the song.

We found a big open area away from prying eyes. Hopefully we were far enough away that we wouldn't attract unwanted attention. I'm not sure how I'd be able to explain to the police about two high school girls making explosions in the evening. Megumin ensured me that this wouldn't be an issue. When I pressed for clarification she informed me civilians are naturally hesitant to enter any area where a Servant was active, it seemed like it was to help protect others against indirect fire from the Holy Grail War.

Arriving she told me, "C'mon, try it!" as she pulled out a jewel. Pulling one of my own we both looked towards the middle of the field.

"Burst forth, Explosion!" She yelled as she threw the jewel in her hand. I threw mine as well, too embarrassed to actually say anything. Her jewel exploded into a smaller scale version of her typical explosion. A large crimson red ball erupted from the jewel. Mine however, fell harmlessly to the ground.

"Akane! You aren't concentrating. You need to think of nothing other than Explosions while channeling mana into the jewel to activate it!"
"That isn't what you told me…"
"Less talking, more explosions!" She seemed to be scolding me.
"R-right!"

I ran over, picked up the jewel that fell on the ground and came back to Megumin. Thinking of an explosion was relatively easy. I had seen two in person plus have had countless images of explosions pop in my head from Megumin. She told me she didn't intentionally send these thoughts into my head but likely were residual leakage from her typical thoughts. Her mind kind of scared me, but she was always such so happy it put me at ease.

I channeled mana while thinking of explosions, and tossed the jewel into the air. It exploded on a very small scale barely suitable enough to be called an explosion. Megumin looked somewhat satisfied. She threw another jewel at me and i juggled it a bit before catching it.

"P-please Megumin! That's dangerous" But the words fell on deaf ears as she simply laughed.
"Akane, for the Crimson Demons, words act as a powerful focus for spells."

She was implying I also needed to call out the spell like she did. It was certainly embarrassing, and I wasn't sure if it would make a big difference but I resolved myself to try anyway.

"Burst forth, Explosion!" I screamed while throwing the jewel in front of us… or at least tried to until it slipped out of my hand. It fell just a foot away from the two of us at most. We glanced at each other, chuckling nervously before turning around. Barely completing a full turn, the explosion threw us back the across the field.

The pain was certainly there, but my body seemed to hold up without any major damage. I'm not this durable of a person normally, one time I broke my pinky trying to catch myself falling out of the shower. I figured this must've been part of the master-servant pact that helped keep us safe.

"Megumin, I'm so sorry are you alright!"
"Haha! Akane that was great! You are truly awakening upon the path of Explosions!" She answered me laughing.
"I'm not really sure if that makes me happy…" is what I said, but truthfully I began laughing alongside her just the same.

Megumin abruptly stopped and became serious.

"Akane, someone's coming, get ready."

"Okay" I said, getting up. There wasn't much I could do but at the very least I could ready a few of these jewels.

Something dropped onto the sky in front of us. It hit the ground with such impact that smoke and dust blew up in the air covering the entire field.

"Hah! Hah! Hah! Everything's fine now! Why? Because I'm here"

A large blonde haired man appeared from the smoke. He wore jeans and a white t-shirt. In fact, calling him large might be an understatement. Maybe a bear was the more appropriate term? He came out bearing a grin from cheek to cheek. It should've been an imposing sight, but his entrance, his appearance and speech, all of them were like out of a movie. Megumin and I stared wide-eyed and began clapping out of sheer instinct, as if we weren't a part of the scene.

Looking at the two of us, he put his hands on his hips and seemed to puff out his chest a little. It almost seemed as if he were striking a pose. Now that all the smoke cleared from the area, even calling him a bear might've been an understatement. Either one of his arms were bigger than either Megumin or me, maybe even both of us together. This was definitely a servant, and I had a bad feeling about this.

Megumin seemed to show no fear. She stepped up in front of me. Clutching her hat in one hand, and flailing her staff out with her other.

"Your impressive entrance has earned you the right to see mine own! It is I, Archwizard of the great Crimson Demon Clan. I am Megumin!"
"Oh, I came here when I sensed an active servant, I didn't expect to meet a little girl here. I am the servant, Berserker."
"I'm not little!"

So apparently our explosion practice sent out a beacon for him to come straight to us. I think I'd better have a talk to Megumin later…

This is bad, Akane. Normally Berserkers are supposed to stupidly strong and lose all form of thought and emotion other than rage. However he seems to have fully maintained his personality, he's definitely strong!

Megumin communicated to me via our telepathic link something very scary. It seems like she's really just putting on a front here.

"I'm sorry to admit it, little girl but you cannot win. I'd prefer not to hurt you so please give up."

There was no conceit in his voice. Just pure absolute confidence. It wasn't like Megumin seemed all that inexperienced, despite her age she seemed to have seen her fair share of battle. But the aura these two exuded was that of a tiger and a cub.

"M-Megumin, we need to get out of here!" I tried to get her attention.

"Tch, to run away from this battle after being insulted and looked down upon so would be to tarnish the reputation of them Crimson Demon Clan! I am Megumin, the Servant Caster, here I go Berserker!" She yelled as she threw a jewel at Berserker. He caught it in his hand before exploding. The area was consumed in smoke but he emerged unharmed. Wait his fist was twitching slightly? It seemed to do some damage.

He sighed, "Well I guess I have to do this. I'll end this quickly in honor of your bravery Caster!"

Berserker took a step and flew towards Megumin. He swung his fist right for Megumin, putting a great deal of force behind it. It was an unbelievable sight, his fist was almost the size of Megumin's whole torso.

"Megumin!" I screamed worried about my friend.

Without any needless motion Megumin stepped back, thrust her staff forward and formed a magic circle to intercept the fist. She caught Berserker's fist and was thrown back but appeared uninjured. She chuckled out loud.

"My name is Megumin! Berserker I thought you were going to end this quickly!"
"Oh, you're quite brave, girl. I apologize for not taking you seriously, you are a servant after all. Very well then to show you the proper respect, I'll give you everything I've got!"

Berserker sprinted towards Megumin, he threw his left fist, Megumin caught it with her staff. She spun around and hit the back of Berserker's head with her staff and used her foot to push herself away. Berserker turned around swinging his right fist towards Megumin, faster then she was backing away.

"Tch," She seemed caught off guard. A jewel dropped from her sleeve to her hand and she flicked it up to the space between them. It exploded knocking them both away from each other.

She pulled three jewels from her bag, gripping them between her fingers in her fist. She threw them one at a time towards Berserker, who took covered his face and was pushed back with each subsequent explosion.

The damage she was doing was minimal, but Megumin proved to be pretty skilled enough to protect herself at close range despite being a mage and not looking like a hardened close combat veteran.. Maybe something about being summoned as a servant made her better at fighting?

"Hah, very good Caster!"
"My name is Megumin! Me-gu-min!"
"Huh, I've been thinking about it for a while but isn't it dangerous to reveal your name to me, your opponent?"
"As a member of the Crimson Demons, the two things I hold above all others are my name, and my magic. To forsake either would be to insult my heritage!"

I've heard something similar before.

"Besides, we're supposed to hide our identities to hide our abilities right? That makes sense for famous servants, but we're just regular people from other worlds right? No one would recognize our abilities anyway"

Megumin made a very astute observation, it quite honestly left me dumbfounded. Berserker shared a similar opinion as he began rubbing his chin in thought. Then finally he lightly hammers his fist onto his palm.

"Oh I get it, because we're not heroes summoned from this world we don't need to worry about having our names found out. Very well then, Megumin, to show my full respect requires me to give up my name, a name feared by all Villains that lurk in the darkness. The Symbol of Peace, All Might!"

Megumin jaw hit the floor.

"Oh! That's so cool!" She seemed genuinely impressed by his introduction, or maybe his name? I wasn't sure. Megumin, what happened to the intelligent and observant Megumin from a moment ago?

Berserker gave her a thumbs up momentarily before resuming his fighting stance. Megumin gripped her staff bracing for anything. Berserker kicked off flying towards Megumin. She threw her staff behind her, gripping it as she flew backwards. In her place dropped a jewel onto the ground, exploding in front of Berserker.

He slowly started to appear to accumulate damage, but he didn't seem to show any pain, or any signs of slowing down. He relentlessly pursued Megumin, who now flew straight into the air leaving another jewel. She was speeding up. She flew up far beyond what I could keep track of, and Berserker pursued her. The only way I could keep track of them was from the periodic explosions or when Berserker landed back on the ground just to jump up again after her.

Was this truly what a battle of servants was like? Megumin couldn't possibly take more than one or two blows from him, was there nothing I could do to help?

Clutching the two jewels I had in my hand, without realizing it I was channeling mana into them.

Megumin flew back to the ground before zig-zagging on the ground trying to shake him. Berserker hit the ground and started sprinting after her. It appeared Megumin was beginning to tire slowing down, but Berserker, true to his name, seemed to be pushing onwards, seemingly faster than before.
He disappeared from sight and appeared in front of Megumin's path. She collided with him and her staff went flying. This was bad!

Berserker stepped up to her and struck her straight in the chest, she flew backwards slamming into a tree.

"Megumin!" I cried out.

She gave a brief thumbs up before sliding to the ground, coughing up blood. She waved her hand up, and her staff flew to her staff. She propped it on the ground to support herself before she fell over.

"Megumin! I will end this now, it was an honor to be able to fight with you. If you were in my world I'm sure you would be a world-class hero."

No, I don't want this. I didn't want to see her get hurt, I didn't want her to fight anymore. I wanted to do something, but I didn't know what. I was scared. Scared of Berserker, scared for Megumin, scared of getting hurt. But I realized, the thing that scared me most was not being able to do anything.

I wasn't even sure what I was doing anymore. This servant was clearly an honorable servant, so he would not bother with me without reason. Intentionally provoking him would normally be unthinkable. But I had my first friend here, I'm not sure how much longer we can be together, but I know I didn't want it to end now.

Looking down at my right hand where my jewels were I noticed a bright light. Opening my palm I saw the two jewels radiated far more than any of the others I ever held. These might work!

"Megumin! Get ready to cast Explosion!" I yelled.
I couldn't make out her face under her hat, but wiping away her blood she gave a faint smile.

I threw the two gems towards Berserker. He struck one upwards but the other caught him in the chest before landing on the ground below him. The resulting explosion knocked him straight up into the air where he caught the explosion from the other gem knocking him back down. He coughed up blood, and slowly began dragging himself up.

Oh darkness I beseech thee, lend me your aid,

The light before me shines above all others!

Consume this light that stands before me,

And bathe my foe in a crimson blaze!
Burst forth, Explosion!

Berserker had barely pulled himself up when a large magic circle appeared below and above him. He instinctively covered his face with his arms bracing for impact. The resulting explosion consumed the entire area, uprooting trees and bursting street lights. Megumin and I were knocked back our separate directions from the air pressure.

After the explosion and resulting smoke died down, Berserker stood in the same position, guarding his face. This time he was clearly damaged, but being able to stand after taking that much damage was quite frankly, amazing.

He coughed, with his ever present smile he looked towards Megumin and then me.

"I was wrong to ever underestimate the two of you. Megumin, you have a good master. However the Symbol of Peace cannot falter!"

I couldn't believe it. This Berserker…. No, All Might. He was completely amazing. It was like he was the main hero of an anime, how could we possibly beat him? That was everything we had.

Suddenly, I felt an uneasy presence approaching. My intuition had always been pretty good, perhaps something granted to me because of my magical background? But even so, since this Holy Grail War has started it has become even more reliable. I knew danger was coming.

"Megumin, be careful! Something's coming!"

Barely standing up, she threw off her hat and eye-patch. She glanced around for a moment and pointed her staff in the air. In the next moment, countless arrows rained down from the sky, striking All Might in the back forming a huge dust cloud. Megumin was pointing her staff and a magic circle blocked arrows coming to her.

Once the arrows stopped I yelled at Megumin to get us out of here. She seemed disappointed but the situation definitely was not favorable for us. Understanding the hopelessness of the situation, she pointed her staff towards me and flew over and grabbed my hand flying away.

Looking back at the battleground we had just created, the smoke settled and the sight I beheld betrayed all expectations. I expected to see All Might covered in arrows but while his shirt was in tatters, not a single arrow pierced his skin. They all lay on the ground around him. He glanced at us for a moment, then at the directions where the arrows came from, and leaped away in a separate direction. He appeared to be running away but I couldn't imagine why. The unknown Archer aside, Megumin and I should be easy targets at this point.

Whatever the case may be, the two of us barely escaped by the skins of our teeth.