I didn't know what the hell had just happened. The moment we ran outside the building, I had been too focused on not dying to the extremely powerful attack falling from the sky at us to notice the battle that had broken out from the stalemate. I saw craters and explosions, never a good sign.

"What the hell!?" I screamed. "Looks like these guys were thristing for a fight, and to think that it's just the first night!"

"That's how it is when everyone wants to pile in." Archer said, stoically. "One thing leads to another, and before long, there's a bloodbath."

No doubt about that. I thought. The salvage crews would have a hell of a time dealing with the park, with the body of a woman and enough blood for two on the ground. At the same time, there was a large crater that was blown in the ground, probably the final resting place of the Assassin that had butchered Clare Arwin, the corpse on the floor. That, in addition to the furrows already dug up by Berserker, who had regained his movement and was rushing towards where Brian and Caster had been standing when I had last seen them. I looked up.

And before me stood two miniature suns, one purple and one blue. The two seemed to move in unison, united in purpose and thought. Immediately I recognized them as Brian and Caster, unleashing the power of their emotions and energized by their vital powers. Without a doubt, I was saved by the rampaging monster to my right attracting their attention, with them turning their ire on the black Berserker.

Grateful for the reprieve we took off back into the street, ready to jump into the fight at an opportune time. Still, I had to wonder what Yagi and Assassin had been thinking to escalate the situation so quickly.

I took up my position just behind a car, in time to watch the fireworks unfold. At least, that was the plan.

"I thought you would be here." A voice said. The voice was deep, cool, familiar, a voice I had heard quite a few times before. I already knew who it was without even having to turn around. Still, though, as a matter of courtesy I did.

I wasn't at all surprised to see the tall man in priest robes behind me.

"Kaname Kouhei." I said, using the Japanese name order. "Fancy meeting you here." I said, perfectly cheerful. Beside me, Archer materialized. Both he and I knew what would happen next, and what this man was.

Clearly, to be standing here in the middle of such a fight without raising an eyebrow, he must be a Master. But I already knew that.

We faced each other down in the street, unmindful of the battle unfolding in the park beside us.

"UWUOOOOH!" An inhuman scream that the letters recorded here are woefully inadequate to describe, let loose from a charging wall of muscle. The Berserker, axe-sword aloft, rushed towards the burning miniature suns that were Brian Thorne and Caster. As if in response, their orbs of magic pulsated, releasing a wave of energy and the accompanying emotion that came with it.

Exterminate.

With that thought, and only that thought, running through the minds of the two magical suns, the battle lines were drawn. Taking up his position on the defence, Brian raised his hatchet and a shield of prana before him. Behind him, Caster began to chant, her lips moving too fast to read as her ranks in High-Speed Divine Words showed their worth.

Berserker roared again, smashing the axe-sword into the ground to create a screen of dirt, shot up by the force of the blow, plus a huge burst of wind created by the fast movement of a large object. His instinctive knowledge of battle told him that to screen his advance could help him seize the advantage against his foe.

And of course, true to his class, he charged forward like a tank propelled by rocket engines. The way he was charging straight into what would be a magical fusillade prompted one to think of a poem.

Into the valley of Death

Rode the Six Hundred.

While this was all going on, I stood my ground against the one Master who already knew me, the only one who knew what I was capable of and of how I thought. Information like that was vital in a war such as this, which was a personal affair between seven magi.

This time though it was eight. And this man, from the Holy Church, was here to make sure that there were no anomalies.

"We've worked together before." Kaname said. "I offer you a deal."

"I'm already getting paid more than I can imagine for this." I reply. "With the reward I've been promised, no matter how much I spend I'll never be able to use it all. I'm a bounty hunter who's made his living; what else could I possibly want?"

He grinned slightly and spread his arms. "I offer you salvation, my friend." I tilted my head. Was this guy going insane? Was he kidding?

He wasn't. He continued, with utmost seriousness. "I ran a background check on you after the last time we met. Your Origin has broken you." He said. His face was entirely serious, looking me straight in the eye. Somewhere in my body I felt a twinge of uneasiness, but I didn't let it show. I was sure that Archer could feel it too, and I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. If he realized that my attitude had changed he didn't show it, still looking out for the enemy. He had stopped, probably to let me respond.

The situation was as follows. I could not see Kaname's Lancer anywhere, and from the mind link I had with Archer, I knew that he had not seen Lancer either. One thing I had noticed about Kaname, even when we had worked together, was that he would not allow things to interrupt his talking, or when he was doing something. He was often focused on singular aspects of the mission and seeing them through to completion. I could use that.

"Manila, right?" I asked. "I still have the tan from when we were hunting the Dead over there." He ignored my little aside, instead continuing on his spiel.

"Yes, that's the place." He said. "Yagi had a feeling about you; she's sharp about things like this. She told me that you were going to throw yourself away one of these days, if the reward was big enough. I'm not surprised to see you here."

"I'm flattered that you think of me, but let's skip this and head straight to the deal." I said. "In case you haven't noticed, there's a fight going on beside us."

A fight that was rapidly reaching its conclusion.

Nine lives.

That was how many the Berserker had lost to the combined magical powers of Caster and her Master. Charging through the fusillade of beams and missiles created by Caster, who was deftly shielded by the movements of her prana-enhanced Master. Although he was not powerful enough to defeat Berserker on his own, the damage his attacks inflicted still hurt, even after Berserker's damage-nullifying God's Hand had been taken into account. He was moving swiftly, dodging between Berserker's attacks and forcing him to slow down to avoid losing lives to hatchet strikes.

Finally, though, even with all the delaying tactics arrayed against him, the Berserker had reached the magical artillery battery that was Caster.

She herself was mystified. Although with the raw power she was putting out she had far exceeded normal, her opponent was actually being less and less affected by their combined attacks.

The answer lay in the nature of Berserker's Noble Phantasm, the "Twelve Labors". The ability not only gives him inhuman durability and effectively having twelve "lives", he also gains a resistance to whatever was used to kill him.

Having had Caster's magic used to kill him over and over again, it was a miracle that she had even brought him down to three lives. It was not a question of power, because the Command Spells guaranteed that power was not a limiting factor. It was the resistance that Berserker had built up that was preventing her from doing more damage, bringing her effective power below the threshold that God's Hand protected from.

Directly, she could do no more. She realized that now.

But it was too late to save her from the gigantic axe-sword. The heavy weapon was already slicing through the air, with the force of a tree being picked up and swung like a toy sword. There was no escape. It would take a miracle to claim victory now.

"EX-"

Caster prepared for the worst. There would be no escape, no salvation.

"CALIBUUR!"

In a moment a blue meteor holding a bar of bright, golden light rushed into the space between the axe-sword and the hovering ball of magic. Swinging the bar of light, it exploded with the force of a nuclear bomb, blowing away Berserker with the force.

Without a bit of expression Griselda V raised her left hand. She had given one command.

"Defend." She could see that Saber's Master had also arrived in this location.

Just as planned. She could already hear the whooshing sound from above, the sound that meant an almost certain victory.

And then weapons rained down from the sky.

Up in his throne on the golden ship that he had commandeered, Archer stood, watching the results of his attacks. The smoke thrown up was incredible, almost obscuring the pillar of light that was the result of Excalibur. He frowned, as if thinking on something.

"My king…" Hayden begun, but Archer cut him off.

"Quiet. I will show them the glory of the king."

The golden ship began a carefully controlled dive.

"Here's the deal." Kaname said. "You will not use your Origin of Repetition to win. Whatever happens, you will not do what you did with the Dead. In return, I assure you of your salvation."

I just stood there. I didn't say anything, even as the shape with the bar of light in its hands rushed forward, and even as the bombardment of weapons blasted the park into a crater. Neither of us took notice of the fighters who could take no notice of us.

"You're crazy." I said. "Have you seen this war?" I asked him. "There is no way that I won't exhaust every option to win, especially with the kind of money I'll be getting after this." I yelled, almost laughing at how preposterous his idea was. "You're gonna tell me to fight a war without magecraft?"

"That's not it." He said. "What I don't want you to do is what you did then." He said. I immediately understood what he meant.

After all, if anyone knew about it, it would have been bad enough to merit a Sealing Designation.

Even though it had been the only way at the time. Without that, I, Kaname, and Yagi would have been dead long before now.

And the city we were in would have, most likely, ended up a vampire town. Probably along with half the world's population to go with it.