Knight of Ruin


One day before the fateful clash between Isao Collingwood and Lewy du Rézny, the Clocktower Associate had performed his own summoning.

He followed the instructions given to him beforehand to the last word and made sure to put the catalyst into the center of the summoning circle. It was one day before the optimal summoning time according to the Church overseer's words, but he preferred the advantage of knowing his Servant early. Even a single day could make a major difference.

The summoning went off without any trouble. Rézny was faced with the dark silhouette of an armored knight. The Servant seemed almost ethereal for a moment, but then his existence took solid hold in reality. He was barely visible in the dark apartment that Rézny had set up as his base of operations. The black hair flowing across the knight's back might as well have melded with the darkness.

And yet his single silver-grey eye was shining with life.

"I shall be the blade that cuts the enemies before you and grants you ultimate victory, Lehnsherr." The Servant went onto one knee and bowed his head in a gesture of subordination.

Rézny did not reply immediately, wearing his emotionless mask as always.

The Servant had just called him his lord. Those words were an oath of loyalty as one would expect from honorable knights. It also implied that this Servant would be his vassal and guide his actions for the sake of gaining his master's trust and obtaining what was rightfully his.

In this case the Holy Grail.

"Stand up." He said curtly and pulled down his hood. A hero should not cower before anyone. That was what he had been taught. And yet, heroes were just humans as well. They had people they followed and revered as any other.

"Very well." The knight rose to his full impressive height and looked down upon his Master in anticipation of his questions.

Rézny noticed the big sword strapped to the man's belt and immediately made the obvious assumption.

"Are you Servant Saber?"

"That is not so." But to Rézny's surprise the tall knight denied his prediction. He seemed somewhat somber when he pushed the sword back with one hand and instead materialized a spear in his right hand. "I am the Servant of the spear, Lancer." He explained.

"I see." That was mysterious indeed. Why did a Lancer flaunt a legendary looking sword on his waist? "What is you true name?" With that info things would become clear.

Lancer replied sternly.

Rézny's mouth twitched for just a moment upon the revelation, but he managed to suppress any other signs of surprise.

Yes, now everything made sense.

Lancer looked to his feet and noticed the small metallic shard in the center of the burnt out summoning circle. He squatted down and picked it up. The glow it gave off upon his touch was almost unnatural.

"It seems that you wished to summon someone in my stead." He mustered the shard with his one eye and spoke derisively. "Destiny has its own mind."

Rézny shook his head slowly and put a hand to his waist. It was true that this shard was supposed to summon another Servant, he could tell as much now that he knew Lancer's identity.

Summoning is not an awfully reliable process. There is no guarantee either way.

El-Melloi's words proved to be true in the end. Had he really not known where the catalyst was from? Rézny had his doubts now.

"Are you discontent, Lehnsherr?" Lancer asked calmly. Even knowing he was falsely summoned, he did not appear perturbed by this turn of events. His demeanor was that of a man resigned to his fate.

"No. This was someone else's scheme." Rézny turned around and walked throughout the apartment. He reached a workbench where he sat down and took out some tools. Whenever he had to contemplate issues he tended to do monotonous work.

"I am glad to hear you say so." Lancer did not move and just leaned against the windowsill. His light armor dissipated and left him in darkened brown leather outfit. His black eye-patch peaked out from his hair that was hanging into his face.

"The war will begin today at midnight. We will lay low until then."

"Because we cannot be certain of the other Masters' actions?" He concluded fast.

"Yes." Rézny might not have been the only one to summon his Servant early.

"Are you familiar with the battlefield?" Lancer inquired.

"I have been investigating the city since my arrival. We will patrol the spots that are most likely used by our enemies as well."

"A straightforward challenge." The knight stared into empty air as if in deep thought.

"That is how I do things." Rézny said without room for objection.

"Quite commendable." Lancer replied in a mix of seriousness and exasperation.

"There are rules to this war, but I assume you are already in the know?" He held up one of the brass knuckles in the moonlight, but its form was not to his liking, so he discarded it right away.

"Quite so. The Grail provides all information necessary to us Servants."

"Convenient."

"Yet there are rules that belong only to the living."

"…" Rézny understood the implication. There were things – agreements – that were not inherently part of the Grail War's rules. Something that only belonged in the world of magi.

He sat down his work and nodded.

"We will only act at night. The law forbids us from leaving witnesses. Involvement of outsiders is a grave offense." He explained.

"I understand." Lancer crossed his arms. "Let us hope that our enemies have the same conviction as you, Lehnsherr." His doubts were apparent, but so was his acceptance of the rules given to him.

"It will be dawn in an hour. I will go out in the early morning."

"Shall I accompany you?"

"No. If you were with me any Master would be aware of who I am."

"That is true. Then what am I to do until your return?"

"Scout out the city. Be careful about it."

Lancer looked back at Rézny with a smirk. Those eyes were not trustful or encouraging. All there was inside the cold Master was a demand not to be disappointed.

"As you command."


The day passed quickly and sundown fell upon Matsumae. Rézny had returned at the precipice of night and was already expected by Lancer. He stood by the single window in the study and gazed into the streets covered in fading sunlight. Just now the lampposts had come to life.

"Have you scouted the city?"

"Indeed. This modern age has magnificent sprawling towns. Even the greatest castle pales in comparison to such splendor." His remark was perhaps his own way of lightening the mood.

Rézny was not the type for small-talk.

He just walked in and changed his outfit to something inconspicuous with a hood covering his face.

"Where did you go today, if I may be so bold to ask?"

"I was instructed to act undercover. During the day I will be gone to act as a normal citizen for the sake of hiding my identity." If he had stayed in his hideout the entire time, locating him would be an easy task for most skilled mages, let alone for some Servants like the Caster class.

"If that is what you deem the best move." Lancer did not object. "My only regret is that you will not let my accompany you."

"That can't be helped. The point of my cover is not to be recognized as a Master." And nothing made it more obvious that one was a Master than a Servant's presence right nearby.

"You are strong indeed." The knight complimented him.

Rézny did not even react. Strength was something natural to him. In a fight he would not lose, in his duties he would not fail. There was nothing to praise if the outcome was natural.

"Have you decided on a location from which we can observe the enemies' movements?"

Lancer nodded confidently.

"There is a settlement… nay, a district of houses for the wealthy. From there we can look upon the highest of buildings at the center of the city."

Rézny raised a brow. Was there any reason to look upon the place that was more suited for getting an overview? It seemed almost asinine.

But then it clicked in his mind.

"Not bad." He nodded approvingly.

"To find your enemy is hard. To let them find you is a much easier task." The knight's words were filled with experience.

They waited on a rooftop and watched the tallest skyscraper of Matsumae in the distance. Anyone could have told that the tower was the best vantage point from which to observe the city. And similarly, watching that watchpoint would reveal the enemy.

Lancer was sitting down with crossed legs and leaned his spear against his shoulder. The sword at his side was pressed against the tiles of the roof. His one eye was continuously watching the top of the skyscraper.

Rézny's eyes were quite sharp, but even he could not see anything from this distance. The blinking lights atop the skyscraper's giant satellite dish were the only thing he could perceive.

Unable to ascertain anything in the distance, he instead focused on his surroundings. If they managed to bait their enemies into this area he would be at quite an advantage. The suburbs had a good density, perfect for swift escapes and forcing someone into a close-quarter battle. He mentally saved the route he would take if their plan went into motion.

"Hm?" Lancer grunted.

"Do you see someone?" Rézny tensed up lightly.

"…" The grim Servant looked on as if unsure of what was going on. After a few seconds he nodded. "They appeared in an instant."

"Camouflage?"

"Unlikely. They would not have discarded it when reaching their vantage point then." He certainly seemed experienced with this sort of thing.

"Then…"

"My guess is some manner of magic transportation."

That was not something an average magus could do, in which case…

"Servant Caster." Rézny concluded.

"It appears so." Lancer rose by pulling himself up on his spear and cracked his neck. "She has already noticed my presence."

"All the better." Rézny inhaled deeply and then jumped down into the streets. Lancer followed him swiftly.

"It was fortunate that they appeared so readily before us."

"Perhaps." The question was whether they did so out of foolishness or overconfidence. "You are at an advantage against a Caster, correct?"

"Slaying a witch is my duty."

So it was a female Caster. Rézny barely made note of it.

"I will take out the Master. The rest is up to you."

"Your confidence is inspiring, Lehnsherr."

"Should I find myself in a bad spot I will just summon you to my side. So get ready for instant transmission." The short-haired Master said while looking upon his mildly glowing Command Seals.

"I will not disappoint your expectations." He said solemnly. In the next instant he turned his head towards one of the alleys. "They have already arrived."

Rézny squinted his eyes to make out something in the barely lit road. To overcome this much distance in mere minutes was ludicrous. That Caster's magic was quite troublesome. He should take out her Master as soon as possible.

The moment they met upon the street, some sort of magic projectile already assailed Lancer, who parried it with ease.

Rézny jumped along a house façade and then on top the roof. He made himself noticeable on purpose. The young Master on the street looked up to him. Rézny jumped to the next roof and purposely kept himself in sight.

While looking over his shoulder he made out the face of his opponent. Those young, slightly gruff, features had changed a bit from the picture he had seen in the dossier, but there was no doubt.

This man was Isao Collingwood, the man Citro had warned him about.

It was time to test if the Enforcer's words were just hot air.


After the battle ended Rézny walked back to his base in the average apartment complex and prepared himself for his daily activities. The burns on his right arm from the transferred fire damage were weak at best. He could take care of that much even with his limited first aid knowledge.

Sacramental oil from his Church days was good at taking care of such superficial injuries.

After taking a shower and putting on his civilian clothes he opened the blinds to look into the sunny morning streets.

"Are you not going to rest?" Lancer's disembodied voice reached his mind.

"Three days without sleep are not problematic." He replied quietly. His Executor training had been harsh. So harsh that he almost died several times during it. A few sleepless nights were nothing to him.

"Before you go, should we discuss our information?"

"Go ahead." Rézny shaved his face, although there had barely been a hint of a stubble yet. He seemed to put a lot of effort into his appearance.

"That Caster is a shrewd one. She relies on deception and a variety of spells." He explained her abilities to his Master.

"Illusions and wormholes…?" Rézny mumbled. He could not think of many heroes who had such a repertoire.

"She cast spells even with her illusory bodies, but their effects were unremarkable. Her attacks were no danger to my magic resistance"

"They were fighting outside of their territory, so that much is expected." Rézny wasn't going to underestimate the enemy Servant. He rubbed his clean shaven face. "The Master was nothing special either. I could not confirm his death, but he was severely injured."

In fact he was certain that Collingwood was not dead. Something about those desperate death defying eyes wouldn't leave his mind…

"He managed to wound you."

"I was careless. Either way he should not show himself for a while if he is able to realize his mistakes." That was all there was to say about him. Citro had been quite adamant about the threat posed by that Hermit, but ultimately his magecraft was only a dangerous one in concept. That man had not the ability to use it at its full potential.

"I look forward to ending that witch's life with my own hands." Lancer's deadly intentions were echoing inside Rézny's head.

"They aren't a priority for now."

"…"


The discussion had officially ended with those words and Rézny left for his undercover work.

He walked across the streets and headed for the apartment. The sun had gone down already. He had been held up for quite a while today. It was bothersome work, but for some reason he did not feel aggravated.

The streets had already gotten less populated. Evenings in this area were slow and quiet, unlike in the commercial district.

To his surprise he suddenly felt Lancer's presence nearby. He turned his head slightly to the left and glared in the direction of the spirit.

"What are you doing here?" He whispered.

"My apologies, Lehnsherr. There was something odd about this area." Lancer replied via telepathy. The Master-Servant connection was quite useful at times like these.

"Did you feel a presence?"

"It was faint."

"Where?"

"To the east. Many people were gathered there, but now dispersed." He watched something in the distance.

"The school?" Rézny gazed back in the direction Lancer was looking. There was a high-school close to this district. It was the place where all the students in the area would gather every day. It stood to reason that among their incredible number; at least one Master might be hiding.

"I have been patrolling your route during the day, but there hadn't been any sign until just a few minutes ago." Lancer explained calmly.

Rézny tried to put aside the fact that Lancer had clearly followed him and patrolled his route without asking and instead focused on the matter at hand. If there was really a Master among the students, why would they only call their Servant over now?

School was long since over and the students should have left the premises by now.

"Should we investigate?"

"Right away." He agreed immediately. Such an opportunity wouldn't appear often. The only thing he regretted was that he was not wearing his cloak and hood. But such concerns could wait for after the battle.

They headed for Matsumae Public High-School immediately (the school's name was directly derived from the founder of the city itself). The school grounds had not been sealed off yet, but there still shouldn't have been anybody left.

Rézny cautiously walked alongside the entrance area and gestured Lancer to go ahead.

Lancer materialized and stopped his steps right by the gate. Something had made him hesitate. He drew his spear and then slashed twice across the gate's pillars. With a fizzling sound two pieces of paper burned to ashes. Someone had placed them there almost unnoticeably.

"Strange barriers have been placed on this gate." The knight explained. "They were much too weak to hinder my movements, but the perpetrator seems to have covered the entire building with them."

Rézny felt a pang of anxiousness at those words. He hadn't even noticed those barriers. What kind of magecraft could be so far past his perception? Did they serve to unveil and warn about enemies? Were they marking targets? Or perhaps they weakened whoever entered the school grounds?

"Hrm. Here they come." Lancer suddenly stiffened up and went into a battle stance. His spear was ready to pierce the enemy's body in a flash.

Rézny pressed himself against the wall and waited for the attacker to appear. Just as they had noticed them, they would of course be aware of Lancer's presence. He had not attempted to hide himself after all. If those barriers were their doing, then perhaps they served as alarms anyway.

Suddenly the clouds above seemed to be moving and in an instant something swished past Rézny. He had barely any time to react when sparks were already flying through the air.

Lancer had blocked an incoming attack from the front. It was so heavy that he almost was pushed back a few centimeters. The sparks from their connecting weapons increased as he spun the spear in a circle and ended their struggle.

"You do not have much interest in basic courtesy." Lancer said in a low voice. His opponent had attacked without even a single word, so he was clearly displeased.

"You speak of chivalry when you dare to attack my Master in such a disgraceful manner?" A hardened female voice replied.

Rézny looked past the corner of the gate and witnessed who was standing in their opposition.

It was a fully armor-clad woman. In her hand she held a lance with three tips that were almost reminiscent of a trident, but the blades were so close to each other that they more closely resembled a spear.

The weak light of the lampposts nearby was reflected from her dark blue armor, full of engraved symbols and ornate silver lines. She wore a helmet with two protrusions that remotely resembled wings perhaps. Her face was entirely visible, just as Lancer's under his helmet and her long blonde hair also flowed equally from it down her back.

Her stature was well build and she wasn't much smaller than Lancer himself. Her chest protrusion was barely visible in her plate armor, but her physique was still unmistakably that of a woman. While her voice had a deep note to it, she could not be mistaken for a man.

And finally he noticed her eyes. The deepest blue, like a sapphire at the bottom of the ocean itself. They were inexplicably beautiful… It was as if merely being caught by her gaze could hypnotize someone. This couldn't have been a coincidence.

Rézny held his head and tried to focus. Those eyes were unnatural. It wasn't just their appearance. When she looked upon Lancer the irises started to glow in a bright silver-blue.

"I do not know what you speak of." Lancer replied to her accusation with a hint of uncertainty. He seemed to be uneasy in the enemy Servant's presence somehow.

"Your lies are revealed to me. There is no human that can fool my eyes." She gazed upon him intensely. "Do you mean to say that you are not responsible for the cowardly attack on my Master's life, despite your suspicious timing?" Her words were cold and demanding.

But she did allow him to speak.

"We arrived upon noticing your presence. That is all." Lancer replied stoically.

"…" Her mesmerizing eyes were glaring at the eye-patched Servant for a long few moments… and then they returned to their sapphire color. "You speak the truth. Despite your twisted soul." She said disgruntled. There was certainty in her expression. Just how did she determine so…? After putting her lance on the ground she slightly lowered her head in apology. "I was rash to blame you."

"This is a war. There will always be those that prefer to attack from the shadows." Lancer accepted her apology.

"I am certain you would be quite familiar." She said in a condescending tone. Despite her apology she didn't seem to have any respect for Lancer himself.

Upon those words Lancer squinted his eye and his aura turned colder. Their glares could have shaken a normal person immensely.

"The misunderstanding has been resolved, but this opportunity should not go to waste." The woman said coolly.

"My sentiments exactly." Lancer spun his spear and held it forward in an aggressive stance.

Rézny didn't stop him. They had come here for a fight, so despite the initial confusion, the end result did not change. If she spoke of her Master being attacked so openly, they must have escaped the hit on their life. He wasn't sure if he could sneak past the warrior woman though.

"You are not a Lancer and yet you wield a lance." Lancer said as he circled around her.

"If you are so certain about that fact you must be the real Lancer then. And yet you wear such a powerful sword." She replied while following his movements.

"It seems we both are not who we appear to be."

"Hah!" Suddenly the woman jumped forward and slashed across Lancer's torso.

He reacted by cleanly blocking her attack with his wooden spear and then sweeping at her legs. But her armored legs were standing firmly and didn't budge from his kick. That steadfastness came at a price though, as she became inflexible to dodge the follow-up elbow strike.

Her armor was impressive looking, but thin around the waist. She was pushed back and hit a nearby stone bench, which promptly crumbled on impact.

Just as she looked up she saw the tip of a spear coming straight for her unprotected face. Dodging in time would have been nigh impossible.

But she didn't need to dodge.

From her left arm she materialized a shield which blocked the incoming spear with a loud 'clang' sound. She parried the attack so fluently that Lancer's arm was pushed to the side alongside his weapon and she could follow up with a high kick to his face.

He was sent flying backwards, but managed to catch himself by stabbing his spear into the pavement. The lance maiden had gotten up again and now held her shield in front of her. Then she slammed her lance against the shield repeatedly to taunt him.

That shield did not look normal either. It was engraved with strange runes that even Rézny did not recognize and there was an intricate crystalline pattern on top of it. It was only covering her lower arm, so it was closer to the size of a buckler than a true shield. Because it was attachable to her arm-piece she did not lose the ability to wield the lance with both hands either.

Lancer was not impressed. Her left side was protected, but that was it.

As he moved forward he rained a flurry of stabs all over her body. She deflected each attack with her lance and shield. His pattern was rhythmic, but her defense was not. Every two or three blows she switched between deflecting and blocking. With each consecutive flurry Lancer increased the speed of his attacks. Eventually the blonde woman stopped deflecting and just kept blocking with the occasional attempt at a counter-attack.

But Lancer was relentless and didn't give her any true openings. He created a feint for her to attack his right side (where his eye was missing) and she fell for it right away. She spun her body around and hit her trident like lance against his right arm.

"Not good enough!" Lancer growled and took the attack as it sliced into his thin armor. At the same time his spear went in an arc and cut her left arm right above the shield. She twisted her face as blood sprayed from the wound and she tried to retreat, but he followed up right away with a quick stab into the armpit joint.

No matter how good the armor, there would always be weak points for the sake of flexibility!

As she was unable to raise her shield arm after the injury she sustained she was helpless to prevent the deadly piercing attack. She was already falling back to dodge, so her movements were entirely locked in.

"I think not." She growled and with a sudden twist of her injured arm she managed to just barely scratch Lancer's spear across her shield. It altered the motion just enough for the spear tip to miss her joint and instead hit her shoulder.

The wound was shallow, due to the blue armor, but it still drew blood.

Yet for some reason she did not even seem distraught. Instead she raised her bleeding arm and held onto his weapon!

That fierce determination in spite of the pain and injuries…

She raised her lance while holding down his spear with all her might.

"Not bad." Just as she tried to cut his head off, he let go of his spear and flipped backwards.

"Wha-?" She was clearly caught off guard. What kind of knight would just abandon their weapon after all?

But then she focused up. He still had that sword.

Lancer had made some distance, but he didn't attempt to draw his huge sword. Instead he touched the part of his armor she had damaged and fixed it up.

She warily pulled the spear from her shoulder and threw it aside. The second she let it go, the spear suddenly flew straight back into Lancer's hands. She glared at him.

"Unfounded assumptions are the path to demise." Lancer said with a mocking expression.

"You fight with ferocity, but there is not a speck of valor in your movements."

"Valor is not something to be wasted on women."

"I will not listen to your taunts."

"Then silence me. That is… if you are able." He leaned the cursed spear on his shoulder and waved her to come at him.

She knew she was goaded by him, but her honor did not allow her to back down from the challenge.

Rézny watched this fight with clouded eyes. Their speed and reflexes were so far above his ability that he could barely follow the exchanges. The blue-clad Servant had started swinging her lance wildly, making his Lancer seek distance. But he was slowly pressed against the wall behind him.

Noticing that he was cornered, he jumped up against the wall and kicked off, to accelerate over her head and stab her from behind.

She had of course expected as much and stabbed the three tips of her lance right into his right side. Just as expected, he blocked that attack and landed in a squatting position behind her.

Their weapons clashed about twenty times in the span of one second with sparks illuminating the entire entrance area in the night.

The woman's flurries were all aimed for Lancer's blind spot, which was his entire right side. It was common sense to attack one-eyed enemies on their blind side.

Then again, it was just as well known that experienced warriors with obvious blind spots honed their senses to make up for that weakness. Lancer's fighting style constantly put his right leg back and his blind side faced away from his enemy. To make matters harder on his opponent, he was constantly switching his weapon arm. Sometimes he even switched the hand mid stab!

Wielding a spear one-handed in a clash with a powerful enemy was madness, but for a Servant anything was possible. Rézny understood that much now.

"Put some backbone into it!" Lancer yelled and then kicked her lance to the side with so much force that it was rammed into a tree next to them and the entire giant plant was felled from the impact. Afterwards he stabbed so hard against her shield that she was pushed back and left trails on the ground. He had pushed her back one-handed!

It became clear who the stronger fighter was. She understood that fact already. His physical strength and style was brutal, yet somehow had an underlying self-control to it.

The armored woman on the other hand certainly had skill, but her movements were too straightforward. For someone who demanded a valorous fight she seemed rather held back herself.

"If you wish to impress me, you will have to show me your true ability." Lancer said as he licked the blood from the small laceration he had received from the kick to his face at the beginning of the fight.

"Impressing you is not my obligation." Her voice was tinged in anger. "But if you wish to find your end so soon, I shall oblige!" Her eyes turned silver-blue again and she pulled something from her belt. It looked like some sort of embroidered flute.

"Is that her Noble Phantasm?" Rézny tensed up. Lancer had successfully goaded her into using her trump card.

It was a risky strategy. There was no telling what she could do with that flute. Normally Lancer should have done everything to prevent her from using it… but instead he waited.

'He wants to reveal her true name.' Of course Rézny understood his intentions, but that was a risk he should not take.

Just as he thought so, Lancer subtly moved his spear in position.

Prana was flowing into both of their weapons.

'Is he going to strike her down the moment she uses it?' He wondered what Lancer's plan truly was. He must have put a lot of faith in his Noble Phantasm to assume he would win out. But he could not imagine it to be useful here. He knew Lancer's true name… and unless he used the sword at his side he would stand no chance in beating out a powerful blow.

The woman put the flute to her lips. She was about to blow into it.

Lancer raised his yellow glowing wooden spear. It was ready to be unleashed.

They both released their attacks-

"What's going on here!? Why are you fighting? T-this is insane!" Suddenly a boy's voice crossed the entrance area of the school grounds. His utter confusion and fear were audible.

Rézny clicked his tongue and retreated behind the wall.

The Servants stopped their charging and immediately jumped away from each other.

"We are leaving!" Rézny ordered and sprinted off. He would not go against his instructions to keep outsiders uninvolved.

"Fine…" Lancer dissipated into his spirit form while watching the female Servant retreat.

They left the school grounds as fast as possible. There shouldn't have been any students left around, but there was no guarantee for that.


"That was quite rash." Rézny scolded the one-eyed knight back at their base.

"You told me to take care of it Lehnsherr. It was not my intention to displease you." He apologized with a lowered head. Not that his face would reveal his true emotions.

"Our main strategy should be for you to distract the enemy Servant so I can take out the Master." He reminded him.

"… your stratagem is surely the correct one." Lancer leaned back and closed his eye.

"Speak your mind."

"I suppose if you wish to hear my humble opinion." He smirked. "Stalling an enemy I can defeat is not the way of the hero."

"Could you truly defeat her?" Rézny's pulse slowed down. His breathing stopped and his eyes focused. All his senses were directed at Lancer. He might not have eyes that let him tell a lie, but his training in profiling would have to do.

"Yes." Lancer's words were filled with conviction as impregnable as the walls of a castle. "It is true that you have faith in my ability to survive. If I could only make you also have faith in my ability to kill your enemies…" He put one hand to his heart in regret.

"Why do you not use your sword?" He crossed his arms and sat down with a sigh.

"…I will give my body, my honor and my life for your cause Lehnsherr. But I will never use this sword." His silver-grey eye was filled with something inexplicable. The hatred of a thousand years… the regret of a hundred losses… the sadness of all the mistakes in the world.

Rézny cupped his chin and stared at him in silence for a while. Then…

"What if I ordered you to use it?" The question was provocative on purpose. Just how far did this man's loyalty reach?

"Then you will have to use a Command Seal, this I swear." He replied stoically.

"Hm. I will remember that." Rézny nodded as if he had just obtained some interesting information and returned to his desk.

"You should rest now Master. This night we will not find a new enemy."

"Of course." He gave up and moved to the bedroom.

He had caught that change of attitude all too well.

"'Master', eh?"