And now we get to see some of the Servants and Masters show off a little bit more!
Also, someone pointed out that the last portion of the translation of Touma's name is "slays demons" instead of "exercises the devil," but I've actually seen it translated both ways over the years... and I decided to go with what I have because I like how it sounds better. Hope that clears that little thing up.
That said, I hope you all enjoy!
"…Mordred?" Artoria looked off at the balcony that the Saber stood. There was a noticeable look of confusion on her face as the two stared at each other.
"I'm confused… who is that?" Touma asked.
"Hah! My father is your ally yet you do not know about the son? How much more pathetic could you get!?" The Saber known as Mordred hopped off the gallery and landed with a crash.
"…But you're a girl! And so is she!" Touma protested. "And besides, I'm not exactly an expert on lore of King Arthur! I'm from Japan not the British Isles! Have more realistic expectations! Can't you tell that I'm clearly speaking Japanese!? You're speaking it too you know!"
"Like any of that matters! The legends of King Arthur some of the most famous stories ever created! And what does my gender have to do with anything, you uncultured piece of shit!?" Mordred shouted angrily.
"…Touma, I could consider it wise to not reference gender when speaking to Mordred." Artoria warned, turning her invisible blade toward the Saber.
"Ugh… I thought it was weird that only four were doing the summoning… I guess some of the other Servants were called forth after all…" Leivinia rose slowly, recovering from the jarring throw. Up above, Albert stood over the railing, gritting his teeth.
"Damn it all… the chances that King Arthur would be here were so low… how is this possible…!" Albert stated. He could only think of the Illegal Grail War event that sent waves through the magic side due to its occurrence in Academy City, but he never thought for a moment that the King of Knights would have been summoned for that war, and much less that the British King would remain in this world.
"Albert, let us retreat for now. We don't have much time; if Leivinia Birdway is here I doubt she came alone." Sage called out.
"What do we do about Saber?" Albert asked, pulling away from the railing.
"Not much choice; when we reach safety, you'll have to use a command seal. Ordering her to retreat now would be catastrophic due to her mental state." Sage stated. Albert looked back one time before moving away from the railing and exiting the gallery, intent of escaping.
"Alright…!" Mordred, the Saber, snickered as she held up her blade. "This is exactly how I always wanted it, to tell the truth. Just you and me… no troops, no curses… nothing but us…!"
"…Do you think you can hold her off, Sab- Artoria-san?" Touma asked. The response of the blond king was a simple nod. "Alright… I'll try to help with the big guy then I'll see what I can do to back you up."
"Be careful, Touma." Artoria warned. She had little time to talk further as Mordred charged forward with a downward strike. Artoria blocked the blow with her own sword and the clash escalated quickly as the two fought.
Lazarus flew forward, propelling himself through the air with an unknown method, but something cut him off before he could land a blow.
"Hrunting!" A blood-red shot erupted from the hole in the wall that Artoria came from, nearly hitting the cabal boss. Lazarus actually had to fire a blast forward to create enough force to blast himself out of harm's way; the spell being negated by Touma. The red attack blasted right through a wall like it was paper.
"Back-up is here, Kamijou-san!" Shirou shouted out from the hole, holding a bow in hand.
"More of them keep coming…!" Victoria called out, aiming her trident at the red-haired male, only to be hit by slabs of the earth from below. Leivinia stood proudly as her sword had turned into a disk, and with her movements the dirt responded, violently attacking the trident-wielding magician.
"As much as I'd like the honor of taking down the boss… the second in command will have to suffice; progress before pride after all!" Leivinia smirked as the disk turned back into a wand and a wall of fire erupted from in front of her, traveling quickly to meet Victoria. With a hand motion from the magician, water erupted from the ground to form a wall to block the flames.
"Even spells as powerful as yours are no match for magic belonging to the God of the Sea!" Victoria held her hand overhead and the water gathered, forming a lance. She thrust her hand forward and the lance fired, only to be sliced in two by a blade formed from compressed air, as Leivinia's wand turned once more into a sword.
While those two exchanged blows, Touma ran straight for Lazarus, chambering a fist. Lazarus appeared to be taking special care to not be hit by Touma's right hand, something that Shirou tried to use to his advantage. Each time Lazarus moved to dodge, Shirou formed and fired a variety of blades and arrows in an attempt to trap the cabal boss, but each time Lazarus managed to send them away or outright evade them with rapid movement. Finally, Shirou seemed to have had enough, and formed one more arrow.
The arrow looked more like a sword, and was distinct for its spiral nature.
"Caladbolg!" Shirou fired the spiral arrow at the cabal boss with haste. However, Lazarus was able to send the arrow upward with whatever telekinetic power he had, but this did not constrain the attack's effects after it hit the ceiling. Caladbolg exploded violently, easily destroying the upper floors and catching the attention of the cabal boss who narrowed his eyes.
What he didn't notice however was movement below him. Suddenly Kinuhata burst from below and before Lazarus could even look down, struck him in his armored stomach, easily denting the metal and causing Lazarus to let out a sound similar to a grunt. Kinuhata repeatedly struck Lazarus' torso, each blow appearing painful by the shifts in his eyes, before a final punch struck Lazarus' face, forcing in the knight's helmet and sending the cabal boss flying backward into a wall.
"Whew! That felt super good! Serves you right asshole!" Kinuhata proudly announced.
"K-Kinuhata-san, h-how did you get underground!?" Touma stuttered out.
"I told you, my offence armor is amazing!" Kinuhata proudly declared.
"Don't get overconfident!" Shirou shouted. With a loud bomb the wall exploded outward and Lazarus walked back into the open. The dents in his armor were there, but after a moment they all popped back out, possibly using his own ability on his armor to fix the damage done. He charged forward, soaring through the air to re-engage.
But there was also another heated battle still going inside the heavily damaged ballroom.
Artoria and Mordred clashed blades violently. Artoria was strictly on the defensive as Mordred violently assaulted the King of Knights. However, Mordred's own appearance gave the impression of frustration.
"Why… why why why!?" Mordred shouted louder with each swing, growing angrier and angrier, while Artoria remained rather stoic in comparison. "Why… are you still… not taking me seriously!?" She slammed her blade against Artoria's own, sending the King of Knights backward. Artoria remained standing however, aiming her blade at Mordred once more.
"…Because if all you're going to do is flail that sword around and scream like a spoiled brat, I see no reason to exert the effort to cut you down, Mordred." Artoria replied. This appeared to be the last straw as Mordred raised her blade high, red electricity arcing off it wildly.
"Fine… if that's how it is, then I'll MAKE you take me seriously!" Mordred shouted as the energy gathering in her blade increased, the red lightning arcs increasing in number as well as their power. Artoria's expression finally changed as she gritted her teeth, predicting what was coming next.
'I can defeat her Noble Phantasm with Excalibur… but if I do that, the resulting blast could annihilate everyone else… and if it missed, it could travel into a populated area…!' Artoria thought as she weighed her options. 'All I can do… is use Invisible Air and hope it can hold!' The Invisible Air surrounding her blade dispersed and began to gather around her like a barrier of wind. Mordred smirked as she recognized her superiority in the situation.
"Let's see how Merlin's magic has held up all these years then, shall we!?" Mordred called out, referencing Invisible Air's origins. "Clarent Blood Arthur: Rebellion Against My Beautiful Father!" Mordred swung her blade down and unleashed a massive wave of red lightning, tearing apart the floor as it traveled, the blasts smashing into its target. Mordred's grin widened as the blast appeared to strike Artoria, but this face of confidence shifted to shock and then anger when after a few short moments, a loud shattering sound filled the room as the red lightning faded, revealing Kamijou Touma standing in-between the two, his right hand out-stretched.
"Touma…!" Artoria called out in apparent surprise. Perhaps due to her focus on defense, she hadn't even noticed him move.
"Seriously… why does every single electricity-using person I meet have to be so freaking violent!?" Touma shouted.
"Why… you…!" Mordred's hand's shook as she grasped her blade tightly, but not from fear. Her anger skyrocketed as she gritted her teeth. "How… dare you… interfering with my fight…!? And you toss my Noble Phantasm aside as if it was a piece of trash!?"
"What were you expecting!? You think this is some kind of arena? No, this is an all-out brawl where anything and everything is fair game! After seeing that attack build up, did you expect me to just stand there and do nothing!?" Touma shouted.
"Get. Out. Of. My. WAY! This is MY fight and you have NO RIGHT to stand between me and my father!" Mordred's anger was still increasing; her blade gathering energy as it sparked with red bolts of lightning.
"Not a chance! Artoria-san is my friend! And you expect me to just abandon her to satisfy you!? I don't care if your Artoria-san's son, daughter or whatever; I'll shatter that fucked up illusion of yours!" Touma shouted back. Mordred continued to stare Touma down as she let out a low growl. She then noticed something peculiar about the unlucky Kamijou.
A command seal; partially faded. By her guess it would be good for at least two more uses.
"…So that explains it." Mordred stated. "The master doing everything he can to protect her Servant…? Is that it!?"
"I'm not her master; her master isn't even here." Touma shot back. "If you want to know, last I heard mine is somewhere in the United States. I'm doing this to protect my friend, so don't go putting words into my mouth, understand?" Touma replied. This actually confused Mordred more.
To most, Servants were just another form of familiar. Though keeping a good relationship with their Servant was paramount to victory in a Holy Grail War, they were still disposable summons made to die for their master's desires.
Why did this boy stand up to defend a Servant's temporary existence?
"…What's your angle, huh? What do you get out of stopping me, boy!?" Mordred demanded.
"Honestly, I'd be satisfied if after this she could just tell me she was ok; that my efforts weren't wasted. I'm here because I want to be. That's all there is to it." Touma replied.
"…Who the hell do you think you are!?" Mordred asked with venom apparent in her voice.
"Kamijou Touma; I'm just an average high-schooler that you can find anywhere." Touma replied.
That's what did it; Mordred's reason shattered into a million pieces right then and there.
She knew what a high-schooler was; the basic information given to her by her summoning answered any questions she could have about one.
But this boy in front of her interrupted the fight she wanted so badly and moreover was able to deal with her Noble Phantasm like it was just a minor inconvenience.
Everything else she could understand to an extent, but the idea that someone capable of doing all of that just being an average school student was simply too much for her to endure.
She found the thought to be completely and totally asinine.
"Damn it all, I don't fucking care anymore!" Mordred shouted at the top of her lungs as she unleashed red lightning from her blade, Clarent, with it meeting the same fate as her full-powered Noble Phantasm due to Imagine Breaker. "I don't fucking give a shit what you have to say, what you're trying to do, or why! I'll kick the shit out of you, and force you to tell me the truth! You hear me!? I will fucking beat what I want to hear out of you!" Mordred, though caught in the middle of her fit of rage, seemed to reason out that Clarent's abilities alone would do little at this point and charged forward with a sudden mana burst in an attempt to bring the blade down on top of the unlucky Kamijou.
Her blade met solid steel as Artoria suddenly moved in front of Touma, blocking the slash. This action seemed to snap Mordred out of her rage-state due to shock; Touma was standing ready to intercept the attack on his own, yet Artoria acted anyway to stop her. It completely threw her off; she was planning on using Touma's change in stance to her advantage by mixing up her usage of the sword, but Artoria moved anyway; like she had seen through her plan.
Artoria's eyes were serious; completely unlike before. Mordred could feel the strength coming from her "father's" blade; keeping her own at bay.
"You will not harm him, Mordred! Do you understand me!?" Artoria's voice as much more forceful; all of this made it more apparent that she was finally taking her seriously. But what confused her was why she decided to do so.
The only thing she had done was threaten the boy; was that really the cause?
If it was, what did this boy mean to Artoria to cause such a sudden shift in attitude towards her?
She wanted to understand.
She wouldn't understand.
She couldn't understand.
"Why… now of all times…!" Mordred gritted her teeth; she didn't want to admit that her previous usage of mana for her Noble Phantasm had left her rather winded; she could use Clarent's full power at least three, possibly four more times, but it still meant that she wasn't at her best. Artoria however was still mostly fresh, and displayed as such by throwing Mordred off of her. Mordred leapt backward a fair distance and held up her blade.
"Are you alright, Touma?" Artoria asked, her body still facing Mordred. "I'm sorry; it seems that I have unintentionally involved you in my own personal dilemma."
"…I should be asking you that. All things considered… isn't she still your… kid?" Touma asked. Artoria didn't answer, and it drove Mordred crazy inside.
Because in a way, Mordred herself wanted to ask Artoria a very similar question.
"…It's difficult dealing with someone who knows so little about you… isn't it?" Mordred asked in a surprisingly calm tone.
"It cannot be helped." Artoria answered. "I don't mind… in some ways it's a blessing; there are some things about me I would rather keep hidden."
"Like me?" Mordred narrowed her eyes. Like before, Artoria didn't answer. They both gripped their respective swords tightly.
"…If you want me to fight seriously, then so be it." Artoria eventually spoke. "The result will not be the same as it was in life, Mordred."
"Funny; I was going to say the same thing." Mordred replied, grinning. The tension in the room was rising as they both prepared to strike each other.
However, such a clash was not meant to be.
"By the order of this Command Seal," The voice of Albert rang in Mordred's head as she widened her eyes, as if knowing what was coming. "…I command you to return to my side at once."
Mordred didn't even have time to shout an expletive before she suddenly vanished from sight.
-Outside-
"Why the hell did you recall me!?" Mordred shouted. She now stood hidden amongst shrubbery and trees alongside her master. "It was time; she had finally decided to fight me with everything she had! Why did you have to pick now of all times to force me to retreat!?"
"Please understand; it was for your own good." Albert replied.
"That better not be all you have to say to me, or those last two command seals aren't going to be enough to save you…!" Mordred threatened, grabbing Albert by his collar.
"Take a look into the battlefield behind you and all will be made clear. It is not far." Albert stated. Mordred continued to glare at her master for a time before letting go to step through the bushes to take a look where her master had directed.
It was a war between the Solution to Nothingness magi and the magicians of the Dawn-Colored Sunlight. Spells and incantations seemed to be flying in every possible direction. Bodies of those injured or otherwise littered the ground as men and women of both sides fought to crush their enemy. Mordred stood, watching for a time, before Albert eventually walked up behind her.
"Those men and women without our robes are the enemy; they are aware that the boy named Kamijou Touma is their ally; if they saw you fighting against the King of Knights while she stood at the boy's side…"
"I invariably would have been attacked from all sides and killed." Mordred finished as her hand formed into a tight fist and gritted her teeth in frustration.
"Indeed. We can strike down the King of Knights another time, but you won't get another chance if you perish." Albert stated. "If you understand, let us go. We have a rendezvous point already set-up to the south. The Sage of the Wildwood and Yukiko will be joining us soon." Mordred slowly turned and followed her Master. After a few short minutes, Mordred abruptly stopped. Albert turned to see Mordred suddenly let out a loud scream and slash at a tree, cleaving it in half. The sound of the tree falling over rippled through the forest.
"…I'm sorry." Mordred began. "I needed to let some of my frustration out before it completely consumed me. I am not as effective if I cannot calm myself by some degree."
"…Understood; your reasoning is sound." Albert replied. "Please avoid doing that however, not only would it alert any possible reinforcements to our location, but it will make the Sage quite cross with you; his cooperation will be key as we revise our plans moving forward."
"Of course." Mordred replied. The two then proceeded south, away from the raging warzone that used to be the Solution to Nothingness' headquarters.
-Just Outside the Mansion-
"Who the hell… is this girl!?" One of the Dawn-Colored Sunlight magicians shouted. Several of his comrades have fallen; their attacks literally being frozen in place and those trying to physically assault their target were smacked out of the air by giant claws made of ice that would suddenly appear from the girl's back.
It should have been easy, they thought. She was just a little Japanese girl, no more than eight years old.
Yet she seemed to have the magic power beyond what seemed conceivable for even a leader of a magic organization.
She was Yukimura Yukiko, and with the mana output she was letting loose, the only term the magicians attributed to her was the title of, "Monster."
She did not like this title. She hated this title.
In fact, everyone who called her by this title could no longer be called alive as they resided in frozen tombs of ice.
It was a title she had been granted in the past as well.
She did not like it. She made this fact very apparent in violent assaults of sudden freezing wind and animate sculptures of ice that violently assaulted everyone aside from the little Japanese girl.
But their deaths did not ease the little girl's mind in the slightest.
In fact, if those magicians could look beyond the frozen constructs that surrounded her, they would be able to see her crying.
The magi could not hear her innocent sounding sobs through the cries of their own comrades being brutalized by what seemed like a personification of winter itself.
Eventually, the magicians of the Dawn-Colored Sunlight retreated from the area, unable to even slow down the girl's advance, much less defeat her.
But this did not slow the tears falling from the girls face. They only stopped when she felt a calm hand gently rub her head from behind. The girl turned to see her Servant, Semiramis, who was called forth as a Caster Class servant, gently caressing her head. Yukiko immediately shot up and hugged the woman's side, sobbing into her dress.
"T-they were being mean to me, Onee-san…" Yukiko cried out.
"I know… they're gone now. You made them stop, my dear." Semiramis spoke softly as she continued to comfort her tiny master.
"D-did… I do… good?" Yukiko asked, the flow of tears gradually coming to a halt.
"You did very good; impressive even." Caster smiled.
"…I'm glad." Yukiko stated. "Thank you, Onee-san…"
Caster only smiled as she continued to rub the little girl's head affectionately.
Yukiko was quite a surprisingly compatible master for her, Semiramis reasoned.
In most cases, Semiramis would take control of whoever summoned her, either through her poisons or her magic depending on the situation. There were few who could escape such a fate.
One case involved a mysterious man who summoned her; he offering her a proposition she found so interesting she had to see it through until the end and decided to fight alongside his master rather than manipulate him.
In this case, it was actually due to Yukiko's own nature. She was simple; all she wanted was affection. As long as Semiramis provided that affection, Yukiko was like putty in her hands. Yukiko herself actually didn't want to participate in Sage's and Albert's plot; it was Semiramis who persuaded her to join.
This act of manipulation could be seen as an act of mercy in comparison to her usual methods however. She did feel some sympathy for the girl, as her own existence is not too unlike her own; abandoned by the ones who brought her into this world.
So she refrained from her usual methods and simply gave her master exactly what she wanted; love. One could question whether or not it was genuine, but Yukiko didn't care. If Semiramis provided Yukiko with love, Yukiko would return the favor by listening to her "Onee-san," and do what she wanted. It was an existence that the Caster Semiramis could accept.
"Now, we have to go, Yukiko-chan." Caster used the honorific like a master as she spoke. "We have to meet up with the others… Sage and Rider are supposed to be collecting our allies from the battle."
"Ok… I remember where to go." Yukiko pulled back but grabbed ahold of Caster's hand. "Let's go! An adventure should be fun, right?" Yukiko smiled as she walked happily pulling on Caster's hand as the two moved forward.
The two didn't get far before Caster noticed an attack. Yukiko frowned and crated a large wall of ice to block whatever assault came their way so they could continue their little adventure undisturbed.
The wall of ice completely failed as three solid green beams shot through the ice wall like it wasn't even there. None of the attacks hit the duo, but Yukiko frozen in place with fear.
The sanctuary created by her magic had been pierced.
"I saw those guys running away from a little girl… and this is the best she could do huh?" Mugino stated as she approached. "…Though looking from those frozen corpses, maybe it's more of a mismatch situation? I've never really fought anyone who uses ice before… I suppose my Meltdowner is a natural counter."
Two giant claws of ice formed behind Yukiko and shot out towards Mugino. Green orbs formed around the Meltdowner and fired off into four more beams, blasting right through the claws of ice with ease. Yukiko's eyes widened; she had never met someone who could handle her magic so easily before.
"O-O-Onee-s-san…!" Yukiko shook; her eyes wide with fear. If anyone was ever mean to her, she could make them vanish with her power, but not this time.
Her power was useless.
She was vulnerable.
Just like she was when her parents abandoned her in Europe a year ago.
A green beam flew for the young girl, and Yukiko was paralyzed with fear, unsure of what to do. Her eyes widened as the beam approached, but a different kind of blast intercepted the beam.
A magic circle hovered in the air in front of Caster's free hand.
"Don't worry, Yukiko-chan. Let your Onee-san deal with this small little road-bump, ok?" Caster stated. Yukiko seemed to look up at her Servant in awe as she let go of Yukiko's hand and stood in-between her and the Meltdowner.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Mugino asked in a cold tone, one hand on her hip.
"Caster-Class Servant… you do not dress like the magi who oppose this Cabal… how curious." Caster commented.
"Servant huh…? Like that blond brat said…" Mugino replied. "Guess the operation to stop whatever was a failure, huh? Guess it explains why her subordinates are having so much trouble."
"In a sense. Now who are you, little girl?" Caster spoke with a confident smile.
"Not really much point in introducing myself to someone who isn't going to live long enough to care, right?" Mugino replied.
"I suppose not… guess that means I just wasted my time then, wouldn't you agree?" Caster held out her hand and another magic circle appeared, discharging a powerful magic attack. Mugino replied with one of her own Meltdowner beams, matching the attack as they canceled each other out.
This contest continued for quite some time, one not quite able to fully break through the opponent. Semiramis' spells weren't powerful enough to force through Mugino's Meltdowner due to each beam's raw power, while Caster's own magic was still strong enough to hold off Mugino's assault.
They both had tricks up their sleeve, however. Caster had not yet used a single Noble Phantasm, and Mugino had a special object that reacted very uniquely with her ability. It was becoming apparent that they were ill-matched for a direct confrontation, so whoever used their secret would quickly gain the advantage.
And it was Mugino who decided to reveal her trump card as she pulled out a silicon card and tossed it into the air, aiming to use her Meltdowner on the card. The silicon card was special; as instead of being erased by a Meltdowner beam, it would actually absorb and refract the attack, turning a single beam into at least thirty with ease, and do so without reducing the Meltdowner beam's effectiveness. This technique was called Silicon Burn, and it would easily blanket the two opposing her in the blasts that Caster had trouble countering.
However, the technique's usage was stopped with a single beam of light smashed into the silicon card, completely destroying it.
"I hope this isn't an unwelcome intrusion, ladies." Rider called out in the air above Caster and Yukiko. It at first appeared he was standing on thin air, but it was quickly discovered that he was standing on a thin piece of wood that hovered in the sky.
"…Rider, you're supposed to be collecting our allies." Caster commented.
"It is already complete; the only ones remaining are you and your master, Caster." Rider crossed his arms, holding a staff in one hand. "Well… there were the poor fools who found themselves captured prior to my involvement; they have long-since been lost, I'm afraid. But now we must make our way to our gathering place, like we agreed."
"And you expect me to let you pieces of shit get away…!?" Mugino asked.
"Of course not… that's why I have decided that your extermination shall be my next act!" Rider grinned wide as four more pieces of wood suddenly formed randomly around him. Each one shined brightly before unleashing beams of light simultaneously to attack. Mugino fired four Meltdowner beams to match them, with apparent success. But the battle had become a two against one.
"I suppose in this instance, it is to my benefit to support you, Rider." Semiramis spoke in a somewhat disappointed tone as she prepared another set of spells. Rider smirked and the wood that he stood on vanished, allowing Rider to land next to Caster.
"Damn it…!" Mugino cursed as she took a step back. She moved to create more orbs to attack, but to match both of her opponents would be difficult.
So much so in fact that attempting such could easily result in her death.
"Mugino!" Hamazura suddenly shot up from bushes with a set of explosives and tossed them at the two Servants.
"Feh, how pointless. Conventional weaponry-" Rider didn't have a chance to comment as the explosives suddenly went off, but did not explode into bursts of fire and shrapnel.
But instead sets of blinding light, forcing the Servants to cover their eyes.
When the lights died down, the two were gone. The sounds of combat were still quite prevalent all around the mansion, but their opponents vanished without a trace.
"A withdrawal? How amusing… shall I track their life-forces?" Caster asked.
"They very well may realize that you can follow them with magecraft and may attempt to lead us into a trap… besides; we need to withdraw before the remaining magi unsupportive of our cause fall before the Dawn-Colored Sunlight." Rider answered.
"…I suppose you have a fair point. A Servant can take on fifty standard magi with ease… but the numbers of this opposing Cabal are far too great to take lightly…" Caster sighed.
"…Onee-san." Yukiko called out. "Onee-san was so amazing!"
"Oh? And how about me? I saved you and your Servant, after all!" Rider asked. Yukiko only stared at Rider for a time before withdrawing behind Semiramis. Rider clicked his teeth and let out an annoyed sigh as he rubbed his head. "Picky child…"
"She doesn't like you, oh great Ramesses the Second." Caster mocked.
"Quiet woman… I have little patience for your shenanigans right now…" Rider replied.
"Onee-san, let's go!" Yukiko tugged on Semiramis' hand, as the two departed for the rendezvous point once more. Rider watched the two for a moment, before fading into spirit form.
"But still… that girl was more than a little impressive to match my Noble Phantasm… if this is just the opening act, then this Grail War will be interesting indeed…" Rider spoke to himself as he departed, making way back to his master.
-Inside the Mansion-
The fire was growing in intensity now, and it was starting to spill into the ballroom. Victoria was still held at bay by Leivinia Birdway, unable to participate to help her leader. Lazarus however, was holding off four assailants at once.
Emiya Shirou, who constantly attempted to strike him at range.
Kinuhata Saiai, who would ceaselessly attempt to strike him up close and personal.
Kamijou Touma, who would endlessly negate his offensive attacks.
And the Saber-Class Servant, Artoria Pendragon, who proved immune to his offensive spells, yet mysteriously the telekinetic power Lazarus possessed was able to affect her.
The fire was spreading rapidly; if there was still a roof, it would likely have been burning.
"Lazarus!" Victoria called out. "We're running out of time! If this lasts much longer, we will end up captured or worse!"
Lazarus narrowed his eyes as he listened to Victoria's words. He didn't want to admit it, but she was right. If he was fighting any one of them alone, he could win, but all four at once it was only a matter of time before he would be defeated. And moreover, Victoria was in trouble.
She could be killed.
Lazarus couldn't allow that to happen. He raised one hand into the air, and a black orb emitting a dark purple light appeared. It suddenly doubled in size. And then it did it again. And again. And again. It was quickly gaining mass that made it look like the cabal boss looked to completely obliterate everyone, including himself.
But that changed when the orb suddenly divided into hundreds of individual orbs and all shot out in all directions. The orbs exploded violently, and everyone involved had to rapidly move to evade the assault.
Lazarus used this opening to grab a hold of Victoria. The two quickly took to the air during the confusion, and shot off in a random direction. Due to the darkness of the night, tracking them was impossible.
It didn't take much longer before the remaining forces of the Dawn-Colored Sunlight were victorious. The remaining magi where either forced to retreat or were captured, as Leivinia's orders were very specific to take in as many of the Solution to Nothingness members as possible.
It was indeed a victory, although it was such in unexpected ways. But the conflict was far from over.
As all seven masters managed to evade capture.
And so the first night has ended, and everyone has gotten a little taste of our cast of characters so far... what does everyone think?
You'll see some more as time goes on... after all; only four Servants have been summoned so far.
Review at your leisure my friends. Have a good day and thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
ArmoredCoreNineBall, your friendly (not)robotic (not)overlord (possibly)person who occasionally writes things.