Author's Note: posted the stats of another servant, at the end of this chapter.

***Story Begins Here***

"Sorry Nozumu, I'll run your night shifts some other time."

Ervin's mind was made up. Maybe Archer was right; maybe the monument ship never contained the memory of anyone on the Throne of Heroes. But even if the ship became some master's meaningless sacrifice, it was a chance for Ervin to study another opponent, and he felt it unwise to let the chance slip by. The kilometre-wide blackness across the river felt like the source of the pervasive darkness that tainted the evening streets, and Ervin wanted a chance to observe this magic up close. It might be dangerous, but he told himself that his war cannot be won by cowering from every ominous apparition he sees.

Nozumu Kokutou only gave a silent nod as his goodbye when Ervin went out into the streets. The streetlamps in these inner city districts should have been ample, but tonight it seemed as though their light failed to pierce even the shallowest of corners. It was as if the evening air's permeability to light has visibly dropped; but the abnormality had an elusive feel, for Ervin's normal sharpness of vision somehow wasn't impaired. The darkened city streets hasn't completely emptied yet; there was still plenty of time for the common folks still wandering about to go home before the first wave of nightly gangs hit, and knowing this those civilians took leisurely strolls. The lack of solitude has dampened Ervin's paranoid awareness, but he did not miss the unfittingly placid looks on their faces as he made his way towards Tower Bridge. No one seemed to notice that the world was unusually dim, even for the evening. Was he the only one aware, or was he the only one in the dark? He took a good look down the length of Tower Bridge before crossing it, to be as sure as he could that there were no ambushers waiting for him. He walked across while keeping his eyes southwest towards the patch of black where a district should be, and gripped his pistol to steady his shaking nerves as he continued on.

He did not catch on for a while, but when he decided to take in his surroundings again he saw that there were no more common folks in sight. Ervin was alone now, and the blackened zone should just be a block ahead. He peered down the westward street that led towards the Belfast, and sure enough an unclear blackness some distance ahead capped his visibility to a dead stop.

Ervin gathered his courage, and headed for the opaque wall.

***Scene Break***

I may be a spirit, but I have a body in the here and now, and that body ached and complained when I got up from the ground. First there was the sore neck from sleeping without a proper headrest, and then there was the numb arm for supporting the weight of my head and losing circulation. You'd think that being a powerful servant, I'd be exempt from these mundane penalties, but by the Root, it was not to be.

Not that I mind, though. For these small assailing discomforts fleshed out the illusion of being alive. For the length of this war, for most intents and purposes, I could be considered a powerful mortal, and nothing more. I even had choices to make, complete with illusions of responsibility to push me onward. It wasn't bad at all, since I'm of the type who often welcomed such things with open arms.

Even though I felt meditative, I spent barely a second on these thoughts. My master have gone out and failed to return, leaving me with only a note of his rough whereabouts. It was imperative that I return to Ervin's side at once to ensure the boy's safety, for he was far too green to stand a chance against anything remotely extraordinary in these evening streets. I left for the tea shop at once. With no key on hand I simply dematerialized through the closed door, and quickly went on my way.

Of course, dematerializing was for the most part a 'spirit thing.' And so it remained the truth that my mortal life has long ceased to be. The promises of what it held in store for me has long been reaped clean, and meaning has since died with it. All that I had now were extensions of my singular purpose as a guardian spirit, repeatedly sold to magi by the Root as weapons of war. My history and my past can only be correctly thought of as a part of the bundled properties of a summoned familiar. Fond memories increased my resolve when they were recalled, and qualms impeded my focus when they surfaced. As such, battle is all that I am.

These meditative self-reminders have become routine for me, and it was my way to sharpen my focus. I reinforced my body with improved strength and decreased mass as I vaulted and glided silently over the desolate slum neighbourhoods, paying no attention to pockets of wanton gang violence now that my master wasn't here. I reinforced my eyes for sharper night vision as I neared the Tower Bridge, having felt that my master's presence was for better or worse nearby. I saw him then, recklessly making his way towards The Belfast in nearly complete darkness, not even pausing to look to the side. I dived in quickly to join up with him, before he could completely disappear under the fog.

***Scene Break***

Ervin made his way towards the darkness. Somehow it was farther away than it seemed, for the pitch black nothing still seemed to be two blocks away. But the world was really dark now, with streetlights looking like hung candles. He was thinking how he must be getting close, when a slick figure fell from the sky. Ervin tensed and drew his gun, before realizing that it was Archer.

"Master." Archer's voice was one of simple acknowledgement with no undertones, a testament to his combat professionalism when pressing matters were at hand. He was here to protect Ervin, and would follow orders without question and offer opinions only when asked. "Sorry for the leave." Ervin apologized outright. "I volunteered us for jobs at the tea shop. I'll fill you in on everything later."

Archer ignored the chitchat and continued to observe the surroundings. The swordsman was all business as he asked his pertinent questions. "What are you orders now, master? Shall we head to the Belfast?"

"Yes, we shall." Ervin took the hint from the servant and refocused himself. "We also have to approach the black zone up ahead for a closer look."

"Do you not realize you've already gone inside it?" Archer's words chilled Ervin slightly. But of course, he realized, that was why complete darkness always seemed to be at some distance. The blackness that swallows this district at night acted like some kind of fog, and did not have clear boundaries. In chasing the shadow's illusory edge, Ervin has gone deeper and deeper into its domain. Still, he intended to enter the darkness anyway, so Ervin steeled himself and moved on, staying close to his servant's side as they made their way towards the historical museum ship.

They stayed wary of every small fork and alley along their path, with Archer probing each street corner for ambushes before moving on. Ervin's suspense continued to build as cover after cover turned up empty, and when he felt that he has kicked something soft beneath his feet, he nearly jumped and cried out. Sure enough, he has stumbled upon a beaten corpse, whose features have been obscured by the smothering darkness. Ervin had no heart to find out just how mangled the body was, and instead tried to keep his focus on the task at hand. He followed his servant forward, and resisted the urge to stop and look down at every step. When they finally reached the battleship moored on the bank, Ervin was expecting to finally see face-to-face with whoever was upkeeping the bounded magic zone. But in the coalescing darkness Ervin was having trouble seeing past his own nose. Archer has become his only lifeline, who led Ervin on with his reinforced night vision.

"I'm blind over here, mate." Ervin told his servant quietly. "Do you see anything?"

"No, but I think I heard some sound coming from inside the ship. I believe the vessel is not empty."

Ervin drew a deep breath as he strained his eyes at the ominous outline of the century-old battleship. Whoever the master inside the ship was, he or she has chosen the interiors of the ship itself as the battle arena. Taking the fight to the opponent now meant walking into a maze that could feature the inevitable ambush inside any cabin, under any table or bed, and on any level of the deck. Ervin wondered if there was a point in playing the enemy's game at all, because Archer might be strong enough to simply sink the entire ship and smoke the hidden master onto the bank. Not completely sure what to do, Ervin turned to his servant for guidance. "What do you suggest, Archer? Do we explore the ship, or sink it?"

"I could sink it." Archer hinted his own preference clearly. "I doubt this particular monument bears any connection to the Grail, so there would be no consequence in sinking it beyond drawing out whatever that's hiding inside. However, we can't be sure about who is actually within. Rather than a mage or a servant, it might be someone completely unrelated. While I have no problems with that, you might."

"You're right. I wouldn't want that. Let's take a look inside." Ervin already began walking down the ramping steel walkway that led from the bank to the ship's top deck. Archer followed closely behind, stepping onto the large ship right after Ervin, whose boots tapped the deck noisily as soon as he left the walkway carpet. Ervin froze after realizing his own blunder, but Archer signalled him to keep moving. Silently now, they moved along the starboard side and came to their first door. Ervin gave the sliding door a slow sideways tug, but it did not give.

"It's locked." Ervin whispered. "Should we break it open?"

"That would likely trigger an alarm." Archer was prudent but did not shy away from the use of force. "It would alert anyone hiding on board of our intentions, but it might also draw them out into the open."

Ervin pondered for a full minute before deciding what to do. "We'll save the lock breaking for later. Let's first scout as much of the ship as possible without setting anything off." The servant dutifully complied and led the way around to the port side through the stern. He suddenly stopped at the side of the decked forecabin, causing Ervin to crash into him. When Archer held out a hand to signal Ervin to not continue forward, the young master guessed that opponents have been spotted ahead. His servant's lanky frame obscured his forward vision, so he moved his head to the side and tried to look ahead. The unnatural darkness made a chore out of every gaze he threw beyond a metre away, so he opened his mouth to quietly ask the servant what lay ahead.

"Ar-" But as soon as Ervin made the first sound, Archer raised his hand in a curt gesture to signal for absolute silence. Ervin was left in the dark in more ways than one, but he read the seriousness in his servant's posture. Understanding that he was not to make any noise, Ervin strained his eyes through the fog in an attempt to make out what was happening. Archer gestured left towards the cabin wall, and Ervin's inadequate vision followed his servant's hand. After some squinting and a bit of guesswork and imagination, Ervin realized that there was a man-sized hole neatly torn in the cabin's side. Presumably an enemy hiding inside the cabin would be able to detect and ambush hapless trespassers who wandered too close to the opening, and it seemed that Archer has halted just before the angle at which such things could occur. The lanky swordsman turned to Ervin now, waiting for him to understand the situation and a give fitting order. The subtleties of Archer's mimed inquisitive expressions were lost in the dark, but Ervin understood that he now had to decide his course of action again. They couldn't risk conversing lest an enemy overhears, so even with Archer was right by his side Ervin was more or less on his own in deciding what to do next.

Ervin pointed to Archer, did a shielding motion, and pointed towards the doorway-sized hole ripped in the metal cabin walls. He meant to ask the servant to go in and assume a defensive stance, although when Archer went right on ahead Ervin did not know how much of what he tried to say went through. He followed the servant through the hole into the decked forecabin that lead up to the bridge. Ervin was about to make a hopeless attempt to probe the pitch blackness around him when his world exploded in a searing brightness. The sudden onset of light was such a violent departure from the lightless world a second ago, that as Ervin's eyelids squeezed shut he thought that his eyes were bleeding. Light continued to shine through his closed eyelids as his facial muscles reactively tried to squint even more. Ervin was stunned, and a push from a strong arm sent him crashing to the floor. Desperately, he tried to force his eyes open to see what was happening.

"Trace, on!" Archer's Rho Aias has already blocked the first of the enemy's attacks. Like his master, he too was blinded briefly by the switched lights, but the veteran instinctively projected his shield for a block that required no sight or precision. Simultaneously the servant traced a pair of steel-framed sunglasses and threw them at Ervin. The blinded blonde was too stunned to recognize the tool through his rapidly opening and closing eyes, so Archer had to use words to snap him to his senses.

"Master! Wear those glasses and assume your stance!"

The words went through to Ervin's baffled instincts. He did as he was told, and not a moment too soon. The familiar command of "Berserker, kill the master" rang from the stairway leading up to the bridge, as the robotic beauty suddenly disregarded Archer completely and shot straight for Ervin. Ervin's vision still swam after his put his glasses on, his eyelids cowering before the lights in the room, but he saw berserker's approach. Archer was still reining in his body's momentum after the vicious girl ignored his direct hit, and the position of their bodies gave berserker a tiny head start. The time scale of her approach was in tenths of seconds, but with a two-week crash course under his belt, Ervin was just quick enough to react. He rolled to the side, and by luck Berserker's deadly slash went in a direction that failed to kill him in light of his movements. Ervin did not waste energy in repressing his painful howl as a bladed fist scored a deep gash between his shoulders, just below the back of his neck. Adrenaline, panic, pain, and his gradually contracting emerald pupils added a little extra to his awareness, and he managed to fully dodge Berserker's delayed follow-up as he returned to Archer's side, keeping the orange-haired servant between the girl and himself. Ervin drew his gun, but recalled from their previous encounter that she seemed rather impervious to missile attacks. The thought of targeting her master crossed his mind quickly, but he stamped it out, in light of his promise to minimize the war's casualties. He was about to wonder whether it was possible to spare the fair Berserker as well, but he was clear-headed enough to put a clamp on his naive fancies. At the very least, if he had to survive, then he had to hurt her and incapacitate her. To do that, he needed a weapon. Unlike his enemy, Ervin vowed to take responsibility for his own war, so he could not let his own servant fight alone.

"Archer. Give me a sword." A week ago Archer has pinpointed Ervin's need for a more suitable weapon. Now with his own sword left behind, it seemed the perfect occasion for the servant to produce such a weapon on demand. Meanwhile Berserker redoubled her relentless assault, keeping Archer busy as she sought a way to burst through the orange-haired servant's defence and get at Ervin. Ervin himself has taken out his mage pistol, and fired his ineffective shots that did little to slow down the blade-fisted fury.

Then, without warning, Berserker's master made his move. He began a silent incantation that only became obvious after Ervin felt his prana being slowly leeched out from him. "Archer!" Ervin asked a second time as his servant continued to cross blades with Berserker. Archer drew back slightly, and complied to the implicit order. Even though he felt it clear that Ervin would not contribute much and will end up endangering himself, an order was an order. In the seconds-long pause before Berserker closed in the distance he put out, Archer made the best of his order and readied a weapon that he thought would best fit Ervin's fighting style. It was doubtful that Ervin could make full use of what he prepared; but the master wanted the best weapon for his style, and Archer would not disappoint him.

"Trace...on."

Ervin almost spaced out in shock when Archer projected Saber's runic dark blade, Nightmare. A dull, disgruntled hum buzzed about the runic weapon, and as Archer held it the lifeless noise seemed to growl with dissatisfaction. Ervin was slightly taken aback by the sword for a myriad of reasons; but as Archer turned back to hold Berserker at bay, and as the pressure from the other master's prana drain continued to mount, Ervin knew that he had to grab the sword and hold his own. He himself has asked for this strategy, and Archer has obediently accommodated him. He was surprised and thrilled that he would get to use such a seemingly powerful artefact, as he has seen first hand what it could accomplish. Without further doubt, he took the grumbling weapon in his hands. Unexpectedly, the noises it made ceased completely.

The sword was heavy but wieldable, and Ervin felt a great deal of power sitting in his hands. Even as he took his first step Ervin saw that Archer has chosen his weapon well. The length and weight of the weapon were perfectly fitted to his size, strength, and posture. Wasting no more time, he charged the channelling master who threatened to leech mana from the combatants. He mentally caught himself midway, and remembered that he was not supposed to kill other masters. Suddenly unsure of what to do with his weapon, he clumsily swung the runeblade on its flat side, making a blunting attack at the other master's midsection. The prana drainer saw him coming, and moved smoothly out of the way.

"Not good enough." The opposing master's voice was low, but hinted the instability of a psychopath. It was hard to tell whether the he understood Ervin's dilemma, but he did take full advantage of Ervin's reservation. He made little effort to dodge subsequent attacks, and even closed his eyes without moving when Ervin thrust the runeblade at his face. Ervin held back at the last second, not realizing that the opposing mage was actually casting rather than giving in. While Ervin was thrown off, the drainer opened his eyes and raised his hands above his shoulders, slowly clenching them into claws. As he did so Ervin felt a sudden sap, as though energy was leaking out of every joint in his body. Ervin nearly dropped his heavy sword as the forces that kept his arms raised escaped from his elbows; then a vicious kick sent Ervin to the crashing back down the stairs. His training as a fighter-type mage, plus the two week's worth of lessons from Archer, was enough for Ervin to adjust his downward tumble so that he didn't land headfirst or break his neck; but his entire frame took a beating from the fall, marked by sprains, scrapes and bruises. The sunglasses fell off his face, but fortunately his eyes have become accustomed to the light.

Archer leapt backwards to where Ervin lay, to guard him from both the opposing master and the opposing servant. Even as the red-cloaked servant glided through the air, Ervin heard an incantation from him that has never been recited before.

"I am the bone of my sword."

Ervin has never seen Archer project and fire his bow and sword so fast, that the entire motion was done before his feet even touched back down. As Caladbolg II, his projected drill-shaped sword, whipped through the air and impacted Berserker with an explosion, Ervin felt the heat of ignited prana radiating out of Archer's bow-hand sleeve. Before Ervin could re-orient himself and restrain his servant, Archer traced a handful of simple arrows and fired them at the opposing master. Even then, Berserker dashed out from the clearing smoke surrounding her and blocked the missiles for her master. As Ervin re-focused himself he realized that not all the missiles were glancing off her embellished armour, but rather on a bubble of invisible energy in the air around her. Nevertheless, Archer's broken phantasm attack has at least penetrated her shield with shrapnel, as her armour was clearly ripped at places and the revealed flesh wounds bled a great deal.

"Heh." Berserker's shaken master let out a light, deranged chuckle. "Berserker has the perfect answer to both your dark bounded zone and your ranged attacks. Isn't she wonderful?" His vision bounced back and fourth between Ervin, Archer, and Berserker as he continued to speak. "Come, then. We'll face you together, Berserker and I."

"Wait, hold on!" Ervin wanted to avoid a team melee where a master could get killed, and he saw a chance to at least put off the confrontation. "We're not responsible for the darkness covering this district. We're just here to investigate it, because it looks dangerous and troubling. Both you and I and within the influence of this looming thing that we don't understand, this isn't the time for us to fight each other!"

Berserker's master dismissed Ervin's offer with a wave of his hand. "Naive fool. The Holy Grail frowns upon alliances, however temporary." He gestured at his servant with a hand, and the thin, armoured woman stepped forward with a noisy, savage exhalation, ready to fight once again.

Archer made a barely audible grunt from the side, and brandished his twin swords. But Ervin restrained him with a light nudge of the arm and a slight shake of the head. Turning to the opposing master, Ervin made one last attempt to avoid being forced to go for his throat. "Listen, mate. Whatever's casting that shadow out there has got to be stronger that we are. If we weaken each other here, neither one of us will stand a chance in making it out of this fog."

"You have no idea what you are talking about." The red-haired master retorted coldly. "Berserker is perfectly equipped to handle both you and whatever thing that's making the shadow outside. Did you not realize that a projected weapon that would have killed an average servant at range barely managed to scratch her? This ability to negate ranged attacks is the 'Shroud of Broken Will,' the first of her Noble Phantasms. Thus my servant can only be fought up close, where you cannot possibly rival her strength or speed."

"And the second Noble Phantasm makes her stronger the longer she stays in combat." Archer cut in from the side, exposing the red-haired master's ploy. "That's is why you are talking now to stall for time."

"Hahahahahaha..." Berserker's master burst into a unstable laugh. "Precisely! Whenever she fights, her second Noble Phantasm, the 'Aten Sun Disc,' begins to take shape high above the battlefield. When fully formed, it burns like a miniature sun, its rays lending her incalculable power. Take a look at the light in this large room. Did you not notice that it does not come from any lamp? Let me tell that, even though you could bear the wrath of Berserker a minute ago, that feat is already beyond you now..." He caught himself mid-sentence before letting out another mad chuckle. "What, are you STILL WAITING?"

Ervin has become a bit nervous. He was wondering the same thing - if Archer saw through that master's scheme, why didn't he strike while he could? Ervin cringed at the thought that Archer was simply following his own misguided orders to hold back. Ervin made his best attempt to salvage the situation now: switch to aggressive and prepare an attack.

"You underestimate Archer." Ervin challenged his rival. "He will still make short work of you both!" As Ervin put fourth his bluff, he turned to look at Archer. To his surprise, the servant did not even trace his weapon, but put one hand on his waist and stretched his other hand downwards and to the side, in one of his typical lecture positions. "This room is getting dimmer by the minute." Archer remarked with a hint of mockery. "Is this how her power-up is supposed to be like?"

"What? You..." The red-haired master began to call on Archer's bluff, but then hung up mid-sentence.

"You could wait some more if you wish." Archer smiled wryly. "I don't want to hear defeated opponents complain that they haven't been given a fair chance."

"How...?" The young madman stared blankly ahead and muttered in disbelief.

It was now Archer's turn to give explanations, mostly to spray salt on the opponent's wound. "Even if the energy of her eventual state is enormous, her power-up can still have a slow start. In the presence of a darkness that is constantly absorbing the light from her Noble Phantasm, her technique will never get off the ground."

"ENOUGH! BERSERKER! KILL THEM ALL!" The redhead must have felt foolish, a fact which redoubled his rage. At his command Berserker lunged forward, and Archer traced swords to match her. Despite her special abilities being stifled, her speed and strength was still more than a match for Archer, and they traded minor wounds on each other over the course of a few minutes. Ervin watched from the sidelines, and kept himself outside the range of the other master's prana leeching. Even he noticed now that the light in the room was growing dim, and darkness was slowly eating into it. He felt that he had to put a stop to the fight at hand, and focus on the encroaching shadows. "Hey!" He called out to the room in loud enough of a shout to make the other master pause. "The shadow's onto us. We should save this fight for another time!" As if to reinforce the pressure of Ervin's offer, Archer scored a long gash along the waist of the weakened Berserker.

"Berserker, fall back." After a second of weighing the odds, the other master finally caved in. The thin woman skilfully back stepped towards her master without the use of any decoy moves, instead relying solely on the impact of clashing weapons to propel her body backwards. Archer allowed her to gain distance, and as both servants returned to their masters, the light in the room was completely snuffed out.

"Let's all get out here." Ervin declared, taking point ahead and moving out of the spacious cabin out onto the deck. He was nearly blind now and would have preferred the guidance of his servant's reinforced sight, but he decided to let Archer walk behind him to keep the other pair escapees in check, lest they decide for a backstab. They made their way off the ship and back onto the darkened south bank, paying no attention now to the loud clanking of their boots. When they reached the walkway that ran east-west along the bank, Berserker's master called them to a stop.

"It's better if we split up here. We won't have to worry about keeping each other in check."

"As you like." Ervin shrugged. He would have wanted the same thing himself, seeing how volatile and dangerous the other master was. But as Berserker and her master headed east, Ervin felt an urge to extend a token courtesy.

"My name's Ervin Cambrian. Guess I'll be seeing you some other time."

"Cambrian…?"

The redhead turned around briefly, perhaps weighing whether he should bother with an appropriate reply. Ervin had no idea how the cogs in that young man's head turned about; but for whatever reason, he did decide to give Ervin a fair exchange.

"Jacob Bathory." He left his name with a nod, before turning around and disappearing into the darkness.

***Scene Break***

Ervin followed Archer's acute vision in the near complete darkness. After tripping over several tossed bodies beneath his feet only to have more corpses break his falls, Ervin's mind swam with extrapolated images of what the streets beneath his feet would look like should they see the light of day, and his urge to vomit was purely held in check by his horror and fear. As he went on, moving away from the centre of the dark zone, the black fog faded and gave way to a regular midnight sky. Ervin feared that he would see a sea of carnage on the pavement beneath his feet, but to his relief the streets in front of him seemed quite clear. For better or worse though, he fought back the urge to look at what he has left behind.

The Chamber Orchestra building was up ahead. Ervin remembered all too well what has happened the night before. Rider was doubtlessly perched on the building's top, sniping down on unsuspecting victims. Any closer and Rider would no doubt sense their presence. Ervin would then have to face the howling arrows once again, that threaten to slay him even before he steps on the bridge.

"Archer. Should we confront Rider and cross the bridge?"

"We could take a detour via the Tower Bridge. But that means going back into the dark zone and possibly meeting Berserker again."

"Forget that." Ervin's mind was now made up. He's spent what felt like an eternity under that fog, with the streets inside dotted with bodies. Rather than gathering the stomach to turn back, it felt much easier to gather the guts to charge forward.

They were hiding behind the Old London Knee Clinic building now, out of sight at a mere three hundred meters away from Rider's vantage point. Once they broke cover, they only had the option of direct assault. Ervin knew full well that he himself would the weak link once their assault began. Rider would focus all his attacks on Ervin, and he would have no choice but to bear the ancient horse archer's hail of fury. Standing beside him against the wall, Archer appeared relaxed, and only his expressionless face showed his utter focus and readiness. He was ready to do whatever Ervin asks without question, unless he asked for advice.

Ervin did not. With the shadows behind his back and a deadly enemy ahead of him, Ervin forced himself to decisive action to put a lid on his own apprehension. He had the option of sitting back in cover and let Archer take the brunt of the hits in a forced assault, but Ervin did not want to tax Archer's energy reserves by exposing him to too much harm. Furthermore, should Rider's master be lurking nearby, the noble would surely flank his own position. Either way he would be stuck in combat, and Ervin was determined to make the best of it.

"Archer." Ervin issued his orders. "I will break cover first, and make for the building on the side of the street. Once Rider fires his first volley, you'll break cover and charge him while he is reloading."

"Master." Archer did not object to his master, but still felt obliged to make Ervin aware of some key tactical facts. "It is twenty metres to the other side, and it will take you fifteen seconds to cross over. Assuming he takes no more than three seconds to reload a volley, you will face five rounds of attacks, which will push your reaction and avoidance to their limit. At your current level of training, your agility is inadequate for such a feat."

"That's quite alright, mate. You'll put him down before his second volley comes off cool down."

Archer lingered for half a moment before understanding Ervin's gambit. Then he dismissed his favoured swords, decreasing his weight as his empty hands prepared much more potent projections at their fingertips. Fully concentrated now on the task ahead of him, Archer did not even waste energy to nod. A simple "understood" was all that he needed to say.

Ervin took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. He ran his dextral fingers over the back of his left hand, rubbing over the Grail's engravings of the Griffin, Shield, and Unicorn - three accursed marks placed by the Grail upon him to signify his rank of master. Those were his three command seals, each one allowing the master to make an absolute demand of his servant, and granting them a temporary boost in power to contribute in meeting that demand. Pressured by his anxiety against the dark phenomena around him, and driven by the touch of malevolence that lingered from the shadows, Ervin decided on instinct to break off from his scouting-focused doctrine and eliminate a dangerous opponent here and now in a direct fight.

Bursting from cover, Ervin bolted towards the other side of the street. The howling of arrows was upon him at once; Ervin did not have the skill to track any missile in the volley, so he instead dropped to and hugged the ground, rolled a few times, and rose up again with a blind parry. His nose was throbbing from rolling his face on the pavement, but a greater pain kicked in from the arrow lodged between his ribs. Despite the shock from his wound, his green-handed assault plan was irreversibly set in motion, and the adrenalin from knowing thus kept him going for a bit longer. His awareness was too shot to be clearly aware that Archer has begun to move, but he had queued up his own actions ahead of time to compensate. Calling out in a clear voice with unflinching directive, he issued an absolute order.

"Archer, NOW! Close in and finish Rider!"

"Juuchi Yosamu!" Even before Archer's weapon fully materialized in his now-burning-red left hand, he rocketed towards the roof of the tall building ahead of him. Ervin could not catch the shape of Archer's absurdly long katana even as it left a screeching trail of demonic fire through the air. A blood-caked explosion took out the roof of the building Rider was standing on, doubtlessly obliterating the horse archer who has long lost the ability to defend himself up close with his lance. It was then that Ervin realized to his dismay that he has vastly underestimated Rider's reload rate, for the doomed servant was able to fire one last volley even as Archer approached. As the thick wave of arrows arrived, Ervin resorted to an insane option on the spot. Up until now the replicated runeblade Nightmare sat quietly in his hand, making neither hiss nor glow, so that Ervin has almost forgotten it. Suddenly now his survival instincts flocked to his hand, and Ervin felt that since he could not dodge all the arrows in his sluggish state, his best chance lay in the sword. Channelling prana through the rune weapon, he swung it forward in full force as he would any other sword. He hoped that there was no hidden way or extra procedure to activate Nightmare's special attack, for he was counting on its barrelling energy wave to shatter the incoming arrows.

"NIGHTMARE!" Ervin called out to his sword as he felt the massive sword gorging on his prana at the hilt and discharging it at its tip. The weapon's appetite nearly emptied him, and as he was left winded his head briefly ached and swam. He could barely make sense of the ponderous cone of violet ripples that departed from him; the only indicator of success that he understood was the fact that the arrows that would have pierced him never fell down. Ervin fell to his knees, as he was for a minute too weak to even support his own weight. But that wouldn't be a problem, he thought, for Archer would soon return to his side, and escort him to safety. Ervin has just eliminated his first enemy servant, and he felt one step close to his goal. But still he reminded himself that the victory has come at a cost. His two resources in this war were Archer's energy reserves and his command seals, both of which were becoming depleted. As he thought it all through, Ervin took a reflective look at the back of his left hand.

There was no command seals left.

Disbelief, shock, panic - reactive sentiments bounced around in Ervin's mind. He'd reject what he saw, but where would he go looking for the missing seals?

No matter. Ervin tried to steady himself as he stood back up. When Archer returns, he'll surely have an explanation.

But Archer did not return. What instead broke the silence behind him was a young woman's voice, the last voice Ervin expected to hear in this place and time.

"It's over, Ervin. Go home."

Fighting back the pain in his side, Ervin clutched his sword and spun around at a familiar figure. She was fully clad in her combat-mage armour, covered head-to-toe in her orange-trimmed crimson battle plate. She only wore this full dress-up for the most dangerous of errands, so there was no doubt that she meant business.

"Elise...!" As Ervin made an effort to pull himself together, he took note of the shady figure standing beside his sister. He was dressed in a clearly anachronistic fashion, perhaps that of a monk from many centuries ago. Ervin guessed at first that he must be a mage from the association, possibly Elise's paymaster. But at a closer look the stranger appeared rather subservient, which threw off Ervin's assumptions. His mind swam with several threads of thoughts. He wondered when Archer would show up. He wondered what Elise was doing here. He wondered about the shadowy stranger standing beside her. But despite all that, beyond all his doubts, he was at least glad that Elise was here, and that he was in good hands.

"What's going on?" Ervin looked to Elise for an explanation. "What are you doing here? It's dangerous."

"Your part in this war is over, Ervin. Go home." The fiery-clad combat mage repeated herself sternly, showing an unusual lack of her regular sweetness and warmth. "Your servant is gone, and you are no longer a master."

"No, no..." Ervin gave a knee-jerk reply as he caught on that Elise spoke as though she knew full well about the Grail War. Ervin saw the most likely implication, and fell silent. He did not try to voice the sum of his mixed feelings; he could not even nod, shake his head, or walk away. For the moment his plate was full from simply trying to cope with the brute facts that lay before him. Even as a lump formed in Ervin's throat, Elise confirmed all his guesses, plus change.

"Your Archer is gone, Ervin. Caster and I saw to that."

Ervin did not care for asking "how." What he wanted to ask was "why," but he briefly doubted whether there was a point in asking even that. Again he recalled the words that overshadowed his life since he was a young boy - 'a kin they never meet, is a kin they'll never hurt.' If the Root truly placed such a wyrd on his bloodline, should he be surprised then, that fate has pitted him against his loving sister here and now? But despite all the logic, Ervin was compelled in the end to ask anyway. Elise has just admitted to having somehow stabbed his servant in the back, and it felt as though the perfect trust Ervin has built with his sister over the years now took an irrecoverable blemish.

"Why, Elise?" Ervin squeezed the undertone-filled question out of his tight throat. His wounded ribs complained painfully as he spoke, and the resulting weariness took away from his patience for the sister he has loved so much.

At first she evaded the question. "Caster's ability lies in influencing the future. You've stayed within his technique long enough for him to briefly alter your mindset, causing you to inadvertently spend three command seals for a single order-"

"But WHY, Elise?" Ervin's tone became hot. "What are you fighting me for?"

Elise's normally-kind voice sounded almost frighteningly firm, leaving no doubt that she was dead set on whatever course she was taking. "I found a way to save our family, Ervin. When I was assigned the errand to win the Grail, the Association promised to reward me with access to their libraries, so that I can make quicker headway with my research."

"Your research?" Ervin had no idea what Elise was talking about. Wasn't she just an errand girl, sent by the Association around the world to escort convoys and dig artefacts? Although upset at having been left in the dark, Ervin still wanted to believe that whatever Elise may have hid from him, her intents were not originally malevolent. In fact, from the context of her words, Ervin had a good hunch on just exactly what kind of research she has been delving into.

"You have been trying to manipulate destiny." After the words left his mouth, Ervin could feel the sense of regretful apology permeating his sister's acquiescence. He felt sick in stomach. Sure, he has always suspected that Elise took the weight of their family curse upon herself in an attempt to give him a happier life, but he would never have guessed that she would go this far.

"Elise, I can't let you do this. Even if you win, even if you make headway in your research, it's not worth it. Manipulating destiny sounds like a True Magic, and researching on it right under the Association's eye will only net you a Sealing Designation. I'm not going to lose you like that..."

"A change of fate doesn't require True Magic. It can be done with magecraft." Elise let out a repressed sigh, revealing that she was just as mentally taxed as her little brother. "Enough discussion, Ervin. Even if I do get sealed, it's our only way out. I can't expect-"

"Master!" The old-fashioned monk cut her off abruptly. "I predict danger!"

A tongue of blood-coloured flame erupted from the distance and shot towards Elise, who promptly vanished from where she stood and reappeared a dozen paces away. The snaking fire made a sharp turn to keep on her tail, and Elise phased away again. The fire continued to follow her for two more turns until burning itself out, at which point the figure who cast the attack emerged from the shadows. The ghastly shape leapt forward with deadly grace, tracing another trail of crimson fire with its hand. Elise phased away again, expecting the jet of flame to follow, but instead the fire congealed into a spear in the assailant's hand, who now pursued Elise in person. After several jumps, Ervin noted that his sister's evasion seemed to lose its steam, and the attacker's spear came within half a metre from her chest. Now instead of trying to phase away once more, the seemingly empty-handed Elise clenched her hands together as though holding something, and swung hard across her chest. Sparks accompanied the clashing sound of steel, and the combatants came to a standstill. Although Elise's posture was upright and staunch while her opponent's posture was lithely bent and twisted, Ervin observed to his dismay that his sister was steadily losing the weapon wrestle. Whoever managed the successful parry would get off a quick and deadly counterattack, and it did not look good for Elise. Ervin cursed himself for being far too drained now to meaningfully intervene, and wondered why Caster appeared equally useless as he stood to the side. Seeing no other choice, Ervin was about to lift Nightmare and do what little he could, until he finally took note of the ghastly spear-woman's familiar features.

Her plain but elegant face, along with her softly angular chin, was all but lost under a mess of long purple hair. Two glowing red orbs shone from beneath the purple haystack, compounding upon the menacing look of the smeared, dried blood around her lips. A far cry now from the vulnerable girl in the tea shop just two nights before, she now only resembled a complete terror.

"Brigit..." Ervin's voice was almost involuntary. The very picture that lay before him completely drowned out his feeble efforts to make sense of it. He has had one too many shocks for the night, and his cognitive skills failed to keep up with the chain of twists that the blasted Root has thrown at him. In his soup of judgements and sentiments, only the instinctual urge to reach out to her floated to the top. Perhaps he just wanted a reason to renew his faith in her humanity. Even if it was to be a simple reply, like 'I can't control this,' or 'you won't understand,' it would be all he needed. Failing that, even a 'get lost,' or a simple grunt of acknowledgement, would be enough.

Or failing that... Ervin realized that even if she showed no reaction and slew him on the spot, it would be 'enough.' To him, she would always be the girl in the tea shop. He called her name again, louder this time, and ventured to take a step closer. She reeked of blood, but Ervin took a deep breath and looked steadily into her eyes.

Brigit turned his way and stared back at him blankly with her reddened pupils. Her muscles relaxed by a fraction, and Elise seized the opening. Knocking the spear wide, she slashed Brigit across her abdomen with a sickening slosh, and the smaller girl collapsed. As her wound quickly began to close itself, Elise moved in to decapitate her.

"Wait, no-" Ervin objected with words, but seeing how Elise did not slow down, he moved in and blocked an executing move with what strength he had left.

"Damn it Ervin, what are you doing?" Elise snapped as she prepared to shove the confused brother out of her way. "Who's side are you on?" She lifted her arms again, hoisting her invisible weapon high above her head.

"I should have asked you that when you jinxed Archer from behind!" Seeing how Elise wasn't going to give in, Ervin knee-jerked a rebuttal without thinking. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. The trust and bonding between the weathered siblings, so strongly built over twenty years, has already been sent to the edge of a precipice in the course of a night, and now Ervin's latest words likely just succeeded in kicking it completely over the ledge.

"So that's what this is about." Elise nodded bitterly. "Guess the wyrd's got it right. I'm a backstabber and you can't trust me anymore."

For some reason, Ervin's attempt to salvage the sudden rift got stuck in his throat and never came out. Was this too, a play of the Root? Ervin stood idle and helpless, taking in his sister's final words before she disappeared into the still-dark early morning.

"Guess you're not coming home."

********************************************************Chapter End**********************************************************

************************************************Servant Stat Unlocked: Berserker**************************************************

Class: Berserker

Master: Jacob Bathory

True Name: Neferkheperure-Waenre Amarna

Sex: Female

Height/Weight: 175cm, 50kg

Alignment: Chaotic Insane

***Parameters:***

Strength: C – B++

Magical Energy: E ++

Endurance: C – B++

Luck: E

Agility: B – A++

Noble Phantasm: C – B++

***Class Abilities:***

Mad Enhancement: C: raises all parameters except luck and magic, at the cost of sanity.

***Skills:***

Bravery: A: cannot be demoralized or confused. This supplements the effects of her lower-level Mad Enhancement to make her completely morale-immune.

Cursed: B: luck parameter fixed permanently at E, but negates the enemy's luck-based defences; receives increased bonuses and decreased penalties from dark magic.

***Noble Phantasms:***

Shroud of Broken Will: in life, Berserker was always in the thick of slaughter whenever conflicts arose. Enemies who looked upon her bloody visage would lose their nerves, and become unable to attack her accurately with projectiles. As time went on, the rumoured curse that none can harm her from afar became an essential part of any dark fable that brought up her name. As a heroic spirit, this translates to a resistance aura against ranged attacks.

Rank: C

Type: Anti-Army

Range: Self

Target: Self

Aten Sun Disc: during her reign as an ancient king, the Sun-Disc insignia of her personal god was inscribed on the highest places, under which she led massive rituals in the light of the sun. It was said that since she has purposed herself as the mediator between god and men, the Sun-Disc was truly a symbol of her own effective godhood. As a heroic spirit, this component of her legend manifests itself as a fake sun that rises over the battlefield, gradually multiplying all of Berserker's parameters aside from luck up by ++ during the course of a fight.

Rank: A

Type: Support

Range: Self

Target: Self